Springy Taste of Love and Sunshine

I am forced. There's no turning back.

You have to try these cookies.

See, next week, I head off on my first ever business trip. It's actually the United Methodist General Conference. But for me, it's business. And I read a headline yesterday about how hundreds of women in central Texas are baking 100,000 cookies for Conference. And that made me want to bake cookies. So I made peanut butter cookies last night, and John smacked his lips and smiled, because I'm continually discovering that steering towards butter and meat and cheddar and away from olives and fresh dill and goat cheese is the way to his digestive heart.

But here are the cookies I really want to make. Actually, I'm making them tonight. And you should too.

Martha Stewart's Grapefruit 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) (if you don't have cake flour...shhh...just use all-purpose)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large egg yolks

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.

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. (If you don't have a Kitchen Aid like I just received as a wedding gift, use a hand mixer. But put out a jar to collect change in to get a Kitchen Aid mixer. It will transform you baking life.)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.

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.

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.

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.

Pink Grapefruit Cream Filling
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice

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.

Now, the only drawback to this recipe is that it only produces about fifteen cookies, because they're sandwich cookies. So think about doubling the recipe, because you will want more.

So, go buy: a grapefruit or two. confectioner's sugar. honey. cake flour if you're a stickler. And smile smugly when everybody wants the recipe. (p.s. - serve, then say what it is. people always balk at the words "grapefruit" and "cookie" in the same sentence. ha! tricks on them!)