My Contribution to Becky's Online Bake Sale: Lemon-White Chocolate Graham Cookies

Happy weekend! I'm so excited to be taking part in an online bake sale even that my friend Becky over at Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves is holding on Monday! All bake sale proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Cancer has touched the lives of several of my family members and friends in the past few years, so I'm always happy to do anything that I can to raise money for cancer research and awareness. Today was the Komen San Antonio Race for the Cure, and I was one of 30,000+ people who took part in a 3K walk this morning. So inspiring to see all those people united for such a great cause!!

Once I signed up for Becky's bake sale, I started searching for a cookie recipe that would taste yummy and ship well, since these cookies could be going anywhere in the United States. I was flipping through a Pillsbury cookbooklet and found a recipe for lime-graham tea cookies. I immediately knew that I'd found what I was looking for! I tweaked the recipe a bit, subbing lemon for lime...and I added white chocolate chips instead of the nuts the original recipe called for. 

These cookies are really nice...they're not overly sweet, and the texture is reminiscent of a sand tart. The graham cracker crumbs give the cookies a slight nutty flavor in the background. The lemon flavor is boosted by adding frozen lemonade concentrate, lemon zest, and a bit of lemon extract to the cookie dough. You simply roll the dough into balls, bake, and then coat them in a bit of powdered sugar. The white chocolate chips added exactly the sweet addition that I was looking for. 

Lemon-White Chocolate Graham Cookies

adapted from Pillsbury

Step 1:  Add two sticks softened butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Bet on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the butter is very fluffy. Add 1 tbs. vanilla, 1/4 cup thawed lemonade concentrate, 1 tbs. lemon zest (about two lemons), and 1/2 tsp. lemon extract. Beat on medium-low until incorporated (about two minutes).

Step 2:  Add 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, and 1/2 tsp. salt. You can grind up 20 graham cracker squares if you want, but I just bought the crumbs in a box for convenience. Beat on low speed, just until combined. Stir in 1 cup white chocolate chips, then refrigerate dough for an hour.

Step 3:  Heat oven to 400. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and place on a cookie sheet that's lined with parchment. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar. 

Step 4:  Let cookies cool completely before eating...about 45 minutes. I rolled them in a little extra powdered sugar once they were cooled, and it gave it a nice coating on top. I couldn't resist taking a bite so you could see what the cookies look like inside.

Want to bid for a chance to win a batch of these lemony cookies direct from 's kitchen in San Antonio? Here's what you need to do: on Monday, Becky will post all of the items that each baker has donated -- there are 27 in all! Each item will have a minimum bid of $15. Once the items are officially posted, interested buyers (bidders) will send their bid to Becky's e-mail, along with the item would like to purchase.  More details about the bake sale can be found here. You'll find a full listing of all items that will be available, as well as specific rules about taking part. I hope you'll all go by and check out this very worthy cause...and bid on my cookies on Monday!

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