Lemon Lush

​This week on In The Kitchen with Mary Mac, we tell you how to make Lemon Lush! It's so lemony! Rich, delicious, why one might even say Lush!

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Ingredients

• 1 9-oz package of lemon bar cookies or sugar cookies
• ½ c butter or margarine, melted
• 1 8-oz package neufchâtel or light/regular cream cheese, room temperature
• 4-6 c whipped topping (2 or 3 8-oz containers)
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 1 ½ tsp lemon flavoring
• 2 22-oz cans lemon pie filling - I like Lucky Leaf
• 9x13 glass baking dish

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Grind the cookies in a food processor or blender until they’re fine crumbs
• Add the melted butter to the cookie crumbs, grind to mix in the butter
• Pour into the baking dish and press into a crust, covering the bottom of the dish. Once spread out, cover with a piece of wax paper and press down firmly so it’s packed well
• Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, let cool completely before using
• In a bowl, beat the neufchâtel until it’s all whipped up
• Beat in powdered sugar
• Gently fold in 2 c whipped topping and the lemon flavoring
• Slowly mix with a mixer, then whip up until light and fluffy
• Spread this evenly over the cooled crust, place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
• Carefully spread the lemon pie filling over the first layer
• Cover carefully with 2-4 c whipped topping
• Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve
• Garnish pieces with cookie crumbs, a whole cookie stuck in the top, or a bit of lemon peel. Serves 15-20

Substitutions

To make Sugar-Free:

• use sugar-free cookies for the crust
• instead of powdered sugar, use 3 packs of Equal
• use sugar-free whipped topping
• instead of pie filling, use fresh fruit

To make Vegan:

• use vegan cookies for the crust
• instead of neufchâtel, use vegan cream cheese or vegan sour cream
• instead of whipped topping, use vegan whipped cream

Variations:

• ​If you want to use a tube of pie filling, empty it into a bowl and mix in ½ c lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon flavoring. You can also make your own pie filling if you like
• You can use fresh fruit or pudding instead of pie filling for different flavor combinations
• Graham crackers, nilla wafers, oreos, and all kinds of sugar cookies work well for the crust
• Flavors we think would be nice: graham cracker crust with lime pie filling; chocolate cookie crust with razzmatazz, raspberry pie filling, and chocolate pudding; chocolate cookie crust with kirsch and cherry pie filling, The possibilities are endless!

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