These Grapefruit Meltaway Cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth grapefruit cookie topped with a sweet grapefruit glaze and garnished with grapefruit zest.
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These are inspired by the grapefruit season, which runs from early-winter to late-spring. February is also National Grapefruit Month, so what better way to celebrate than with a grapefruit cookie!
The base recipe for these citrusy cookies are from my Lemon Meltaway Cookies. Both of these cookies are actually not overly sweet, so the glazes come in to bring these to perfect sweetness. Another cut-out cookie that would be perfect for late-winter, early-spring are my Saint Patrick’s Day Tie-Dye Cookies.
Ingredients
Grapefruit is the star of these bright, citrusy melt-in-your-mouth cookies! If you have grapefruit on hand, you most likely have the rest of the ingredients in your pantry already.
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
- grapefruit zest
- grapefruit juice
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- cornstarch
- salt
- heavy cream
- citric acid, optional
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here’s how to make these cookies:
Punch out the cookies with a 3-inch round cutter.
Place on a lined baking sheet and freeze solid before baking.
Make the glaze while the cookies cool. Spoon or pipe glaze on top of cookies.
Garnish with grapefruit zest.
Good to know: Chilling cookie dough is important for letting the flavors meld properly, hydrating the flour, making the dough easier to work with and preventing spreading in the oven for cut out cookies.
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Substitutions
Here are some easy ingredient swaps if you want to make these cookies dairy-free:
- Butter swap — use a dairy-free butter, like Miyoko’s or Earth Balance
- Heavy cream swap — use coconut milk or omit completely
Variations
Here’s how to customize this cookies to your liking:
- No glaze — Skip the glaze completely for a lower-sugar cookie
- Citrus mash-up — Combine grapefruit and lemon or grapefruit and lime for a citrusy mash-up. Swap some of the juice and/or the zest garnish with another citrus.
- No heavy cream — Skip the cream in the glaze if you don’t have any. You may need to decrease the amount of powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency.
- White chocolate — Add chopped white chocolate to the dough for an added-sweetness
- No cookie cutter — scoop out balls with a cookie scoop or spoons and mash slightly
Do you have any other variation suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Equipment
I like using a 3-inch cookie cutter to make a substantial cookie, but you can also make smaller cookies or a different shape altogether. A rolling pin makes quick work of rolling these out, but you can also use a wine bottle in a pinch.
For zesting, I prefer a microplane over a traditional grater to get finer zest. A large citrus juicer is perfect for squeezing every last drop of juice out of grapefruits.
Storage
Store at room temperature for 4-5 days in an airtight container. I do not recommend stacking these, otherwise you risk messing up the glazed tops.
Top tip
Start with less powdered sugar. Keep adding until you have your desired consistency. I like my glaze thick enough so that it does not drip all the way off the cookie.
Lastly, if you make these Grapefruit Meltaway Cookies be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Grapefruit Meltaway Cookies
Ingredients
Grapefruit cookie dough
- 193 g unsalted butter (14 tbsp) room temperature
- 56 g powdered sugar (½ cup)
- 1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
- 2 tablespoon grapefruit juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 200 g all purpose flour (1 ½ cups)
- 35 g cornstarch (¼ cup)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Grapefruit glaze
- 1 ¾-2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon grapefruit juice
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream or half and half or milk
- grapefruit zest for garnish
Instructions
Do ahead
- This dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated, about a minute more.
- Add the 1 tablespoon of grapefruit zest, 2 tablespoons of fresh grapefruit juice and vanilla and mix on low.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Place the cookie dough on plastic wrap and wrap tight. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to ⅜ inch thick. Punch out circles with a 3-inch cutter.
- Place on a parchment lined baking tray and pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake as these cookies should not take on a lot of color.
- Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Make the glaze
- Sift powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add grapefruit juice and heavy cream. Whisk until there are no lumps.
- Spoon or pipe onto cooled cookies. Sprinkle grapefruit zest over the top while the glaze is still wet.
- Allow the glaze to fully set before storing in an airtight container.
