Cherry Lemonade Recipe
I’ve always loved the concept of pink lemonade, though I don’t love the concept of artificially colored food and drink (except when it comes to Skittles and Starburst and Jelly Belly — then I am powerless over their bright and joyful colors!). And like any other red-blooded American I also love Sonic cherry limeade.
But got-damn limes are expensive these days! So instead I’ve started making this cherry lemonade recipe. Since I drink like a quart of it a day (being pregnant and thirsty and unable to imbibe in a cold Coors any old time I please, either before or after noon) I’ve started making it with Xylitol.
Xylitol is one of those new sugar alcohol sweeteners available that have, like, a zero on the glycemic index but unlike other sweeteners, xylitol also actually prevents cavities. So basically you’ll be enjoying a refreshing drink while doing your chompers a solid if you make this lemonade with xylitol. But you can also totally use sugar. Or honey.
Try adding ginger to it, too, for a fancier ginger cherry lemonade!
PrintCherry Lemonade Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh cherries (about 14 cherries)
- Optional: a few thin slices of fresh ginger root
- 1 cup very hot water
- 6 tablespoons Xylitol or sugar or honey
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 cups cold water
- 2 cups ice
Instructions
- Rinse and stem cherries. Place 3-4 at a time on a cutting board and press on them with the flat side of a chef knife until crushed. Remove pits and coarsely chop cherries. Use a plastic cutting board unless you don’t mind pink stains on your wooden cutting board. And beware of cherry stains on your clothes.
- In a heat-proof pitcher, put hot water, cherries (ginger) and whatever sweetener you’re using. Stir until sweetener is dissolved.
- Add lemon juice, cold water and ice and stir until cold.
- Makes about 6 cups of cherry lemonade (6-8 servings)
Notes
For Ginger Cherry Lemonade:
Add 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger to ingredients list.
Steep ginger in hot water for 5 minutes. Strain into pitcher, discard ginger. Continue with recipe.
Xylitol can be found near the sugar in most groceries. The brand I found is called Ideal.
Nutrition
- Calories: 10
13 Comments
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Never heard of xylitol before. I’ll have to look out for it. My vegan girlfriend won’t eat sugar, honey or even agave nectar. She puts sweet & low in the coffee I roast myself. That’s just gross.
Oh dear! That does seem a shame, James. 😉
You should be able to find Xylitol in any decent grocery. It’s sold loose and in little packets. Will she use stevia? To me, stevia has a weird aftertaste, but it is plant-derived and a lot of people like it.
just stopping by to say i went on youtube about an hr ago looking for a recipe o how to make corn dogs because i was really craving them i came across a bunch of videos but then i clicked on yours after a bunch of trial and error with the other videos( mainly because they were boring or because they looked weird (the people not the food lol) but i watched your videos and now i am instantly hooked to your channel because you make cooking fun and your funny i get your sense of humor and i look forward to seeing more of your videos and this is coming from a short 26 year old jamacian from the bronx keep up the good work
★★★★★
Hi Donald! Thanks for stopping in! So glad you picked my corn dog video out of all the rest. 😉
Fortunately, the price of limes is dropping! I thought I’d have to pay more for the limes than the cachaca to make caipirinhas during the World Cup, but I found that either Central Market or Whole Foods was selling them 3 for a dollar. As a result, I have both lemons and limes. If I wanted to make limeade as well as lemonade should I use the same amount of lime juice as the recipe calls for lemon juice? What type of cherries did you use? And I notice there’s ginger in the picture (I’ve got ton of that and I’m burnt out on making ginger beer!)
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Yes, I’ve noticed that! They are now about the same price as lemons, which isn’t too bad.
I used Bing cherries and I made a couple batches with ginger infused into the simple syrup. I think I added how to do that in a note at the bottom of the recipe?
To make limeade, I think I’d increase the amount of juice by a tablespoon or two. To me, limes are sweeter than lemons so the juice:sugar ratio can be a little more equal.
Hi Hilah! I recently started college so cooking for myself is something I’m getting used to. I’ve always loved to cook though, so that’s why i LOVE your show. And, I’m currently on a diet and bought some of the sweetener you mentioned and omg, amazing! Love this recipe and love you! All the way from Kansas! 🙂
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Hi Ciara!
Thank you so much for writing! It’s great to hear from you. I love that you are cooking for yourself instead of eating frozen pizza all the time like many college freshmen. 😉 And happy to recommend Xylitol! Glad you like it.
Hilah i love everything you do and the way you do it
★★★★★
Love your stuff
Why is it that the limes at Costco have less juice than a rock?
Ha! Try sticking them in the microwave for 10 seconds before juicing them. 🙂
Does this recipe Contain any sugar
When you say 12 do you mean cups