Recipe + Photos by Samantha Scott

With just a handful ingredients, you can create these delicious Pink Grapefruit Shortbread Cookies. These melt-in-your-mouth cookies are perfect to make with the kids, as a Valentine’s Day treat for your loved one or just because.

Recipe yields about one dozen 2-inch cookies.

  • ½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
  • ¼ cup vegan granulated sugar
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons grapefruit zest

ICING GLAZE INGREDIENTS 

  • 2 ½ cups organic vegan powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
  • 3 tablespoons grapefruit juice
  • 2 tablespoons of plant-based milk *Almond milk works great here.
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt 

COOKIE DIRECTIONS

  • In a small bowl and with a hand grater, zest one whole grapefruit. In another small bowl, cut the grapefruit in half and juice it. *Note: Watch for the seeds to discard from your juice. You will have about 5 tablespoons of zest and around ¾ cup of juice.
  • In a mixing bowl, add the room temperature vegan butter, granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons of grapefruit zest. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat together until the mixture becomes white in color and has a fluffy texture. This will take about 6 minutes. 
  • Next, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat until just combined into the mixture. 
  • Add half of the flour into the mixture and beat until combined. Repeat with the other half of the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula or spoon and mix through one last time.
  • Once combined, form the dough into a ball. 
  • In an airtight container (saran wrap or a zip top bag will work here as well), place the dough into the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour. 
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about a ½ inch thickness (do not go thinner than ¼ inch). Using a 2-inch cookie cutter in the shape of your choice, cut out as many cookies as possible from the dough. 
  • Place the cut out cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. They do not need to get golden brown. Do not overbake the cookies. 

ICING GLAZE DIRECTIONS

  • In a medium mixing bowl, add the grapefruit juice, plant-based milk and about 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Beat until combined. Add 1 tablespoon of grapefruit zest and remaining powdered sugar. Continue beating until well combined. If needed, add powdered sugar or juice by the teaspoonful to reach a thinner or thicker consistency.
  • Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the icing and set on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Let the icing dry and harden. This will take about 15 minutes for the outer part of the icing tops to harden. Wait a couple of hours before stacking them to allow the icing to fully set.

OPTIONAL 

  • For a deeper grapefruit flavored icing,  replace the 2 tablespoons of plant-based milk with 2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice, making it a total of 5 tablespoons of grapefruit juice for the icing ingredients.
  • For a pretty garnish, just after icing the cookies, sprinkle the tops with some grapefruit zest or some vegan granulated sugar.

Suggested Vegan Action Certified Products to try with this recipe:

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