Vanilla-Grapefruit Shortbread, January 11, 2017

Such a long time since my last post!  In the last six months, I have returned to nursing full time (medical insurance is expensive, as most of you well know!), had surgery for a rotator cuff tear and lived through a total deck teardown/rebuild.  I"ve been out of my shoulder immobilizer for only 2-3 weeks.  Interesting times!

November 10 through Christmas, I was in a shoulder immobilizer.  That was a killer for me!  I SO wanted to make at least 50 kinds of Christmas cookies, lol.  I did manage to make Vanilla-Grapefruit Shortbread left-handed (yay, me!).  It's mixed in a food processor, then pressed into a 9-inch springform pan.  Easy to do one handed.  :-)  I found the recipe in Bon Appetit.

Vanilla-Grapefruit Shortbread

Makes 16

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 tablespoon finely grated grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup plus 1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
2 tablespoons fresh grapefruit juice
Himalayan pink salt, dried hibiscus flowers, red sprinkles or sanding sugar, dried rose petals, and/or cracked pink peppercorns (for serving; optional)

Special Equipment: A 9-inch springform pan

Preparation

Lightly butter pan. Pulse grapefruit zest, vanilla extract, ½ cup butter, and ⅓ cup powdered sugar in a food processor until smooth and homogenous. Add flour and ½ tsp. kosher salt; pulse just to combine. Press dough evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top with a flat-bottomed glass or measuring cup. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°. Prick shortbread all over with a fork 1"–2" apart, and bake until edges are golden and center is pale but firm to the touch, 15–18 minutes.
Remove band from pan and immediately cut shortbread into 16 wedges. Let cool.
Whisk grapefruit juice, a pinch of kosher salt, and remaining 1 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl until smooth. Spread a thin layer of icing over shortbreads with a small offset spatula, leaving a thin border of crust exposed. Top as desired. Let sit 10–15 minutes to allow glaze to set. Retrace cut marks.
Do Ahead: Dough can be pressed into pan 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

I used a Hawaiian Sea Salt from Molokai (which is kind of a brick color).  Any of the mentioned toppings would not only taste good but also make the shortbread very pretty.  Easy and well worth it.