Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake Recipe - Lemonades
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Every time our girls sell Girl Scout cookies, our families eat them like crazy for weeks. We all enjoying the plethora of cookies at that time of year, but what happens when they are all gone? What about 6 months from now when the stash is depleted and you're craving those yummy Girl Scout cookie flavors? To avoid this disaster, I decided to develop cupcake recipes that are inspired by three of my favorite flavors of cookies. These cupcakes don't use the cookies themselves as an ingredient, because the point is to satisfy the craving when cookies aren't available. Instead, my recipes will carry on the flavors of the original.
I've already shared with you two classic Girl Scout cookie favorites, transformed into cupcakes... my Thin Mint and Peanut Butter Patties cupcake recipes are delicious! Today, I'm focusing on the tart and sweet Lemonades. This is a shortbread cookie with a tangy lemon icing on the back. Everyone who has tried my cupcake version of this cookie says I hit it out of the park. With rich buttercream and lemon flavor bursting at the seams, I'll have to agree!
Lemonades Girls Scout Cookies Cupcakes Recipe
- 1-1/4 cup softened butter, divided (not margarine!)
- 6 cups powdered sugar, divided
- 1-3/4 tsp vanilla extract, divided
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1 box of lemon cake mix and whatever ingredients the box requires (usually eggs, oil, and water)
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup lemon juice, divided
- 1 tsp lemon zest, plus more for decoration
- yellow food coloring
Preheat oven to the temperature indicated on the cake mix. Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3/4 cup butter until smooth and creamy. Add 3/4 tsp vanilla and salt and mix well. Add flour, then mix until dough a minute or two, until it pulls together and forms large clumps. Divide dough evenly among 24 cupcake liners and use fingers to press firmly.
Mix the lemon cake mix according to package directions and pour directly onto unbaked shortbread crusts. Cook cupcakes according to package directions.
While cupcakes bake, prepare frosting. Zest and juice two lemons. Mix 1/2 cup butter, shortening, and 1 tsp vanilla together in stand mixer until creamy. Add 4 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice and mix until fluffy. Add 1 tsp lemon zest and mix until incorporated.
While cupcakes are cool, prepare glaze. Mix 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a few drops of yellow food coloring in a bowl. When cupcakes are cool, add frosting, drizzle with glaze, and top with a few shreds of lemon zest.
Preheat the oven to whatever the cake mix directions state, then start by making a shortbread dough. Mix the 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of butter until smooth and creamy.
Add 3/4 tsp vanilla and salt and mix well. Then add the flour.
Mix the dough well until it pulls together and forms large clumps. It will look too dry at first, but resist the temptation to add any liquid. Just let it keep mixing and it will come together after a minute or two.
Divide the dough evenly among 24 cupcake liners. (If you only have one muffin tin for baking 12 at a time, go ahead and set the other 12 liners on the counter and divide the dough, so you don't end up short at the end.)
Use your fingers to press the dough firmly into place in the bottom of the liner. If the dough is very sticky, dust your fingers with powdered sugar to make it easier on you. You should have about a half inch of dough in each cupcake.
Then mix up a batch of your favorite lemon-flavored cake mix (my favorite brand is Betty Crocker SuperMoist) and ladle it right onto the uncooked shortbread dough. And don't feel bad about using a mix, either... you're doing to work hard enough with all the other steps, so this is a totally fair shortcut.
Cook the cupcakes according to package directions. While they are baking, you can go ahead and work on the lemons. You'll need two lemons, and PLEASE, make sure you use real lemons and don't try to get by on that preserved juice that comes in a jar or bottle. It will make all the difference in the world!
First, use a lemon zester to make a pile of long, thin shavings of the lemon's peel, which you'll use for decorations later. Then use a microplane grater to make another pile of tiny confetti with whatever yellow is left on the lemons. Be sure to only take the yellow part, and not grate down into the bitter, white part of the peel. Then juice both lemons and strain out the seeds. You'll need the zest and juice in the remaining steps.
To make the frosting, mix 1/2 cup butter, shortening, and 1 tsp vanilla together in a stand mixer until creamy. Add 4 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice and mix (slowly at first, or it will splash) until fluffy. Add 1 tsp lemon zest and mix until incorporated. At this point, take a moment to taste this wondrous concoction you've just created, because you'll hardly believe how good it is! (P.S. If you like a LOT of frosting on your cupcakes, you may want to make a double batch)
When the cupcakes are completely cooled, put the frosting into a disposable icing bag with the point cut off (no decorator's tip necessary) and pipe it onto the cupcakes.
Next up is the glaze! Stir 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice together in a bowl. This fresh juice will really add some amazing lemon flavor to the cupcake.
Add a little yellow food coloring to get a nice lemony yellow color.
To keep this next step from being a pain to clean up, put the cupcakes on a rack and place some paper towels underneath. Then drizzle a spoonful or two of glaze onto each cupcake, letting it drip off the sides if it wants to.
Before the glaze dries, add two or three bits of lemon zest to the top of each cupcake.
These cupcakes are gorgeous and taste every bit as good — or better, actually — then the original Lemonade cookies!
The shortbread will cook up to a crunchy cookie on the bottom which will really surprise your friends as they bite into it. The rich and tangy frosting is a perfect compliment, and that glaze will set your taste buds into orbit.
So that's one Girl Scout cookie cupcake recipe down, and two to go. Anyone want to guess what the other two cookies are that I'm going to work with?
14 comments so far:
Please say you're going to do the caramel delights! They're my favorite!
How did you know that the Lemonades are my favorite of the newer GS cookies??? And I LOOOOOOVE shortbread! This recipe will be a killer, can't wait to find time to try it out.
I tried your recipe. The cupcakes were addictive. I had a problem with the glaze. It made the bottoms of my cupcakes soggy. What did I do wrong? Thanks
Summer, I'm glad you liked this recipe! I have to admit that I'm not sure how you got glaze on the bottom of your cupcakes... it should just be drizzed on top. Perhaps you used too much and it dripped down inside the cupcake liner?
I think it may be a combination of things. I used the Wilton cupcake wrappers that are shaped like flowers and when I put the 1-2 spoonfuls of glaze on top it ran down and the "petals" didn't let the excess glaze run off. I may have also had the glaze too thin. I am going to make the again next week and let you know in case other readers have the same problem. Thanks again. Love your blog!
These are awesome!! My favorite so far! :0)
The cupcakes were soo awesome I gained 5 lbs. The flower petal snapped cupcake wrappers are what caused the soggy bottoms. The petals caught the glaze and sent it straight to thebottom of the cupcake. It was a pretty presentation so I baked in regular wrappers and then put hem in the pretty wrappers after the glaze set. Thank you soo much for these wonderful recipes and ideas.
Summer, I'm so glad you liked them, and that you got the glaze issue figured out. I hate to put your waistline in danger, but did you see the Thin Mint cupcake recipe I posted yesterday? And there's still one more recipe coming soon!
I love it because i made everything by this site
any recipes that actually use the lemonade cookie itself?
Sorry, Lori, but all the Lemonades get eaten on their own and we don't have any recipes that use them. These cupcakes are to satisfy the cravings after the cookies are gone!
Made this for my pre-cookie parent meeting yesterday. They were a HIT! The girls couldn't stop raving about them.
Are you on Instagram? I'd like to post a pic of my cupcakes with full recipe credit to you!
MKB, we're so happy everyone enjoyed the cupcakes! You can find us on instagram at chicaandjo.
Oh My Goodness, these look absolutely delicious. If I could have sugar, I could eat the whole batch!