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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Published: Jun 13, 2019 · Updated: Mar 24, 2024 by Becky Sue

    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

    ↓ Jump to Recipe
    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Baking The Goods
    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Baking The Goods
    Jump to:
    • Key Ingredients
    • Chop the chocolate
    • Why slice and bake cookies are the best
    • Combine chocolate and grapefruit with a salty sprinkle
    • Recipe
    • Recipe
    • Comments

    When life feels chaotic and uncertain, nothing takes the edge off quite like fresh baked cookies. I've been traveling and life has been busy! But knowing that I will I have a log of Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies stashed away in my freezer is helping to ease my stress.

    My go-to comfort cookie has been my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt for as long as I can remember. They are a tried and true favorite that you just can’t go wrong with. Last month, on a whim, I created these Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies to send to my Mom for Mother’s Day. She’s a big fan of citrus and chocolate so I used the grapefruit and combined it with the half bag of dark chocolate chips.

    Key Ingredients

    Complimentary ingredients give these Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies big flavor and texture personality.

    • High quality butter give shortbread cookies their signature butter flavor and snappy bite. Using a European style butter with a higher fat content makes for a superior flavor and texture in this simple cookie recipe.
    • Dark chocolate brings a bittersweet bite and elegant richness to the buttery cookies.
    • Fresh grapefruit zest and juice pack a double punch of citrusy brightness. It balances beautifully with the rich butter and deep chocolate flavors.
    • Flaky sea salt punches through the chocolate and citrus by adding a burst of briney saltiness that allows the other flavors to sing in unison.
    Dark chocolate chunks and grapefruit for Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
    I was surprised by how many people were surprised by this combo of dark chocolate and grapefruit. Do you find it surprising? It is such a great combo.
    Dry ingredients for Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
    By zesting the grapefruit into the flour, it keeps the zest from clumping up when you mix the dough.

    These Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies are a simple slice and bake cookie recipe.

    The shortbread cookie recipe came together flawlessly. It was as effortlessly easy and the flavor and texture combo ended up being a 5 star surprise straight out of the gate. The simple yet unexpected flavor combination is a delightful deviation from a typical chocolate chip cookie.

    Chop the chocolate

    The chocolate gets chopped for a more nuanced flavor and texture throughout.

    These Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies are small so I didn’t want to use whole chocolate chips or solid chunks of chocolate. Chopping the dark chocolate chips into small hunks, bits, shards and dust gives the cookies a more nuanced chocolatey flavor. Plus it layers in an interesting texture throughout the cookie. It’s funny how making one small change like that can completely upgrade the whole personality of a cookie.

    Blending butter and sugar for cookies
    When blending the butter and sugar together, you want it to get nice and fluffy like this.
    Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookie dough
    Every bite of this dough has flakes, specks, bits and chunks of chocolate to create rivers of flavor and texture.
    Grapefruit Chocolate Shortbread Cookie dough
    Once the shortbread cookie dough is all gathered together into a disk, split it in half with a bench knife to shape the dough logs.

    Why slice and bake cookies are the best

    • Simplicity. Slice and bake shortbread cookies are such an easy baker. You just mix up the dough and shape it into logs. No scoops or cookie cutters necessary.
    • Slice is nice. Once the dough logs are chilled, you simple slice them into perfectly round cookies.
    • Totally tubular tip! To achieve perfectly round shortbread cookies, shape the dough into logs and wrap in parchment paper. Then keep them perfectly round sliding them into an empty paper towel roll. This will help keep the dough log from flattening out on the bottom!
    • Easy bake. Then you pop those sliced shortbread cookies on a baking sheet and away they go!
    • Keep it chill. Store the dough logs wrapped in tightly in parchment paper plastic wrap in the freezer up to a few months. Then you can just slice and bake them whenever you want freshly baked shortbread cookies. So you’re always less than 20 minutes away from fresh baked cookie bliss.
    Shaping shortbread cookie dough into logs
    To achieve perfectly round shortbread cookies, shape the dough into a log with the help of some parchment paper and keep them perfectly round sliding them into an empty paper towel roll.
    Shortbread cookie dough logs in paper towel rolls to keep round shape
    If you roll shortbread cookie dough logs just right, you can slide them to fit perfectly into empty paper towel rolls which will prevent them from having a flat bottom as they chill. I just throw the whole roll into the freezer to keep it fresh and firm until I am ready to bake.
    Slicing shortbread cookie log
    Once you're ready to bake these shortbread cookies, just pull them from the fridge or freezer and slice them into ½" thick slices to bake. Sooooo easy!
    Pre-baked Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
    I like my chocolate and my grapefruit with a little hit of salt so i add a sprinkle of sea salt flakes just before baking. The salt is optional but I highly recommend at least trying it on a few cookies. You'd think the salt would take away from the other flavors but it actually enhances them.

    These Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies have that perfectly balanced bite. They’re crisp yet tender with the tiniest bit of chew.

    When I originally baked these shortbread cookies, I didn’t intend for them to be a blog worthy recipe. However, I posted a pic with a pretty detailed description on Instagram and people were much more intrigued that I thought. It seems that pairing grapefruit and chocolate was a total mind blower for many of you! Who knew?!

