Pecan Noodle Ring

This is a really delcious dairy free noodle pudding.  My Mother in Law always asks me to make for the Jewish holidays.  I like this recipe better than most dairy recipes, it's sweet and moist and crunchy all at the same time.  It also holds together beautifully and of course best of all it's super easy to make.  The original recipe is from the Kosher Palette Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
Vegetable cooking spray
1 (16 oz) package extra wide noodles
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine pecans, brown sugar, and margarine and spoon into Bundt pan coated heavly with cooking spray. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and transfer into a large bowl.
Add eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon, stirring well. Pour into noodles. Mix well with spoon. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out into a serving plate.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Asian Steak Marinade

We eat steak in my house at least once a week and my girls favorite type of steak is skirt steak.  I started marinating it in a light asian marinade that everyone loves.  I wanted to share the recipe with all of you.  You can also use this marinade for chicken or seafood.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons agave (or honey)

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a large ziploc bag.  Season meat with salt and pepper.  Add meat to marinade in ziploc bag, seal bag and let mariande for at least an hour but it's much better if you can wait 24 hours.  Remove meat from marinade and discard extra marinade.  Grill steak on BBQ on high heat for about 5 minutes on each side.  (I like when the marinade starts to caramelize).  Let steak rest for 5-7 minutes before slicing to let the juices redistribute.

Crockpot Eggplant Lasagna

I have had my crock pot for years but I never know what to make in it.  It always seems to me that most of the crock pot recipes require a can of some kind of creamed soup and that wouldn't go over very well in my family.  So I don't use it as often as I would like.  It would be really nice to just throw something together in the morning and just forget about it until dinner time.   So I'm on the search for good slow cooker recipes.  If anyone has one please leave a link in your comment so I can try it out.  Having said that, this crock pot eggplant lasagna was delicious.  My husband really loved it and so did my 21 month old son.  I used eggplant in everyother layer inplace of the pasta to help "lighten" this recipe a tiny bit. 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of no boil lasagna sheets

1 medium eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch slices lengthwise

1 lb of ground beef (chicken or turkey would be good too)

1 1/2 jars of pasta sauce

1 small container ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups of mozzarella cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

non-stick cooking spray (to spray inside of crock pot)

Preparation:

Spray entire inside of crock pot ceramic pot.  In a large skillet brown ground beef, drain off excess fat.  Add pasta sauce to meat and stir to combine, take off heat.  Mix ricotta cheese, egg and parmesan cheese in a small bowl and set aside. 

Assembly:

Spoon a couple large spoonfuls of meat sauce in the bottom of crock pot, next add a layer of pasta sheets (break them up to make them fit across the bottom of pot) Next add a layer of ricotta cheese mixture, sprinkle with a handful of mozzarella cheese. Spoon more sauce then add a layer of sliced eggplant, ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and sauce.  Continue layering using pasta sheets and then back to eggplant until all ingredients are used up.  End with a top layer of mozzarella cheese.  Cover pot and cook on low for 4 hrs.

Candy Corn Cookies

I saw these cookies on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle and I just thought they were so cute.  I was dying to make them.  I also loved reading her information about this recipe because it is a "flawed" recipe.  You are supposed to color 1/3 of the dough yellow, 1/3 orange and leave the other 1/3 uncolored or white.  The problem with this is that when you slice them into the triangles (see pictures at bottom of post) you would end up with every other cookie with a white tip and yellow bottom and every other cookie with a yellow tip and a white bottom.  Candy Corns always have yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle and white on the top.  So I thought it was a great idea to fix this problem by not dying the dough yellow at all, having top and bottom uncolored and the middle orange and then after they are baked, dipped the bottoms in melted yellow chocolate.  Genius!  Either way these are a super cute Halloween Treat!  Also these cookies are not overly sweet so having the added sweetness of the white chocolate is very yummy!

 

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-2 cups of Yellow melting chocolate

 

Preparation:

Cream together sugar and butter. Add egg, vanilla, and milk. Whip until light and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add slowly to the wet ingredients until well incorporated. When the dough is formed, remove it from the bowl, and divide it into thirds. Tint one third of the dough orange (I used Wilton gel coloring) and leave the other two-thirds uncolored.

