Hot Dog on a Stick's Frozen Lemonade Copycat Recipe

Welcome back, summer! It was sooooooo warm yesterday, and it's expected to get up to the 80's today! It's about 9:30am and my daughter is already out on the porch doing "experiments" with lemons, jell-o and food coloring. I heard her say, "Oh my gosh! My hypothesis was right AGAIN!" so it sounds like she's having herself some fun in the sun. Later today I'm taking each of my girls on a one-on-one Mommy-daughter date to soak up the sun together.

With it being so warm yesterday, while we were out I got an intense craving for something fruity and refreshing. I finally figured out exactly what I wanted. A frozen lemonade from Hot Dog on a Stick. They are my FAVORITE. Unfortunately, the nearest one was about 15 miles away.

I decided I could just make my own. Like, how hard can it be? I'd made my own homemade lemonade recipe before and it turned out amazing, so this shouldn't be any different. Still, I was hoping to be able to find a copycat recipe on the net somewhere to double check any secret ingredients. I couldn't find a single thing!

What I came up with, I think, could be sold at Hot Dog on a Stick and no one would know the difference between theirs and mine. I was SOO happy! My girls went nuts over it, too. It had quenched my craving for a fruity and refreshing drink and I can't wait to have some more today.

I am sure there are plenty of different ways to make frozen lemonade, but I wanted a specific taste. It had to be like Hot Dog on a Stick's, and it is. Therefore, I give you, Hot Dog on a Stick's Frozen Lemonade copycat recipe-

What you will need:

• 1 C hot water
• 1 C + 1 T sugar
• 1 C fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
• 7 C ice

Directions:

• Make a simple syrup by dissolving 1 C sugar into 1 C hot water
• Juice your lemons
• Add lemon juice and syrup to a blender
• Add 1 C of ice at a time and blend together
• After all your ice is blended, drop the last 1 T of sugar in and blend

Parisian Hot Chocolate

My sweet friend Kelli spent a while in Paris and while nothing could ever quite compare to the real hot chocolate in Paris, she found a recipe that she is satisfied with and was nice enough to share it a while ago! I tried it and fell in love with it and have been making it ever since. I love that you can choose the flavor based on what chocolate chips you use. It's perfect!!

I made this one for my daughter, so that explains why it's all girly :).

What you will need:

• 1 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 C chocolate chips of your choice (I use Guittard chocolate chips! I think chocolate chips are all disgusting by themselves except for Guittard milk chocolate. They are AMAZING! Heck, you could use white chocolate chips if you wanted.)
• 2 C whole milk

Directions:

• In a pan, heat the heavy whipping cream just until the edges begin to boil
• Add in the chocolate chips and whisk together as the chocolate melts
• In another pan, warm the whole milk up over medium heat
• When the chocolate chips and heaving cream are well blended, pour the mixture into the warmed milk and combine

Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider

I thought I'd let you all in on a fun Fall recipe to get you in the mood for the bare tree's and brisk air! If you are looking for something "close enough" to Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider, this is not it.

If you are looking for exact, this is your recipe (minus the caramel sauce but hey who cares?)

The caramel apple cider in this picture had the optional added whipped cream at the bottom of the glass. If that's not your thing, this would be less creamy looking.

This recipe is for a single serving (12 oz.)


What you will need:

• Apple juice
• 6 T* Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Syrup ($7.95 for 1 LITER!!!! This will last you forever!)
• Whipped Cream
• Caramel sauce

Directions:

• Heat the apple juice and cinnamon syrup on the stove (non aluminum pan) until it is steaming and warm- no need to bring to a boil
• (optional) Add a dollop of Whipped cream at the bottom of your glass to add some extra creaminess to your cider
• Pour your cider into your glass
• Top with whipped cream
• Drizzle with caramel sauce (I used the ice cream topping caramel, but you can purchase the caramel they use at Starbucks as well!)

*Barista's at Starbucks use about 3 "pumps" of the cinnamon dolce per (12 oz) serving. Each "pump" is equal to about 2 T, so if you are wanting to make this in your crock pot (like I will be doing soon!), you can measure accordingly!

Homemade Lemonade

I had "make homemade lemonade" on my bucket list for the summer. I've never made homemade lemonade before can you believe that?! I'll be honest, I did not follow a recipe to the slightest here. I had my lemons, I had my water and had my sugar and I winged it.

Turns out winging it can do amazing things. I loooooove this lemonade! It's so good. Ah. Try it out! You'll love me, specially because it is the easiest way I could have possibly made it.

What you will need:

• 1 C water
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C fresh lemon juice (I used 6 lemons)
• 5 C cold water

Directions:

• Heat 1 C of water on the stove and dissolve 1 C of sugar in it
• Pour water/sugar mixture into a pitcher
• Juice your lemons and pour juice into the pitcher
• Mix water/sugar mixture with the juice
• Add 5 C of cold water to the pitcher and mix together
• Serve with ice and lemon slice

Butterbeer

I found some Bertie Bott's every-flavor beans at a candy store, so I figured a Harry Potter night was in order. I wanted to try out some Butterbeer and scouted out some recipes. This one caught my eye because she tried to make it less sweet than normal. 

She described it as "mixing a butterscotch/caramel syrup into cream soda and then topping it with a healthy dollop of butterscotch infused whipped cream." That's when it sold me.

You will need:

• 1 C brown sugar
• 2 T water
• 4 T butter
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 C. heavy cream
• 6 12 oz. bottles cream soda

Directions:

• In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar with 2 tablespoons water.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F (115 degrees C) on a candy thermometer, stirring occasionally. If you don't have a candy thermometer, bring to a gentle boil and turn off the heat after about a minute of cooking.
• Turn off the heat and add the butter, salt, vinegar, and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Stir until smooth. Cool mixture to room temperature before using
• In a medium bowl, beat together the remaining cream (1/2 cup) with 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar syrup
• In each glass, mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar syrup with 1/4 cup cream soda. Pour in the rest of the cream soda until it is nearly to the brim of the glass. Top with whipped cream

Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie

With it being nice and sunny today, I decided to make a smoothie and sit out on my balcony listening to Dave Matthews in the breeze. This is not the "healthy dessert" I promised you, but it's still super delicious. One thing to note, is that the amount of water in the recipe is more than if you were to use fresh strawberries. I'd sliced some strawberries up last night and put them in the freezer so I needed some added liquid. I totally winged it as I went, and it turned out fabulous so I'll go ahead and jot it down for you now.

What you will need:

• 2 C. frozen strawberries
• 8 fresh squeezed lemons (I'm sure lemonade would be fine, you'd need around 8 oz/1 C, but you'll want to cut back on the sugar amount)
• 3 T sugar
• 1 1/2 C water
• 1 C ice

Directions:

• Blend strawberries and lemon juice and sugar first
• Add in water a little at a time
• Add in ice a little at a time
• It should come out to a perfect smoothie thickness