Homemade Frozen Lemonade

I wasn’t planning on sharing another drink this week, but I couldn’t help myself. Last week Wes and I visited the Target cafe while shopping to get his usual mango smoothie. Unfortunately it is no longer there. Minute Maid has replaced Jamba Juice so Wes chose a frozen lemonade instead. It was pretty good but very tart and turned to just ice faster than we would have liked. We decided we should make our own frozen lemonade at home. Since I had almost an entire bag of fresh lemons to use up anyway, the timing was perfect. This Homemade Frozen Lemonade turned out amazing!

A full cup of lemon juice is necessary for this recipe. If you like a tart lemonade you’ll want to add more lemon juice or reduce the amount of simple syrup.

When making homemade lemonade, don’t waste all that lemon peel!

Lemon Zest: Did you know you can freeze lemon zest? I zested all our lemon peels and froze it for later use in recipes.
Garbage Disposal: Nothing works better than citrus fruit peel to freshen up a garbage disposal. I popped two halves into our garbage disposal and froze the rest to take out whenever it is needed.

Ingredients

3 cups water (divided)
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5 to 6 lemons)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (optional)
5 cups ice
1 lemon, sliced (garnish)
maraschino cherries (garnish)

Instructions

Make simple syrup by heating 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Cook until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool completely.
Blend 2 cups water, simple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest (if desired) and ice in quality blender.
Garnish with lemon slices and a cherry, if desired.