Grapefruit Sugar Cookies with White Chocolate Buttercream

I grew up in an area where almost everyone grew citrus in their backyard. Once January hit, we would squeeze oranges, lemons, and grapefruits for hours and would call the OJ, our very own liquid gold.

Years ago we bought an existing home and have spent years remodeling it. One of the first things we did was to plant some citrus trees. I was so proud that we produced a whole 2 lemons this year! I can't wait until we have more citrus than we know what to do with!

Last Sunday we were visiting our cousin's house and Christine asked if we would like to pick some grapefruits from her tree.  I came home with five large bags of grapefruits and had to figure out what I could make with them. Since my first thought usually goes to cookies, I thought it would be amazing to create a soft, chewy grapefruit sugar cookie.

The grapefruit sugar cookie came out even better than I imagined. It had a mild citrus flavor and enough sweetness from the sugar to offset the tartness of the grapefruit.  It was amazing on it's own but I wanted to add a homemade white chocolate buttercream made with butter, melted white chocolate, and powdered sugar.

The Grapefruit Sugar Cookie with White Chocolate Buttercream was topped with some grapefruit zest for a touch more fresh citrus flavor.  The white chocolate buttercream is silky smooth and is the perfect accompaniment to the grapefruit sugar cookie. We put them in the freezer and couldn't believe how good they were eaten straight out of the freezer.

Grapefruit Sugar Cookies with White Chocolate Buttercream

Melissa Stadler, Modern Honey

Soft citrus grapefruit cookies topped with white chocolate buttercream.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Cookies

Servings 20

Equipment

• kitchenaid mixer
• baking sheet
• parchment paper baking sheets
• measuring cups and spoons
• turner
• spatula set
• cookie scoop

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup Butter cold, cut into cubes
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Grapefruit Juice
• 1-2 Tablespoons Grapefruit Zest may put more grapefruit zest for extra flavor
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 
  
• White Chocolate Buttercream:
• 1 cup Butter softened
• 12 ounces White Chocolate melted
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• Grapefruit Zest

Instructions

 

• Grapefruit Sugar Cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, grapefruit juice, and grapefruit zest and stir to combine.
• Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
• Drop dough onto light colored baking sheet.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let cool.
• To make white chocolate buttercream:
• In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. To melt white chocolate, use a double To melt white chocolate:
• When working with white chocolate, the key is to slowly melt it. You can use a double boiler or microwave method. If using the microwave, use only 40-50% power and cook at 30 second increments. After cooking it for 30 seconds, move to 15 second increments at only 50% power. White chocolate can burn easily! It usually takes less than a minute to melt white chocolate, depending how much you are melting at one time. Stir the white chocolate after each time to test if it is melted enough. Let cool slightly.
• Beat in the melted white chocolate. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy.
• Frost each cooled grapefruit cookie with white chocolate buttercream. Sprinkle with grapefruit zest.
• **These cookies are excellent frozen and eaten right out of the freezer.

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I can't wait to hear what you think of these Grapefruit Sugar Cookies. Reach out anytime on Instagram at @modern_honey.

Happy Baking! xo