Grapefruit Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread

What is this you ask?

Last  night I was craving some lemon bars so bad. Normally I am a chocolate girl, and have a daily piece of chocolate, or as of late, a piece of a hollow chocolate bunny left over from Easter.  But last night I just wanted something tart enough to make my lips pucker.  I started assembling all my ingredients on the counter when I realized I was missing my star ingredient, lemons.

For a moment I felt so disappointed, knowing that it was too late to run to the grocery store, and knowing I had nothing else in the house that would satisfy my sour craving.  Even though I knew there were no lemons in there, I decided to open the drawer in the fridge typically dedicated to my citrus.  When I opened the door I felt my eyes grow wide...4 huge grapefruits that I had bought during a sale and forgot about as soon as they hit the fridge.  Oh yay I could have my treat after all.

I was really happy with how these bars turned out.  I used my usual lemon bar recipe with a few tweaks.  I let the crust bake longer, letting it reach a deep golden brown color.  It was the best version I've ever made. The browned butter crust was nutty and with the grapefruit custard on top it was just heavenly and decadent.  The grapefruit yielded a slightly sweeter result than lemons typically do but it still had the pucker I was looking for.  

My fiance's description of these bars was "fruit loops with the aftertaste of poptarts." I'm not sure I agree with that description but I gotta love the man for trying.

Grapefruit Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread:

Crust
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

In a mixer cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and combined.  Add the salt and with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour until mixed together.  Pat into the bottom of a 9 x 12 in pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the crust has reached a golden brown color.  If your oven cooks unevenly then rotate the pan half way through baking.  Let the crust cool completely.

Custard
6 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
2 tbs grapefruit zest
1 cup flour

In a mixer beat together eggs and sugar.  Add zest and slowly add grapefruit juice.  Scrape down the bowl then turn the mixer back on. Slowly add in the flour so the mixture does not get lumpy.  Pour custard over cooled crust.  Bake bars at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Rotate half way through baking if you need to.  Once the bars have set and cooled, dust with powdered sugar.

Hellooo lover.