Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

in Citrus, Cookies and Bars, Fruit, Grapefruit

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

It’s a girl! One of my favorite bloggers and friend Courtney of Cook Like a Champion and her husband are expecting a sweet baby girl soon. (She also has one of the funnest blog names ever.) And our friend Josie has put together a virtual shower to celebrate!

I chose to make Pink (er, Ruby Red) Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies: pretty, little sugar cookies infused with grapefruit juice and zest, and then filled with a grapefruit-spiked buttercream. The delicate, citrusy two-bite cookies are perfect for a pretty pink shower or an afternoon tea.

And I kind of have this thing for grapefruit… and an abundance of them (not that you’d have guessed).

You can see the full shower menu over at Pink Parsley and Cook Like a Champion – it’s full of wonderful food by wonderful friends and super talented food bloggers!

And a really super important note about the recipe. It was supposed to make 15 2-inch round sandwich cookies. I made 15 2-inch round sandwich cookies – and still had half of the dough left, and this was after double-checking that I had grabbed the 2-inch cutter and my 1/8-inch rolling pin bands. I froze the other half because no one in this house needs easy access to 30 insanely addicting cookies. The recipe below is the full recipe. If it’s just going to be you and your new grapefruit-flavored friends for the weekend, maybe you only make half the recipe.

Or maybe you don’t 🙂

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

Grapefruit juice and zest flavor these light, cream-filled, sandwich cookies.

Ingredients

  • For the cookies:
  • 1 stick butter, at room temp
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 large grapefruit, zested and juiced
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • For the filling:
  • 1 stick butter, at room temp
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp grapefruit zest (unpacked)
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp grapefruit juice
  • 1 drop red food coloring (optional)

Instructions

  1. Zest and juice the grapefruit. Reserve 1 unpacked tablespoon of zest for the filling and add the rest of the zest to the mixer bowl.
  2. Cream butter, zest, and sugar on high for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg yolk and mix, scraping down the bowl of the mixer.
  4. Whisk together the flours, salt, and baking powder.
  5. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, followed by 1/4 cup of grapefruit juice, and then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing each addition until thoroughly combined.
  6. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap and press into a 1-inch thick disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  7. Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
  8. Flour your work surface and divide the chilled dough into quarters.
  9. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thick and cut using a 2-inch round cutter. Repeat until all the dough is used, you should get ~60 cookies.
  10. Transfer to prepared baking sheets and bake in batches, 8-12 minutes, until puffy and the cookies are just barely beginning to brown around the edges.
  11. Let cool a few minutes on the pan and then transfer to a rack to cool complete.
  12. To make the filling, cream the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and grapefruit zest on high 3-4 minutes.
  13. Add the tiniest drop of red food coloring and the grapefruit juice and mix for another minute.
  14. Spread 2 tsp - 1 Tbsp of filling onto half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies (the browned bottoms of each cookie should be touching the frosting).
  15. Store in an airtight container in layers separated by wax paper.

Notes

Yields: 30 sandwich cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Estimated time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Nutritional Information
Calories: 148.9 | Fat: 6.2g | Fiber 0.3g | Protein 1.1g | Carbs 22.9g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 4

32 comments… add one
  • I love the baby shower idea and these sandwich cookies are absolutely perfect!

  • What a great treat for the virtual baby shower! The cookies are so pretty.

  • Very cute, Shawnda! I’m loving your grapefruit addiction! 😉

  • SO sweet, lady! And the grapefruit again….. YUM!

  • You are on a grapefruit roll, I love it! These cookies look darling and delicious.

  • These cookies are so cute, and I’m sure they taste awesome. We really need to do a real life shower one of these days because I could take the other 15 cookies off your hands, no problem.

  • These are adorable!! I don’t see grapefruit cookies around the blogosphere much–great recipe 😀

  • I have a slight obsession with grapefruit as well. I buy it in 5 lb increments and I’m the only one in my house who eats it 🙂 These look awesome…never thought to bake with grapefruit. I’m clearly missing out!

  • My husband goes on grapefruit kicks, he’s on one now actually. I’ll have to make these cookies, they’re so pretty:).

  • I love you and your grapefruit addiction 🙂

  • One word..Perfect!

  • I love this flavor idea for a cookie. Such a perfect, sweet treat!

  • These are absolutely beautiful!

  • Your grapefruit obsession has rubbed off on me and now I feel like I NEED these cookies! How would you feel about an impromptu visitor showing up so we can defrost the other half of the dough? 🙂

    What a delicious addition to the shower, Shawnda. Just perfect!

  • So pretty — perfect for a girly baby shower!

  • I have basically detested grapefruit since childhood, but I’m thinking these cookies (or those margaritas) might get me to think differently. So pretty in pink!

  • These cookies are beautiful, Shawnda! What a lovely flavor to use, too. Thanks for sharing!

  • you have me craving grapefruit everything like a mad woman with all your fabulous recipes.

  • I want grapefruit so bad after seeing this post! These are an ideal shower dessert, and I would’ve gladly eaten several of them. 🙂 Eric and I are coming back to Texas at some point, mostly so we can stuff ourselves with Tex-Mex food, and we will definitely have to meet you guys.

  • Oh, Lordy! These look so good-I’ve been on a total grapefruit kick lately (like, buying an embarassing amount at the market), so maybe these will be on my list of more things to make with my surplus of grapefruit. YUM!

  • These are so pretty and perfect for a baby girl’s shower! The grapefruit filling sounds delicious and refreshing too– I love any citrus flavored dessert!

  • I have been eating SO MUCH GRAPEFRUIT lately! If I can ever keep any around long enough without devouring them, I’m so making these!

  • Wow that is nice…. and first time I hear about virtual baby shower.

  • What a great idea for grapefruit! These look so delicious.

  • I bet these are delicious, and you’re cracking me me up with all these grapefruit recipes. You’re a grapefruit lover through and through!

  • Umm wait…you like grapefruit? I never would have guessed.

    😛

    best baby shower cookie ever! Or…any (every) day cookie.

  • First let me say that these are the sweetest little cookies I’ve seen in ages. And second? I’m insanely jealous of the citrus in your backyard. Hmmm…what do I need today? Oh a pink grapefruit…sure, let me run outside to pick one from the tree. I’ll send you cupcakes if you send me these cookies?

  • Oh these look wonderful! I love sugar cookies and grapefruit 🙂

  • I already pinned it… this recipe is happening for sure at my house soon! What a fun idea for a baby shower, too! Pink for a girl baby, right?

    I love that citrus flavor. It brings an almost unexpected freshness and brightness to an otherwise all-sweet confection. And, of all the citrus fruits there are, grapefruits and limes are my favorites. I wonder how this would taste as a lime cookie?! 🙂

  • Sarah

    Just got done making these! I don’t think I had quite enough grapefruit (zest or juice). I was testing them for an upcoming bridal shower, and they passed! I’ll just add a bit more zest and juice to enhance the citrus-y flavor. Very light, and very tasty!

  • Made these tonight–I got 48 cookies… and definitely wanted pink filling, so I went with the food coloring! Very pretty.

  • My mouth is watering! So cute!

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