Afterward, line a 9×5 loaf pan with plastic wrap.(I had either a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 or a 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 loaf pan.  I opted for the 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 and it worked out perfectly)  Press one third of the white dough into a flat layer on the bottom. Next, add the orange dough on top creating the second layer. Finally, use the last of the white dough to make layer three. Cover the top with the overhanging plastic wrap, and chill, preferably overnight. Slice into “candy corns” (pictures below) and bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes.

Melt about 1-2 cups of yellow Candy Melts in the microwave.  Heat on high for 30 second intervals stirring inbetween until chocolate is melted and smooth.  I didn't have yellow candy melts so I use white chocolate chips and yellow food coloring.  You have to be very careful if you choose to do this because if the chocolate isn't at the exact right temperature then it will seize up when you add the food coloring.  The chocolate has to be at exactly 110 degrees on a candy thermometer before you can add the coloring.  It's actually not very easy.  I seized up the first two batches of chocolate that I used.  I found if you add a few capfuls of vegetable oil in the chocolate before the food coloring this helps to temper the chocolate.  I also don't think I got the right color doing it this way.  The yellow Candy Melts would've looked much better.  Anyway, after you have melted yellow chocolate dip the bottoms of each cookie into the chocolate then lay on a lined cookie sheet to harden.

1st layer white, 2nd layer orange

3rd layer white

Fold plastic wrap over top of dough and chill overnight

Slice 1/4 inch strips of dough

Then cut triangles but alternating between "v" and upside down "v" shapes

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Melt yellow chocolate and dip the bottoms of each cooled cookie

Let chocolate harden on a cookie sheet (I put mine in the refrigerator to speed up the process

Linked to Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday

Linked to Sweet Tooth Friday

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos

Linked to Cast Party Wednesday

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #14

We loved all of the delicious APPLE recipes from last week.  There are so many we want to make....thank you to everyone who linked up.  This week we are keeping with the theme of fall and want to see all of your favorite recipes using NUTS!   Almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts.....anything is game.

Our Rules:
1.  Please become a follower of our blog.
2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Now let's see the featured APPLE recipes from last week:

Homeade Apple Dumplings by Cooking with K


Upside Down Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake
by The Lady Behind the Curtain

Carmel Apple Spice by Everyday Mom's Meals















Apple Bars by The Kitchen Cookie


Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake by A Spoonful of Thyme


Apple Stuffed French Toast by Semi Homemade Mom

Cinnamon Krispy Bars

I am a little obsessed with cinnamon chips lately.  I think these are the best thing since.....well chocolate chips!  I've been wanting to make rice krispy treats for an afterschool snack and I wanted to do something a little different.  My kids really love these cinnamon chips too.  These came out AMAZING!  Just enough, crunch, just enough cinnamon, just enough marshmallow.  You can't get much better than this.

Ingredients:

1 - 10 oz bag of marshamllows

3 tablespoons margarine

pinch of salt

3 cups rice krispy cereal

3 cups cinnamon toast crunch cereal

1 cup cinnamon chips

non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

In a large bowl combine rice krispy cereal, cinnamon toast crunch cereal and cinnamon chips and set aside.  Spray a large pasta pot with non-stick cooking spray.  Melt 3 tablespoons of margarine on med-high heat in pot.  Add marshamallows and stir constantly until marhsmallows are completely melted. Add a small pinch of salt to marshmallows, mix to combine.  Remove pot from heat and add in rice krispy cereal, cinnamon toast crunch and cinnamon chips into the melted marshmallows.  Stir quickly to combine all the cereal, cinnamon chips and marshmallows.  The cinnamon chips with start to melt which is what you want.  Transfer mixture directly into a 8x8 baking dish that is generously coated with non-stick cooking spray.  Spray you hand with non-stick cooking spray and press mixture firmly down into baking dish.  Put some pressure with your hands to get it nice and flat and compact into pan.  Let cool completely before cutting. 

