Lemon Coolers: a homemade, discontinued girlscout cookie

Several years ago, the Girl Scouts had a cookie called a Lemon Cooler. They were marketed as a low fat cookie from about 2000-2006 when they were discontinued/retired. Even though they were low fat, they were sweet and refreshing. It was a vanilla cookie with just a hint of tart. They were perfect when you didn't want chocolate, and you could eat 5 cookies for the caloric equivalent of 2 samoas. 


Those cookies seem to have come back for the 100th anniversary, now dubbed with the name "Savannah Smiles" (which means, of course, that there is a stripper somewhere with the unfortunate name of Thin Mint or Tagalong). But I will always call these delicious cookies lemon coolers. 


It might almost be girlscout cookie season, but in the off times when you long for those delicious cookies, you can always make this recipe or a recipe for homemade Samoas to hold you over from one year to the next. 

Lemon Coolers
Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon extract or zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup - 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup milk
• additional confectioners sugar for rolling

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla, lemon and milk
2. Add starch, flour, salt and baking powder and mix until combined
3. Roll into a log and freeze at least one hour
4. Slice into circles and then half moons if desired.
5. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. After cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar

Several years ago, the Girl Scouts had a cookie called a Lemon Cooler. They were marketed as a low fat cookie from about 2000-2006 when they were discontinued/retired. Even though they were low fat, they were sweet and refreshing. It was a vanilla cookie with just a hint of tart. They were perfect when you didn't want chocolate, and you could eat 5 cookies for the caloric equivalent of 2 samoas. 


Those cookies seem to have come back for the 100th anniversary, now dubbed with the name "Savannah Smiles" (which means, of course, that there is a stripper somewhere with the unfortunate name of Thin Mint or Tagalong). But I will always call these delicious cookies lemon coolers. 


It might almost be girlscout cookie season, but in the off times when you long for those delicious cookies, you can always make this recipe or a recipe for homemade Samoas to hold you over from one year to the next. 

Lemon Coolers
Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon extract or zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup - 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup milk
• additional confectioners sugar for rolling

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla, lemon and milk
2. Add starch, flour, salt and baking powder and mix until combined
3. Roll into a log and freeze at least one hour
4. Slice into circles and then half moons if desired.
5. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. After cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar