Cookie Carnival: Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

September was my first time participating in Cookie Carnival. Cookie Carnival is a monthly event where a bunch of people make the same cookie recipe and share their results and experiences. For September, the cookie selection was Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies and was suggested by Mari.  The recipe is from Martha Stewart’s website.

 

I have never been a die-hard grapefruit fan. Some of my friends in college tried to make me curb my cursing habit by making me take a drink of grapefruit juice everytime I swore. Sadly, taking a sip of grapefruit juice only made me swear more. 😉 Since then I have learned to appreciate the taste of grapefruit more. I don’t mind it mixed in with other juices, but wouldn’t be likely to drink it on its own.  With this recipe, I figured the evilness of grapefruit would be squelched by the goodness of cookie.  And I was right!

The cookie dough was fairly easy to make with the most time consuming part for me being zesting the grapefruit. My zester got a workout that day.  My husband said he loved the “citrus-y smell taking over the kitchen.”

I found the filling too soft to work with immediately so I refrigerated it for 30 minutes or so before assembling the sandwich cookies.  And here’s the finished product… My cookies were a little thicker than Martha’s so mine ended up looking like miniature whoopee pies. The taste was good and the sugar balanced the sourness of the grapefruit resulting in a cookie with a delicate grapefruit/citrus flavor. No puckery faces here!

 

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

You can bake the cookies and make the filling a day ahead.

Ingredients for cookies

Makes 15 sandwich cookies.

    * Grated zest of 1 Ruby Red grapefruit, plus 1/4 cup freshly squeezed juice

    * 1 cup sugar

    * 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

    * 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)

    * 1 teaspoon baking powder

    * 1/2 teaspoon salt

    * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

    * 2 large egg yolks

    * Pink Grapefruit Cream Filling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine zest with 1 tablespoon sugar; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and remaining sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add egg yolks, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in reserved zest-sugar mixture. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the juice, and beat to combine.

3. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

 

4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out disk to 1/8 inch thick using a lightly floured rolling pin. Using a lightly floured 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place about 1 inch apart on prepared sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Transfer parchment paper and cookies to rack to cool completely.

   

5. Using an offset spatula, spread 1 tablespoon filling onto flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping flat sides down. Once filled, cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Ingredients for filling

Makes enough to fill 15 sandwich cookies.

    * 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

    * 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

    * 1 tablespoon honey

    * 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice

Directions

   1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in honey. Add juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until filling holds together and is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, cover, and set aside until ready to use.