Giant Lemon Raspberry Sandwich Cookie

I had an urge to make a giant cookie sandwich.  It just had to be done.  The filling was a bit of a fail though as it was waaaaaaay too firm.  It did, however, make an amazing truffle center...so I'm stoked about that little discovery.  To fix the filling....omit the melted white chocolate....the powdered sugar might need to go up a cup or so, but otherwise it would be workable in that form.

The lemon flavor in the filling really dominated the entire dessert.  I would have done better to do a lemon flavored cookie instead of raspberry to tie it all together....hindsight.  Anywho....much fun putting this together.  Plus I got to play around with Kool-Aid which still makes me giggle.  ;)


Giant Lemon Raspberry Sandwich Cookie

Cookie:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup raspberry preserves
12oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Add in eggs, vanilla, and preserves.  Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Fold in semi sweet chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half.  Spread each half on a parchment covered cookie sheet forming a rough circle. Sprinkle the top of cookies with the turbinado sugar.  Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 minutes, until nicely browned.  Cool on racks.

Filling:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 envelope Ice Blue Raspberry Lemon Kool-Aid
12oz white chocolate chips

Mix together sweetened condensed milk, Kool-Aid, and powdered sugar.  Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Mix melted chocolate into milk mixture.  Spread filling between the cookies.

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Spoon into ziplock back with one corner cut off.  Drizzle chocolate across the top of the cookie. Chill until chocolate sets.  Slice into wedges to serve.

A little lookie at the inside...

The light blue color just screams Spring and Easter to me.  ;)  I should have gone with a nice traditional chocolate filling....but sometimes you just want to make something blue...ehehehehe.  Hmmm....maybe some mini chocolate chips in the filling would have helped mesh the flavors together too.

Lemon Raspberry White Chocolate Truffles

These truffles are amazingly smooth and creamy.  Addictive...very addictive.  I'm totally tickled with them...plus I used Kool-Aid to make them.  How can you not have fun when there's Kool-Aid involved?  These truffle centers whip together so easy and they dip beautifully.  I will definitely be making these again.


Lemon Raspberry White Chocolate Truffles

14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 envelope Kool-Aid Blue Raspberry Lemonade
12oz white chocolate chips
1 box Nerds - Sour Apple and Lemon flavor
12oz Dark Chocolate chips
2tbls shortening

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and Kool-Aid.  Beat in powdered sugar.  Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Add the melted white chocolate to the milk mixture, blending until creamy.  Form into balls and place on waxed paper.  Chill for an hour or so.

Melt dark chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave until smooth, stirring often to prevent overheating.  Dip centers in chocolate with a fork and place back on waxed paper.  Top each truffle with a sprinkle of Nerds as you dip them.  When you have finished dipping in chocolate, use your fork to flick lines of drizzle across the tops of the truffles.  Chill until set.

A few more pics of the yummies....

Just another view of the finished truffles.  I was a little worried about using the apple flavored Nerds, but they blended in nicely.  Honestly....the candy garnish was just meant to be...I was standing in the checkout line and there it was....the sour pack of Nerds.  I had to buy it...it demanded to be used in my truffle creation.  My beloved hubby manfully ignored the squeegasm I unleashed when I spotted them.  ;)

The Nerds add a nice bite of crunchy texture....a neat contrast with the creamy centers.

Normally I take a little extra time to shake off the excess chocolate more thoroughly as I dip the centers, but I was a little hurried so I ended up with that tiny base of chocolate at the bottom of the truffles.  The perfectionist part of me screams a little over that...ehehehe.

If you want to make perfectly round centers, chill your mixture for about 15 to 30 minutes before you roll into balls.  I'm not super patient and knowing the garnish would cover any imperfections I didn't worry about it.  ;)  Meanwhile....behold my tray of blue balls!  (Yes....I am still snickering.)

I added these to the Sweets for Saturday #10 over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.  So many wonderful treats to check out.

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars version 1.0

This was a yummy little recipe that I found on the Taste of Home website. (The original recipe is found here.) I tinkered with it of course. ;) I found the thought of raspberry and lemon flavors really appealing and had to give it a whirl. The recipe just needs a bit more modifying before I'm fully happy.

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars (version 1.0)

Crust:
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbls flour
1/4 cup tub margarine, melted
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam/preserves

Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, and melted margarine together and let sit for a couple minutes for the oats to soften. Spread in the bottom of a 9x9 sprayed pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until browned. Spread jam across crust.

Filling:
2 packages (8 ounces each) reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 cups sugar
2 tbls flour
2 eggs
3 tbls lemon juice
1 tbls lemon peel

While crust is cooking, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth. Beat in eggs, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Spoon over jam covered crust. Bake at 350 for about 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Slice into portions and store in refrigerator.


Some pictures of the process...

The oat crust came out crisp and yummy. It was thin, but it held together very nicely. I don't care for an oat crust on a cheesecake though. I don't think it added to the recipe as a whole. I honestly almost went straight to a graham cracker crust instead of an alternate oat crust but I though no I should really try it out and see if I like it. This will make a neat crust for something else though so I will keep it in mind.


They need a finish....a garnish. I am thinking a little raspberry drizzle of some kind. Just seems like they are lacking a little pop....purely a visual thing though. ;)