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

Linked to Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos

Mini Rosemary Biscotti with Dried Cranberries

Nanci and I are catering another Baby Shower in October and one of things we are serving is Butternut Squash Soup served in tea cups as an appetizer.  We have made this with our sisters for Thanksgiving before and served the soup along with a mini cranberry muffin which was really yummy.  I wanted to come up with something a little more savory and a little more crunchy so we thought of making a biscotti with rosemary and cranberries.  Also since we are serving it along side a tea cup of soup a mini biscotti would be much easier to dip and eat.  We tweaked a Mandelbrot recipe that our sister, Karen typically makes for the Jewish holidays and came up with this really delicious slightly savory, slightly sweet biscotti.  We think it will be the perfect accompaniment to our soup.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teasoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped finely

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with a silpat or grease baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl cream together margarine and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined well.  In a med bowl using a wire whisk, mix together flours, baking powder and salt.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time.  This makes a very stiff dough, you may need to use your hands to mix at the end.  Add cranberries and rosemary and knead with your hands until incorporated evenly.   Divide dough in half and using your hands form dough into a long thin, flat loaf on lined baking sheet.  You should be able to make two 10-12 inch loaves that are about 4 inches wide and 1 inch in thick.  Bake in the oven for 25 minute or until the edges of the loaves are lightly brown.  Remove from oven and slice each loaf into 1/2 inch slices.  Lay slices down on baking sheet and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove biscotti from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Corn Meal Crusted Tilapia with Spiced Tortilla Chips and Lime Ranch Salsa

My kids really love fish lately so I wanted to come up with some new ways to serve it.  I get bored so easily with eating the same thing over and over again.  Tilapia is a great fish to use for breading, it really holds up to flipping around in the pan.  This corn meal crust is very light and flavorful.  The tortilla chips add a nice extra crunch too.  The sauce is something I just whipped up using the ingredients I had on hand but I think plain salsa would be great or maybe a chili lime sauce.  Use the sauce sparingly, a little goes a long way!

Ingredients:

4 pieces of tilapia cut in half (separate thick and thin sides)
1/4 cup corn meal (or polenta)
1/4 flour
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder; divided
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon coarse salt; divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 crunchy taco shells, crushed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup prepared salsa
1/2 packet of ranch dressing. powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup vegetable oil for frying
fresh cilantro for garnish

Preparation:

Place crushed taco shells on a lined baking sheet.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray sprinkle crushed shells with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and cinnamon.  Toss to coat and spread evenly on baking  sheet.  Spray tops with a little extra non-stick cooking spray and place in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until chips just start to brown.

In a shallow bowl mix corn meal, flour, onion flakes, paprika, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Dredge tilapia fillets in corn meal mixture patting to coat evenly.  Heat oil in a large skillet on high heat.  When oil is hot add breaded tilapia fillets 3 or 4 at a time and cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side until they are golden brown.  Transfer to a plate covered in paper towels to drain excess oil.  Add a little extra oil to pan if needed and cook next batch of fillets.  Once all fillets are cooked cover with aluminum foil to keep warm or transfer to a lined baking sheet and place in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm.

In a small bowl combine, ranch dressing mix (powder), mayonaise, lime juice and salsa, set aside.

To serve add a small handful of tortilla chips on top of a fish fillet, sprinkle with a little chopped cilantro.  Serve sauce on the side or drizzle a little bit on top or on the side of each fish fillet.

Linked to This Chick Cooks

Autumdoodles

New recipe that is perfect for the fall.  Thanks to Krista at Everyday Mom's Meals for the great name :), Autumdoodles, a play on Snickerdoodles.  These cookies are nice and chewy and crispy and chock full of cinnamon, chocolate and dried fruit.  So delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks of margarine (or butter), softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cinnamon chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried mixed berries (I used cherries, cranberries, blueberries, currants and raisins)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with a silpat liner or grease pan with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl cream together margarine and sugars until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add dry ingredients a little bit at a time to wet ingredients.  Mixing in between additions to incorporate well.  Once all dry and wet ingredients are mixed together add cinnamon, chocolate and berries.    The batter will be very thick and hard to mix.  Use a wooden spoon to help get the batter evenly mixed. 

