Jell-O Cookies, Orange Creamsicle & Coconut Lime

Pantry Recipe:

I admit I am not a lover of jiggly Jell-o dishes. I keep Jell-o in my pantry for other purposes, mainly flavoring for other dishes. When I saw these bright Jell-O cookies on Pinterest, I thought my girls will think those are so fun to make.  But I wanted to give these sugar cookies even a little more flavor. Plus it always fun to play mad scientist in the kitchen with your daughters. So, I pulled out some of my flavored extracts. Which I always have in my spice cupboard because I am a cupcake girl. 

These cookies were so simple and quick to make. We made one batch of the orange creamsicle and decided we needed to make another batch.  My kids liked the Coconut Lime but I liked the especially tangy Orange Creamsicle.

A note for Lactose intolerant kids. We exchanged butter for a dairy free margarine with flax seed oil. The cookies still turned out great. 

The Recipe

For Orange Creamsicle - use orange gelatin and 1/2 tsp orange extract (a little less for a less intense orange flavor)

For Coconut Lime -- Use lime gelatin and 1/2 tsp coconut (more for more coconut flavor)

The Recipe

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 – 3oz. pkg of Jell-O

Cream the above ingredients.  

Add:

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 tsp of flavored extract

Cream the eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture.  

Add:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix well.  The dough will be fairly soft, but not sticky.  You don’t need to refrigerate the dough before rolling.  

 

 Roll dough into 1″ to 1 1/4″ balls and then roll in a bowl with about 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in it, completely covering the exterior of the dough ball.  Place on the pan about 2″ apart.  Using a flat-bottomed glass (or bowl) press the dough to about a 3/8″ thickness. Sprinkle with chunky decorative sugar (found in the cookie and cupcake decorating section of your grocery or craft store)

Bake the cookies for 6 – 8 minutes.  6 minutes is long enough unless you like your cookies crisp. We did ours for about 7 and I wished I had only done 6 minutes. They do crisp up as they cool. I just really like a soft cookie. Cool on a rack.

 

Banana and Cherry Jell-o Pops

There is a story about me and my Jell-o making abilities that goes something like this. When I was a freshman in college I had no cooking skills whatsoever. My roommates like to remind me, as they laugh and writhe in giggling agony, of the day I realized I really didn't know my way around a kitchen. I was making dinner for my boyfriend and Jell-o was on the menu. I looked at my roommates announced I should start the Jell-o and they responded with a perfectly legitimate question. "When is he coming?" My naive response. "In 2 minutes."

Oh I have come such a long way in 17 years. I still don't make Jell-o very often. I think those packets make great flavorings for pies, Like my pineapple lime pie. I do however keep boxes and boxes of jello mix and pudding on hand (OK mostly pudding). So, in honor of so many things: my roommates, my vastly improved cooking skills, banana week and summer, I give you the recipe for my own invention, Cherry Banana Pops.

Recipe

1 box (4 oz) of sugar free cherry gelatin (or other delicious flavor)

3 bananas

1 tsp lemon juice

1 8 oz tub of light whipping cream (or make your own if so inclined)

1 can of Apple Cherry juice concentrate (feel free to use any flavor your heart desires)

1 Cup boiling water

1 Cup cold water

Ice cubes

Place cherry gelatin in medium bowl. Add 1 cup boiling water and stir 2 minutes until gelatin is completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to 1 cup cold water to make 2 cups cold water. Add to gelatin and stir until ice cubes are completely dissolved. Pour evenly into 16 plastic cups or popsicle mold. (I used huge wide cups and the popsicles were a little too big. 5 oz cups would have been much better.) Add about 1/4 cup to each cup and freeze for 1 hour.

Slice 3 bananas and add bananas and lemon juice to whip cream. Spoon mixture onto frozen gelatin in cups. Stick plastic spoons or popsicle sticks into center of each cup and freeze for another hour. Top off with juice and freeze for an additional 4 hours or overnight.

To remove pops from cups, place bottom of cups under warm running water and press firmly on bottom of cup.