Lani's Lion House Lemon Crinkle Cookies

These are to die for - if you're a lemon lover!

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light & fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice.  Scrape sides and mix again.  Stir in dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.  Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate.  Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11* minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not melty or shiny).  Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick dark baking tray, reduce bake time by 2 minutes.

*Makes 24 cookies.  Calorie count is about 110 per cookie - you're welcome. :)

Shana's Frosted Lemon Butter Cookies

1 c. soft butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2/3 c. corn starch

1 c. flour

Cream butter and sugar.  Gradually add corn starch and flour. Cream ingredients WELL!  Beat, Beat, Beat - until Fluffy.  Chill for 1 hour.

Drop by teaspoonfuls or roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 12 minutes.  Cool and then frost with a smear of lemon frosting. - Can sprinkle with crushed nuts if desired.

Molasses Cookies - Shana's Favorite!

3/4 c. Shortening

1 c. Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1/4 c. Molasses

 Mix Thoroughly - Then stir in:

2 1/4 c. Flour

2 tsp. Soda

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Ginger

1/2 tsp. Cloves

1/4 tsp. Salt

Roll into 1" balls and dip tops in sugar.  Place on greased cookie sheet and bake 8 - 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Soft Caramels

Janet Tolman gave me this recipe years ago and it's been a keeper!  Makes the perfect little bite, not too soft or too hard! And anything with Sweetened Condensed Milk has my approval!

2 cubes/sticks of butter
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup Light Karo/Corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Butter a 9x13 pan very well.
Melt 2 sticks of butter in a heavy saucepan. Add 2 cups brown sugar and mix well.  When dissolved and smooth, add 1 c. Karo/corn syrup and 1/8 tsp salt.  Mix until smooth. Add 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk.
Add a Candy Thermometer to your saucepan, and stir constantly until it's at a Soft Ball stage, approximately 12-15 minutes.
Remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour into a 9x13 well-buttered pan.  Once the caramel has set, you can turn it out onto waxed paper.  Cut into 1" pieces/strips.  Each piece can be put on a waxed paper square and rolled with the ends twisted.