Over the holidays I went to visit my best friend/ soulmate Lisa in Phoenix Arizona. She just gave birth the the sweetest baby boy in October, and moved into a new house, all of which I hadn’t seen! I had an amazing time with her new family. I have never loved a baby until I met Nolan. I am not ready to say that I want my own, but I am more open to the idea. If I don’t actually have to go through the whole pregnancy and labor thing.
Anyway, Lisa has a huge grapefruit tree in her backyard that I obviously ran to, climbed up, and picked the biggest ripest grapefruits off each limb. I couldn’t resist making grapefruit bars and cocktails. They were so deliciously sweet and tart. My grapefruit bars are not typical. I add cream cheese and chili powder. The combination is amazing. try these babies out!
Grapefruit Bars recipe:
Shortbread
1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature and cut into small chunks.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl attached to an electric mixer or with a hand held mixer beat the chunks of butter with the flour, sugar and salt. Add the bacon. Spread the dough onto a 9×13 inch pan lined with parchment paper that is greased with baking spray. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Prepare the filling.
Filling
8 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (6-8 grapefruits)
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
Beat the eggs and sugar. Stir in the grapefruit juice, chili powder, and flour. Set aside while you prepare the cream cheese swirl.
Cream Cheese Swirl (optional)
4 oz cream cheese
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
In a separate bowl with an electric mixer blend the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until combined and smooth. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar. Once the sugar is incorporated and there are no lumps prepare a piping bag. You don’t need a tip. You can even use a plastic baggie. Put a spoonful of cream cheese mix into a corner of a bag, twist the top so nothing sneaks out and snip the tip.
Pour your grapefruit filling onto the shortbread. In a back and forth motion, squeeze out the cream cheese mix from the top to the bottom of your filling. You can create swirls or patterns however you like. You can put as much or as little cream cheese as you like.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the filling is set in the middle. Cool completely, cut into bars, and enjoy!
