Lemonade Cupcakes

It sure does feel weird to be publishing a post at 9 a.m. rather than late at night!  I am home with a sick kiddo today.  You know, I always hate for her to be sick, but there’s something so sweet about a sick child.  They are so cuddly and pitiful. 

Yesterday when I published my pasta salad idea, I told you I had a cupcake recipe to share as well.  Hello, lemonade cupcakes!

This was a last-minute dessert idea that I had yesterday when shopping for items for our tailgate/picnic.  On the way to the grocery store, I was thinking about making cupcakes, but I wanted to make a “summery” cupcake.  I knew I had seen lemonade cupcakes on various blogs and probably on Pinterest, too.  But I had never pinned a recipe or bookmarked one.  When I arrived at the store, I quickly Googled “lemonade cupcakes” and I came across this recipe.

It had pretty good reviews AND it was a more of a “sorta-homemade” cupcake, which suited me just fine.  (Sorta Homemade=packaged ingredients with a few items added in.)  Since the picnic was in just a few hours, I wasn’t looking for a very long or complicated recipe. 

This was very simple and easy.  I didn’t make many changes.  The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was add about a teaspoon of the lemonade concentrate to the cream cheese frosting, just to give it a little more lemon flavor. 

I wanted them to look like a glass of lemonade, so I added yellow sugar crystals, yellow straws, and a tiny lemon slice to the top.  :)

The cupcakes had good flavor and really did taste like lemonade!  Give these a try if you need to make a dessert for a party or gathering this summer!

I’ve already got another post ready to go for tomorrow about a special condiment that most of you have probably not tried.  I’m going to keep it a secret for now… but if you are a hot dog fan… then you are going to want to try this out! Stay tuned for details!

Readers: What is your favorite food to take to a picnic or tailgate gathering?