    Combine chocolate and grapefruit with a salty sprinkle

    The chocolate nooks, streams and speckles along with the faint citrus notes of the grapefruit were just asking to be topped off with a salty punch. All of that comes together to give the simple buttery shortbread cookie base some serious pizzazz.

    These easy chocolate chunk cookies quickly shot to the top of my go-to cookie chart. It seems like now I’ve always got a tube of the cookie Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies dough in my freezer. Nestled alongside my classic Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, of course.

    The promise of fresh baked cookies tonight after slipped into the comfort of my own couch is calming my flight nerves better than 2 mini bottles of Jack Daniel's ever could. I’ve got my tray table in the locked position. My carry-on items are securely stowed. And I am patiently seated in the upright position awaiting a soft landing into a fresh baked pile of these Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies. 

    Grapefruit & Dark Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
    Hello salty sweetness! These Grapefruit Chocolate Shortbread Cookies strike the perfect balance between salty, sweet, bright, rich, crisp and chewy. They are kinda everything you want in a cookie.
    chocolate chip shortbread cookies
    These easy chocolate chip shortbread cookies are such a great thickness because they've got a nice crisp bite but still have a slight chewiness. The best of both worlds.
    Salted Grapefruit & Dark Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies from Baking The Goods
    It may look like a lot but these Salted Grapefruit & Dark Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies disappear fast. That's why I like to have a backup log of dough in my freezer at all times!
    Grapefruit Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with vanilla ice cream
    These Saltedcookies are unreal with ice cream. Again, that crisp yet chewy texture with the bits of chocolate is a dream texture and when combo'd with soft and creamy vanilla ice cream, it's perfection.
    Grapefruit Chocolate Shortbread Cookies with vanilla ice cream
    Simple vanilla ice cream is elevated when served with these Grapefruit Chocolate Shortbread Cookies.

    Recipe

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    Recipe

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    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Baking The Goods

    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies


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    • Author: Becky Sue from Baking The Goods
    • Total Time: 35 minutes
    • Yield: 36 cookies
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    Description

    These crisp yet subtly chewy Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies are studded with chunks, bits, streams and specks of dark chocolate chunks brightened up with fresh grapefruit juice and zest, delightfully enhanced by the delicate crunch of sea salt flakes. 


    Ingredients

    Units
    • 2 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 cup unsalted butter (- at room temperature)
    • ½ cup granulated sugar
    • 1 medium grapefruit (- zested and juiced)
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • ¾ cups dark chocolate chips
    • 1-2 tablespoons sea salt flakes

    Instructions

    1. Coarsely chop the dark chocolate chips into rough chunks and bits, set aside. 
    2. Measure flour, salt and the zest of the grapefruit into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
    3. With the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on a medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until fluffy, airy and lighter in color. Be sure to stop your mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times so you are sure to incorporate all of the sugar into the butter.
    4. Add 3 tablespoons of the fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and vanilla extract and cream until blended.
    5. With the mixer on a low stir, slowly add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix here, only mix until things have just come together.
    6. Gently stir in the chopped dark chocolate chips until just incorporated. 
    7. Turn out the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Gently gather the dough together into a disk by gently patting, not kneading the dough, and pat to flatten the top. Once you have a round disk shape, use a knife or a bench knife to cut directly in half and set aside.
    8. Clean your work surface with a bench knife, then lay down a sheet of parchment paper. If you have a couple of empty paper towel rolls handy, have them available. Drop one of your dough halves on the parchment paper and use your hands to shape a rough log shape, roll into a smooth log until it is about 1 -1 1⁄2” in diameter (eyeball it to about the size of your empty paper towel roll).
    9. Wrap the parchment paper around your dough log, lengthwise. Then twist each end of the paper into pigtails in opposite directions (one towards you and one away from you) to form a locking mechanism. With each twist, the dough will compress and becomes smoothed out (think of it like a sausage in a casing). Roll from the center outward until you feel that you have a smooth, cylindrical log.
      Now you can get tricky (optionally) and stuff that dough log into an empty paper towel roll, it should be a snug fit but should slide in and out easily. The idea behind the paper towel roll is that your dough is going to hold it’s cylindrical shape while it chills instead of having a flat bottom.
    10. Repeat with second log. Then refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, if not 2. This allows the dough to set up and hold it’s round shape nicely when baking. 
      You can also freeze the dough at this point. Just remember to defrost it overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for about a 30 minutes before slicing and baking.
    11. Preheat oven to 325° F.
    12. Remove dough log from the fridge and unroll on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into 1⁄4” - 1⁄2” thick cookies. You should get about 16-20 cookies per log. Arrange them on a Silpat mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, evenly spaced, with at least 1" between each cookie.
    13. Lightly sprinkle the top of each sliced cookie with sea salt flakes.
    14. Bake for 16-18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the bake. They should come out with a golden ring around the edge and be firm to the touch with just a bit of give in the center. Repeat with the second log or store the second log in the freezer for fresh baked cookies on another day.
    15. Allow to cool either right on the trays or on a cooling rack. 

    Notes

    These Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies are pretty darn delish with a little bowl of creamy vanilla ice cream. The Vanilla Bean by Straus Family Creamery is a particularly good pairing as it is less sweet and more creamy than many others vanilla ice cream brands. 

    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes
    • Category: Dessert
    • Cuisine: Cookies

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    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Baking The Goods.
    Salted Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies by Baking The Goods.

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