The girls and I have been testing out several homemade lemonade recipes this spring and we finally found one that I think is a perfect mix of  tangy and sweet that I wanted to share.

This is about 1000 times better then the powder mix lemonades and I find it a little lighter and more refreshing then the stuff you can buy at the store.

It is so fast to whip this up and a fun way to get the little ones in the kitchen too!  My 4 year old and 5 year old have become very good little lemonade makers (we seriously tried about 11 recipes or so and this was the biggest hit).  I make the simple syrup and they squeeze the lemons- pop in the fridge and viola!  Perfect lemonade!

This does have sugar in it but far less then the stuff you buy at the store and you can always substitute agave or turbinado sugar if you prefer to skip the white sugar.  (We did try this with honey instead of sugar and it wasn’t to my taste but that is another option.)

We just have one of these juicers that was maybe $5 or so at Target.   (Or grab one for $5 from Amazon here.)  It is really fast to juice the lemons- my little girls can actually do this step.

Here is the recipe:

Squeeze the juice from about 8 lemons ( or 6 lemons if they are large).  You want about 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice total.
Add 1 1/3 cups of sugar to a pot and 1 cup of water. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
Add lemon juice and 8 cups of water to a large pitcher. Once the simple syrup cools mix that in as well.

Chill well and serve!

So simple and just delicious! I prefer a little tang to my lemonade. If you like it just a tiny bit sweeter add 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead if you are a super, super sweet lemonade person adjust the sugar to  1 3/4 cups.

Recipe slightly adapted from All Recipes.

And if you want a little caffeine kick- try this easy homemade iced coffee recipe.

And here is another recipe for a perfect iced tea lemonade (or Arnold Palmer)- one of my favorite summer drinks!

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