Candied Grapefruit and Mint Tea Cookies

“So far I've always kept my diet secret but now I might as well tell everyone what it is. Lots of grapefruit throughout the day and plenty of virile young men at night."
Angie Dickinson (Film Actress)

As a daring baker, and agreed to fill out the spotlight questionnaire. One question asked if i ever bake with herbs. My answer to this question is, NO. I know.. right? I am limiting myself to potential deliciousness and some combinations can be glorious. I find most of your "average" eaters, ( not die hard foodies) find these combinations strange. I made a lemon lavender cake one day, and a friend replied......""It's ok, but i do not like my sweets tasting like flowers or soap"...go figure...

So i arrive today at a crossroads.....

However, there are three combinations I am curious about. Grapefruit and mint, lime and basil, and chocolate and coriander. I also just bought some SUMAC.....(???)

So for your tasting experiment today ............................Grapefruit and Mint

Candied Grapefruit Peel

Select and wash thick skinned grapefruit.
Cut into quarters and remove pulp
Place peel in sauce pan, cover with cold water and weight down with a plate
Let stand several hours, or overnight.
Cut peel into strips about 1/4 inches wide
Cover peel with fresh cold water and bring to simmer in saucepan.
Remove from heat, stand 1 hr. Drain.
REPEAT PROCESS THREE TIMES or more until bitterness decreases.
Cover again with water and boil until yellow peel in tender@ 15 minutes.
Drain. Press out water and measure out peel in measuring cup.
For each cup of peel, use one cup of sugar
Return to saucepan, place over medium heat stir until all sugar is dissolved.
Cook over medium head until sugar/h20 reduces and peel is semi transparent, and most of syrup has boiled away.
Drain. Separate pieces on baking sheets and allow to completely dry.
Roll/sprinkle in sugar.
Store in dry container, or freezer.

chopped candied grapefruit peel

Mint Sugar
( This makes a strong flavor , I used three tablespoons mint to 1 1/4 cup sugar)

• 1/4 cup packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup sugar

In an electric coffee/spice grinder finely grind mint with sugar. Mint sugar may be made 1 hour ahead and kept in an airtight container.

Grapefruit Sugar Cookies ( Makes 5 dozen)

1 cup unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cup minted sugar ( see above)
2 eggs
3 cups sifted A/p flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely chopped Candied grapefruit peel ( @ 2 whole grapefruits)


Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs beat until light and fluffy.
Sift dry ingredients. Mix in peel., to creamed mixture. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on floured surface and cut with cookie cutter.
Place 1'' apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake for @ 7 mins. Should be light in color and slightly soft in center. Remove and cool on racks. Store in airtight container.

** I used a small thick cutter. This dough soften quickly with rolling. So roll and cut fast. The smaller the shape the easier it is to lift off table.
**The recipe makes 5 dozen, so decrease for experimenting with how much mint to citrus you like.


These cookies are soft when baked . The texture from the candied grapefruit is a slight chew with a pop of flavor crunch when bitten into. The mint gives the cookie a more earthy flavor than a true mint. Maybe if i used more?....:/ ( more experiments) These would be very good without the mint, as well.

Soo. I accomplished my goals to test out this flavor combination. I would not say perfect, however, I do like the two together. Unusual..and I kept tasting them again and again. :) I hope this gets you experimenting too. I could see these flavors in a Macaron, or a Madelaine. One down, two to go....


comer a sus anchas !!