JJ, Good Times, High School Daze
Back in high school, there were certain kids everyone gravitated towards, the student body president, quarterback, class clown, their sheer exuberance for life attracted people to them. My classmate, Jeanette, falls in that envious category. JJ for short, she lit up a room when she walked in. Her energy and her smile were magnetic. She was smart, sassy, outspoken, boisterous, a total gas to be around. (Wow, that’s dating myself). After we graduated from high school we lost touch only to reconnect at our 5-year high school reunion. Promises to keep in touch and get together tumbled out our mouths…well, fast forward to our 40th reunion, the next time we would see each other again and catch up. That’s how life goes but thanks to social media we won’t have to wait for another reunion to reconnect. Anyways…
She became a bum. JUST KIDDING. Not surprisingly she approached grown-up life with the same zest she had in high school. She became a pediatrician, TV personality (a regular on the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family show), Water Advocate, Mom…I give up..let’s just call her Superwoman. What can I say? KIDDOCJJ – We were high school buds.
And now she has set her sights on the food world-teaching cooking classes, blogging, writing, advocating for healthy lifestyles. She has combined her knowledge of science and medicine with her passion for food. Check her out at KIDDOCJJ. Her recipe for Grapefruit Thyme Shortbread popped up on my FB feed and of course, I had to try it. All I can say is, they are DELICIOUS and a snap to make. The hint of citrus with a slight bitter tinge from the grapefruit plays well with the buttery cookie and the sweet icing made of powdered sugar and grapefruit juice. This recipe is a keeper.
The recipe calls for using a food processor. If you don’t have one, a mixer will also work. But the food processor does make quick work of this dough. Though the recipe calls for softened butter, if you use a processor you can start with cold butter. Pulse the butter, zest, thyme, and vanilla until blended, add the powdered sugar, process till combined and then add the flour. Process just until the dough clumps, try not to overprocess.
My first go around I decided to tweak her recipe just a bit. Instead of spreading the dough in a springform pan, I rolled out the dough and cut out the cookies, just a bit more work than smooshing it in a pan. I scooped the dough into a Ziploc bag and rolled it into an 8 x10 rectangle (a Dorie Greenspan trick), roughly 3/16 inch thick, and tossed it in the fridge to chill for an hour. A scalloped edge cutter did the trick to create the just too cute finished cookies. Since the cookies were cut out they required less baking time, start checking at 10-12 minutes.
The cookies were light, tender and packed a nice grapefruit punch, definitely not timid in flavor. Perfect when you need a “fancy-schmancy” cookie. I also made them as JJ suggested in a pan and the results were surprisingly different which you can find in my next post. Either way, these cookies are delightful. Put them on your baking list.
Grapefruit Thyme Shortbread
Ingredients
- - 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- - 2 TB finely grated grapefruit zest save the fruit juice
- - 1 tsp vanilla extract
- - 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
- - 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- - 1 cup all purpose flour
- - 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- 2. Into the bowl of a food processor, stand mixer, or if you're in for a little workout, a regular bowl, place the butter, vanilla, salt, grapefruit zest and chopped thyme.
- 3. Add the powdered sugar and pulse (if using a processor), or beat on medium with a paddle (if using a stand mixer), or mix with a wooden spoon until mixture is smooth.
- 4. Add the all purpose flour and mix just until flour is incorporated.
- Your mixture should look - a little on the dry side, but well blended together.
- 5. Butter a springform pan or pie tin.
- 6. Using an offset spatula, spread the dough evenly in the pan.
- 7. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork. This is called "docking."
- 8. Refrigerate for an hour (or put it in the freezer for 30 minutes).
- 9. While your dough is getting cold, squeeze out about 2 TB of grapefruit juice into a bowl. Add 3/4-1 cup of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth. 10. Once the dough is cold, put in the oven for 15-18 minutes until the edges are golden and the center is firm.
- 10. Once the dough is cold, put in the oven for 15-18 minutes until the edges are golden and the center is firm.
- 11. Remove the collar from the pan. Immediately cut the shortbread into 8 or 16 wedges.
- 12. Transfer wedges to a cooling rack set over a plate.
- 13. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the shortbread, and gently spread to the edges with an offset spatula. Once cool you can serve it!