Using a small scoop drop batter onto prepared cookie sheet.  These cookies do not spread a lot so you do not have to space them too far apart.  Bake for 15 minutes until cookies are golden brown.  Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #13

My favorite time of the year is just around the corner so it's time to start thinking about our favorite fall recipes and ingredients.  So for this week's Sharing Sundays we would like to see all recipes that use APPLES!  I can't wait to go apple picking with the kids and then come home and see what we can make.  What about you?  What are some of your favorite apple recipes?

Our Rules:
1.  Please become a follower of our blog.
2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Now let's see the featured GREEN recipes from last week

Crunchy Broccoli Salad by Carolynn's Recipe Box














Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad by Cook Lisa Cook


Oven Roasted Broccoli by Crumbs and Chaos

Dill Pickles from Ruth's Real Food


Coconut Ice by Keeping the Christmas Spirit









Polenta Corn Cakes

New test recipe in hope of using up the 100 bags of frozen corn that are in my freezer.  My husband just keeps buying corn without checking to see what is left so I wanted to reduce my supply a little bit.  I thought my kids would really love these as a side dish.  I tested this recipe and I ended up tweaking it a little bit.  I reduced the amount of polenta by half and added a little more baking soda to make the corn cakes a little lighter.  I also added an additional 1/2 cup of corn since that should be the star of the show.  Lastly, I reduced the amount of sugar when my husband complained that he doesn't like them sweet (although I really do) so I compromised and reduced the sugar from 1/4 cup to 2 tablespoons. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup instant polenta
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup  lowfat milk
2 eggs
2 cups frozen corn
1 tablespoon chives, snipped *optional
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Preparation:

In a large bowl combine polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in milk and 2 eggs, mix until combined.  Add corn and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a large skillet over med/high heat.  When oil is hot drop corn cake batter into oil using a tablespoon measure.  Flatten batter out a little bit once it's in the oil.  Let fry for about 1 minute on each side or until corn cake is golden brown.  Tranfer corn cakes to a plate covered with papertowels to drain excess oil.  Serve immediately or keep hot in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

Linked to Everyday Mom's Meals
Linked to Strut your Stuff Saturday

Mini Blueberry Crescent Pies

 I am forever wanting to use up fresh ingredients so they won't go to waste.  I had a whole pint of blueberries left and I wanted to make something a little different with and of course I wanted it to be VERY easy and  quick.  We always also have refrigerated crescent rolls on hand so I made these mini blueberry crescent pies.  They take just a few minutes to put together and they are very yummy. 

Ingredients:

Filling:
1 cup of blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place blueberries in a small bowl and toss with sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon, set aside.  Open crescent rolls and cut each roll into 3 parts, you will need to play with the dough a little bit to get as close to a square shape as you can.  Take each square of dough and gently press into a mini muffin tin. (you do not need to make these uniform, free form is best).  Spoon about a teaspoon of the blueberry mixture into each mini dough cup.  Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and top each blueberry cup with the brown sugar mixture.  Bake for about 20  minutes until the dough is browned and the blueberries are bubbling.  Let cool completely before you remove pies from the muffin tins.

Banana Cinnamon Chip Blondie Bars

Banana recipe #5 and if you can believe it I'm not sick of bananas yet.  I found these blondie bars searching around for recipes using bananas (of course) and cinnamon chips which I just saw in my super market and I was dying to try.  This recipe looked and sounded too good not to try and I was right!!  These are AMAZING.  They are super moist and the tops get crispy and chewy.  The bananas and the cinnamon are a perfect combination!  I found this recipe on Erin's Food Files.  Please take a minute to visit her blog....she has a lot of really nice recipes posted.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup banana puree
1 cup whole wheat flour (the recipe  called for white whole wheat but I substituted regular whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cinnamon chips
*you can also add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, I omitted this ingredient

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x9 or 8x8 baking dish. Cream butter and sugar together until creamy. Add egg and beat until combined and batter is smooth. Stir in banana puree & vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet until just combined.
Add cinnamon chips and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares. If you do not let cool completely they will fall apart when you try to get them out of the pan.  Try to resist!
Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos
Linked to Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #12

Okay sticking with the color theme, next up GREEN!!    Please post recipes that contan green ingredients such as Peas, Lime, Kiwi, Lettuce, Spinach, Avocado, Green Apple, Broccoli etc.  I love looking at all the monochromatic links.  Now for those yummy YELLOW recipes from last week, let's see whose recipes received the most views........

