Semi-Homemade Strawberry Frosting

There once was a time when I made everything for our family from scratch.  Lately, I have been more in a semi-homemade mode.  Or, to be honest, a lets go get something out and supplement with green smoothies afterwards mode!!

So I will be posting more recipes for those of us who are just plain busy, tired, or simply need some inspiration in the kitchen!  Did I used to bake professionally?  That feels like another person in another life!

Every now and then a product comes along that I get super-duper excited about!  These pre-made frostings from Miss Jones are one of those products!  They are dairy and egg FREE!!!

And BONUS: They are made in a nut-free facility so you can send them to school for cupcakes or cookie decorating parties.  This is huge since most schools will only allow pre-packaged goods in classrooms!

This frosting recipe also uses organic freeze-dried strawberries.  Freeze-dried fruit is a great way to add color to a frosting without any artificial dyes.  I'm beginning to feel great about not making this from scratch ;)

Semi-Homemade Strawberry Frosting

(gluten and dairy-free, dye-free, and vegan-friendly)
Makes enough to abundantly frost 14 cupcakes 

Ingredients

• 1 jar of Miss Jones Organic Vanilla Frosting
• 1 bag of Organic Freeze-dried Strawberries (I usually find these at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Trader Joe's)

Method

• TIP:  If your jar of Miss Jones Frosting has separated a bit, it might be because it got too hot in shipping or in your car home from the store :)  Don't worry- it doesn't have any unnatural preservatives or stabilizers so that can happen.   Just beat it in a bowl with a hand-held mixer for 1-2 minutes.  
• Blend the bag of freeze-dried strawberries in a high-powered blender until they are a fine powder.  I use my Vitamix.  Be sure to remove anything from the bag that is not strawberries!  The TJ's brand sometimes comes with a pouch in it!!
• Add the powder mixture to the frosting in a bowl and mix with a hand-mixer for 1-2 minutes.
• Fill a piping bag and pipe, or just frost with a knife.
• I refrigerate in an air-tight container if there are leftovers.

Enjoy with some dairy-free coffee.  Check out my Instagram for the recipe :)