There is a part of me that is OCD when it comes to the kitchen. (My husband is going to be so confused when he reads that line.) There are plenty of times that I will go to bed with dishes in the sink, just out of sheer exhaustion from the day. I don’t even bat an eye or feel bad about it either However, when it comes to KIDS helping me in the kitchen, I tend to get a little worked up and want to make sure everything stays orderly. It’s so easy for a quiet peaceful kitchen that I love baking in, to become a battlefield. Im talking kids yelling about who gets to stir the pot, or gets to crack an egg, and flour split on the floor. Thinking about it now just gives me a headache.
There are times, when the perfect recipe comes along, with very little prep, and very little mess, that I am happily welcoming my kids into the kitchen to help make. This recipe being one of them.
Now, not all of my kids love lemon. Lemon is definetly one of those flavors that isn’t loved by all. (If that is you, maybe stick around and make some of these for a lemon loving neighbor, or family member? I promise they will love you forever!) For some reason, this recipe brings my non-lemon loving kids to the kitchen. It’s a fun, easy one to make. It starts with the basic cake box cookie recipe, and comes to life with a fun little twist; Lifesavers! I know this sounds odd, but I first started putting lifesavers in my cake recipes many years ago when Betty Crocker stopped making cherry chip cake mix for a certain amount of time. I LOVE cherry chip cake mix, and I discovered that smashed cherry lifesaver in a white cake make the same cherry chip taste. More on that later.
Finding bags of JUST berry is really hard to find. I usually plan ahead and purchase cherry lifesavers from Amazon here. For the recipe below we used a mixture of cherry and raspberry lifesavers which can be found in the mixed bag of lifesavers.
This recipe is great because it only takes a few ingredients, and it comes together really quick. The hardest thing is the first step; Crushing those lifesavers and getting them to little pieces! (This is the part you let your kids go crazy on!)
Make sure those Lifesavers are nice and crushed. Careful not to break the bag when crushing them! Do not use a flimsy cheap ziplock bag, or it will break, and you will be left with Lifesaver powder everywhere.
Once they are all crushed up. Start mixing the dough! Place the cake mix, butter (6 tbsp melted), and 2 eggs all into the mixer and mix that baby up! Once its mixed, add in the lifesavers.
Make sure its all mixed in well, and scrape down the sides.
Once mixed, use an ice cream scoop to make 12 balls! (6 on a sheet). The dough will be sticky! If you want to hand scoop and form balls, roll them in sugar to help with the sticky texture.
Bake the cookie sheets at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes. Cool on racks and enjoy!
They are not the most beautiful cookie, but boy are they packed full of lemony berry goodness. A friend of mine says they remind her of Fruit Stripe gum! (Where are my 90’s childhood friends at???). They are such a great little treat. We have even used them for Valentine parties because of the pretty colors. Just double or even triple the recipe for a large group.
Lemon Berry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box Lemon Cake Mix
- 2 eggs
- 6 tbsp Butter melted
- 10 Lifesavers Cherry/Rasberry flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Unwrap the 10 lifesavers and place in a ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin or something hard to crush the lifesavers to small pieces.
- In a mixer, mix the box of lemon cake mix, 2 eggs, and melted butter. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes untill batter is a thick consistency.
- Add crushed lifesavers to mix and continue to mix for 1 minute.
- Use an ice cream scooper to scoop out balls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 14 Minutes at 350 degrees.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Enjoy!