Triple Layer Lemon Pie by Carolynn's Recipe Box


Lemon Cookies by Aunt Nubby's Kitchen


Twinkie Cake by The 4 Little Fergusons


Banana Nut Nutella Cinnamon Rolls by Eat Run Read


Grilled Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad by Cook Lisa Cook


Okay now let link up those GREEN recipes!!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I was watching an episode of Chopped the other night and in the dessert round one of the ingredients that the chefs had to use was a roll out pie crust.  One of the chefs used the dough to make cookies.  I thought that is such a GREAT idea.  I'm not sure why I haven't thought of that myself.  I happen to have one of those roll out pie crusts in my refrigerator and I thought these would make such cute cinnamon roll cookies.  This is the easiest recipe, just a few ingredients and it takes just a few minutes to prepare and about 12 minutes in the oven.  These cookies are super cute and really, really delicous.

Ingredients:

Cookies:
2 refrigerated roll out pie crusts
1/2-3/4 cup dark brown sugar (I just sprinkled it on until it covered the surface)
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or more to taste)

Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cold milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Roll out pie crust and place on a greased cookie sheet (or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat).  Sprinkle 1/2 the brown sugar and 1/2 the cinnamon over the entire surface of the pie crust.  Starting at the bottom (end closest to you) roll the pie crust up into a log.

Slice the log into  1/2 inch slices and place slice facing up on the greased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 12 minutes until the cookies are brown and the cinnamon sugar is bubbling.

Prepare icing by mixing powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl.  Pour icing into a zip lock bag.  With a sharp scissor snip off a very, very tiny corner from the zip lock bag (I MEAN TINY) and squeeze a zig zag pattern over each cookie.  It's okay if icing drips down the sides of the cookies.  I think they look prettier that way!

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

Linked to Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Linked to Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Linked to This Chick Cooks

Linked to Cast Party Wednesday

Linked to Seasonal Inspiration by Crumbs and Chaos

Linked to Tea Party Tuesday

Lemon Cookies

I saw this recipe on Aunt Nubby's Kitchen when she linked it up to our Sharing Sundays theme YELLOW.  They looked so good that I had to take a look.  I really love anything lemon.  Then I saw how easy they were to make and I never saw a cookie that used Cool Whip as one of the ingredients.  I was too curious not to give them a try myself.  Unfortunately I didn't have all the right ingredients so I made some minor changes and they came out really great.  The biggest difference is that you are suppose to use powdered sugar to roll the dough in and I used granulated sugar.  The taste is still really good but I think the powdered sugar is so much prettier once they are baked.  The other major difference is that I didn't have a boxed Lemon Cake mix so I used a plain Yellow Cake mix and added extra fresh lemon and lemon zest.  I'm going to make them again soon following the recipe exactly and see the difference. If you would like to see the original recipe please click on the link above for Aunt Nubby's Kitchen and it will take you right to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 egg
Zest from 2 lemons
Juice from 2 1/2 lemons
1 - 8oz tub of cool whip (I used light)
3/4 cup of granulated sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat baking liner.  In a large bowl add cake mix, lemon zest, lemon juice and egg and mix until combines well.  The mixture will be crumbly.  Then add whole tub of cool whip and mix to combine.  The batter will be very sticky.  Place bowl in refrigerate and chill batter for at least 1 hour.  Remove batter from refrigerator.  Put sugar in a small bowl and with a teaspoon drop a small amount of batter directly into sugar.  Spoon sugar on top of batter and then roll with your hand.  The sugar helps you to roll the dough into balls with out it sticking to your hands.  Place balls on lined baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes until cookies are light brown.  Let cool a little bit on sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.