Happy Thursday! Question of the day — How do you guys feel about herbs in dessert? Because I have a recipe for you! This past weekend my sister Natasha had a great idea — grapefruit rosemary bars! She asked me to make them, I said yes, and then I kinda (really) ditched to go to the movies with my dad instead. Oops. Sorry, Tash! Yesterday I found myself busy again, so this morning I resolved to make these bars a priority. Then I got to thinking, why not add rosemary in the filling AND the crust? So I infused rosemary in the grapefruit juice as well as adding chopped rosemary in the shortbread crust. Oh yes. 
Making the crust, you have to make sure your butter is COLD. Don’t take it out of the fridge until it’s time to add. For the rosemary, I take a whole sprig and take half the needles (I actually Wikipedia’d “rosemary” to get the proper terminology *facepalm*) aside for the crust and leave the others on the sprig for infusion in the juice. Since I use organic eggs usually, the yolks tend to be more on the orange side. Because of this, the filling loses a lot of that pink color from the grapefruit! That’s why I add a drop of pink color. If you’re interested in the brand I use, it’s Americolor Soft Gel Paste and I buy it on KingArthurFlour.com. (←Not an ad or anything, I just love their products.) One drop is all it takes to bring the filling back to that beautiful grapefruit color!
I ran out of powdered sugar, but usually I would top it with that mainly for aesthetics. Also I put a little more rosemary on top. Can you tell how much I love the stuff?! I didn’t want it to be overpowering or anything, but I did want the herb to shine through along with the sweetness and slight sour flavor in grapefruit. The rosemary shortbread crust is amazing, people!! I feel like I need to make cookies from this recipe. It’s buttery, soft, and just the right texture. 
On a side note- I am sorry for these HORRIBLE pictures! It’s a long story, but basically we have had terrible storms in Illinois these last couple days and I haven’t been able to get good lighting plus my DSLR camera is out of battery so I had to use my iPhone. Today, when I only had two bars left, I finally got a picture with ok lighting. Anyways, before I go further and you guys fall asleep out of sheer boredom…recipe is below!
- CRUST:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 sticks (1 Cup) salted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ sprig rosemary, chopped in tiny pieces
- FILLING:
- ⅔ cup grapefruit juice
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- ½ sprig rosemary, whole
- 1-1/2 cup sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- Powdered Sugar, optional topping
- In a small bowl, measure ⅔ cup grapefruit juice and 2 tablespoons lemon juice with half a sprig of rosemary soaking in it. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 10 pan with butter.
- For the crust: Stir together the flour, sugar, and remaining rosemary (chopped finely). Add the butter to the bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut it all together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press into the prepared pan and bake until golden around the edges, about 15-20 minutes.
- For the filling: Stir together the sugar and flour. Crack in the eggs and whisk to combine. Add the infused grapefruit juice and mix until combined. Pour over the crust and bake about 20-25 minutes, or until it is set and the middle is no longer jiggling.
- Allow to cool in the fridge for 2 hours at the least, then sift powdered sugar over the top before cutting into squares. Enjoy!
Thanks for visiting Will Bake for Books! ♥
THESE LOOK AMAZING! I’ll definitely have to try them sometime as my mom and I love lemon bars, or anything akin to this variety of dessert. 🙂
Thank you!! Lemon bars are a favorite among me and my sisters as well, so I’m always trying to think of variations with them. 🙂
I agree with Rissi! Those look AMAZING!!! I love pink and love grapefruit and shortbread so I think I would love these! I love to bake and I love to write (I’m a multi-published author) so this blog is right up my alley! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Carrie! High five to a fellow baker! That’s amazing you’re an author- as an avid reader and aspiring writer myself I very much respect the talent it takes to write. I recognize your name…you are releasing a novella collection with some other authors soon, right? Blue Ribbon Brides? It’s on my TBR! Anyways, thanks a bunch for stopping by my blog. If you ever try these out, I hope you enjoy! 🙂
ooh, this sounds like such a unique flavor combo! and the color of the grapefruit curd is so pretty- it’d be perfect for an afternoon tea (or book discussion!).
Thanks, Heather! I can’t really take the credit for it though…my sister is super creative and is always thinking of unique combinations. However she doesn’t really like executing those ideas so that’s where I come in! Thank you for the lovely comment and for stopping by my blog. 🙂
Hi these look fabulous!! Could I use coconut oil as a substitute for butter or would you not suggest that? Thanks!
Hi Melissa!! Thank you so much. I’ve made crust before with coconut oil and it’s turned out wonderfully, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be fine! My only suggestion is that you use a coconut oil that’s mild and doesn’t have a strong taste or smell. Hope you like the recipe! Thanks for stopping by my blog. ❤️
Wow! This was great! Was hoping for a quick answer because I wanted to make them today so I appreciate your timely response! Can’t wait to make them 😁
Just wanted to rate the recipe and comment that I tried it with coconut oil and it’s amazing! Thanks for this recipe and for thinking of such a perfect flavor combo!
Yay, Melissa!! Thanks so much for trying and for letting us know how it turned out! Appreciate you 🙂
I just came across your recipe on Pinterest and thought that it looked so beautiful.
Rosemary in a dessert is so appealing! I’m going to give these a try today (Pink Grapefruit Bars with Rosemary Crust).
Thank you – great site and recipes!
Hi these look lovely! Just wanted to confirm that for the crust it’s white granulated sugar that’s used? I’ve never made a shortbread with anything but sifted powdered sugar so I just wanted to double check before making. Thanks for the recipe and I love your blog!!
This looks so good! I wouldn’t have thought to put those flavors together!