Cookie Carnival: Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies

Whoa... 3 posts in 4 days? Am I some kind of maniac? For the most part... I'd say no, but I blame it on September almost being done. I feel like a police officer handing out tickets today (for my non-American friends, cops are more prone to hand out tickets at the end of the month to meet their quota... careful driving)

I'll try to keep this post short then, so you can go back to reading posts about crackers and dip :) Today is a cool day, because it marks my inaugural post for the Cookie Carnival... a really cool group of bloggers that do a monthly cookie recipe. I'd like to thank wonderful Kate for having such a cool event, and once again pushing me towards recipes I wouldn't normally do :)

This month is Grapefruit Sandwich Cookies, and is a recipe from Martha Stewart. Say what you want about her, but I've made a couple of her things in the past, and she usually doesn't do me wrong. With Fall upon us, I like the idea of having one last, summer time hurrah... baking wise :)

You can check out the recipe HERE, or because I'm in an awesome mood (check out the Twitter for why, weight lifting and JETS win related) I'll just do a copy and paste for you guys.

Pink Grapefruit Sandwich 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.

I really dug these cookies, and my dad would absolutely love them. They were sugar cookies, but with a real citrus, grapefruit punch. It reminded me of these lemon creme sandwich cookies (I loved them) I would INHALE back when I was a Thundercats watching kid... which was probably ages 5 and then again at 16 :)

Thanks for all your support on my recent barrage of posts, you guys are great. And try to join up at the cookie carnival. I recently learned I'm the only male in the group... and I wouldn't mind be surrouded by more good looking ladies with great senses of humor :)

Oh and I got a request for more Polish recipes. I'll definately try to do that. For those of you that may be new here, you could always check out Polish family favorites, including Polish Crepes (nalesniki), and Plum Pierogi. Any ideas on how to make a recipe list? I have to look into that.