This recipe was inspired by one of A Paige Of Positivity’s brand partners: Spiked Spindrift. They recently debuted their Paradise Pack filled with 4 tropical flavors. I loved the grapefruit flavor and was inspired to make Grapefruit Bars. Also don’t forget to find Spiked Spindrift in a store near you!
About these Grapefruit Bars
We all know those beloved lemon bars with a shortbread crust and citrusy filling. It’s a sweet but tart dessert that’s getting a makeover using grapefruit instead of lemon.
Grapefruit isn’t as tart as lemon, so we’re using more of it in these Grapefruit Bars. Both juice and zest will help achieve that fruity and bright citrusy flavor.
The filling ingredients mixed together form a curd. What is a curd? Curd is the thick substance that forms when mixing eggs and sugar that then gets baked to create a soft, gooey texture that is decadent to sink your teeth into.
If you love these bars, I think you should also try these Dairy Free Lemon Bars, these Cranberry White Chocolate Bars, or even these Healthier Carrot Cake Bars!
Recipe Ingredients
For the crust:
- All Purpose Flour – Flour will make the base of our shortbread crust. See my Lemon Bars recipe for a gluten free / dairy free crust.
- Confectioners Sugar – Powdered sugar sweetens up the crust, but still keeps it light and airy.
- Butter – Melted butter will give the crust some structure and a rich, gooey texture.
For the filling:
- Sugar – Grapefruit is tart! These dessert bars will use cane sugar to contrast the citrus.
- Eggs – Eggs combined with the sugar provide the structure of our curd.
- Grapefruit Juice – I used ruby red grapefruit as it’s sweeter and well, pink!
- Grapefruit Zest – The zest is packed with even more flavor than the juice.
- Pink Food Coloring – Grapefruit juice isn’t super vibrant, especially when mixed with the other filling ingredients. Pink food coloring will give you a brighter dessert bar.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter. Then fold in all purpose four and confectioners sugar. Combine until a shortbread texture forms. Note: you may want to use a pastry blender here if you have one to ensure all of the clumps of flour have dissolved.
2. Line a pyrex 8×8 dish with parchment paper. Gently press the crust into the lined pan. Ensure it’s an even thickness throughout. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. While the crust is baking, start on the filling. In the same mixing bowl, fold together sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add the eggs to the bowl and then using a HAND MIXER (an electric hand mixer is crucial – you will not get the curd-like texture that you’ll need unless you use one) beat the batter.
Add freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and grapefruit zest. Mix together again. You’ll notice that the color doesn’t change much. I added a generous amount of pink food coloring and once it baked, it still didn’t hold the color. If the color is super important to you, make sure you use a lot of pink food coloring.
Remove the crust after it’s been baked and gently pour the grapefruit filling onto the crust.
4. Bake for another 25 minutes. Then remove from the oven and after the bars have slightly cooled, place them in the freezer for 2 hours to chill. After the bars have chilled, allow them to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. See below for slicing tips. Garnish with powdered sugar and fresh grapefruit slices if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Pink grapefruit is more tart than ruby red. If you’d like your Grapefruit Bars on the sweeter side, use Ruby Red.
These bars must be stored in the fridge after they have settled. Otherwise, they’ll become an ooey grapefruit soup. These can also be frozen. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
USE A HAND MIXER TO WHIP THE FILLING. You will not get the texture you need if using a hand whisk.
These Grapefruit Bars are sticky! A tip when cutting these dessert bars is to spray your knife with cooking spray before making slices. I also suggest making small marks in the edges of the bars where you’re going to cut to ensure you’ve got even pieces before cutting through.
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More Recipes You’ll Love
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Grapefruit Bars
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- 8×8 baking dish
- Hand Mixer
- Zester
- Juicer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Rubber Spatula
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
For the filling
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp grapefruit juice
- 1 tbsp grapefruit zest
- 1 tbsp pink food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter.
- Then fold in all purpose four and confectioners sugar. Combine until a shortbread texture forms. You may want to use a pastry blender here if you have one to ensure all of the clumps of flour have dissolved.
- Line a pyrex 8×8 dish with parchment paper. Gently press the crust into the lined pan. Ensure crust an even thickness throughout. Bake for 20 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, start on the filling. In the same mixing bowl, fold together sugar, flour, and baking powder.
- Add the eggs to the bowl and then using a HAND MIXER (an electric hand mixer is crucial – you will not get the curd-like texture that you’ll need unless you use one) beat the batter.
- Add freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and grapefruit zest and food coloring, if using. Mix together again.
- Remove the crust after it’s been baked and gently pour the grapefruit filling onto the crust. Bake for another 25 minutes.
- After the bars have slightly cooled, place them in the freezer for 2 hours to chill.
- After the bars have chilled, allow them to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving. See above for slicing tips.
- Garnish with powdered sugar and fresh grapefruit slices if desired.
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find GRAPEFRUIT BARS calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
I’m not a huge lemon in my dessert fan so lemon bars have never been my thing, but these grapefruit bars changed the game!! They were also so easy to make which is always an added bonus. Thanks Court!
if lemon bars had a cooler older sister, they would be these grapefruit bars! Such a unique and fun twist on classic lemon bars.
A very refreshing sweet treat. Great with sorbet