Pink Lemonade Cookies

I found this in the Cake Mix Magic magazine, but I just had to share. I've made a few changes, but prepare yourself: this is an insanely easy recipe. It's also kid-friendly, so if you have some little helpers in the room, it'll be perfect.

Servings: Dependent on the size of the cookies
Serve with: a tall, glass of ice-cold lemonade

Ingredients

Cake:
*1 package white cake mix
* /2 cup water
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3 Tablespoons pink lemonade mix (i.e. CountryTime)
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (note: I didn't have a lemon to peel, so I tried to substitute 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice instead. If you decide to do that, you'll need to add an extra Tablespoon of flour. In hindsight, if you don't have lemon, add the lemon juice to the WATER so you don't get too much liquid)
* Springkles

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using dark pans). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. My cookies turned out better on dark pans - go figure!
2. Mix the cake mix, water, oil, lemonade mix, egg and lemon peel in a large bowl. Combine with a wooden spoon until well blended. I stirred for about 1-2 minutes to get rid of lumps.
3. Spoon TEASPOONfuls of batter 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. The original recipe called for Tablespoonfuls, but honestly that was just too much. Since you eat two cookies + frosting, smaller is better here.
4. Add the sprinkles generously.
5. Bake until set. If you use the original Tablespoonfuls, it will take about 12 minutes on a light-colored baking sheet or 15 minutes on a dark baking sheet. If you use the original Teaspoonfuls, it will take 8-10 minutes on a light-color sheet and up to 13 minutes on a dark baking sheet. You don't want them overdone, but you want them to be solid.
6. Cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes then slide the parchment paper off the sheet. I don't have cooling racks, so we improvise!

Frosting
* 3 Tablespoons pink lemonade mix
* 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 3 cups powdered sugar
* Red food coloring

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the lemonade mix and lemon juice, stirring until blended.
2. Add in butter. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to cream the mixtures. It should take about 2-3 minutes (depending on how soft your butter is)
3. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, blending for about 30 seconds per cup.
4. Drop in some red food coloring for a brighter pink.
5. If it looks too thick, add in lemon juice. If it looks too thin, add in powdered sugar.
6. Prepare a piping bag with a large tip. Fill the bag with the frosting and pipe onto one cookie. Place another cookie on top and you have it made!

The end result:

In total this recipe took about 5 minutes to prep, 30 minutes to bake (I had to use 3 pans of cookies to get them all made),  and 10 minutes to make and pipe on the frosting. If you like lemonade and have an hour to make cookies, make these! They are kid-approved and the complete summer addition!