Ruby Red Grapefruit Bars + Video
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Grapefruit Bars are just like your favorite lemon bars with a shortbread crust and citrus curd, but with the sweeter flavor of pink or ruby red grapefruit.
There’s lemon bars and lime bars, so why not grapefruit bars?!
When I originally made this recipe in February 2012, I used ruby red grapefruit. As I tested this recipe again, I realized that it’s not quite as tart as I like my citrus desserts to be.
Types of Grapefruit
Depending on the type of grapefruit used, it may not be as tart as its citrus counterparts (i.e. lemons or limes). You can spike up the tangy flavor by swapping some of the grapefruit juice with lemon juice. (See notes in the recipe card.)
FYI: Pink or white grapefruit is more tart than ruby red grapefruit, which is more sweet. Keep that in mind as you make this recipe. Both will work fine as far as the chemistry goes while baking.
Crust to Filling Ratio
I prefer my citrus bars to have almost equal parts of crust to filling. More like 1/3 crust, and 2/3 filling. The crust is merely to hold that luscious citrus layer, because if I had it my way, I’d eat the curd with a spoon.
The shortbread crust is still good though. A classic and sturdy base for a softer set fruit curd topping. You can always double the crust portion of the recipe if you would like a ratio of equal crust to filling.
A little dusting of powdered sugar on top with a fine mesh sieve is the icing on the cake, and oh so pretty.
Grapefruit Bars
These grapefruit bars are fashioned after the recipes for my lemon and lime bars with just a little more zest and juice. Since grapefruits are naturally more mild, they need just a little extra oomph.
If you’re a citrus fan like I am, I’m sure you will enjoy these pretty pink dessert bars. Happy Baking!
Grapefruit Bars
Grapefruit Bars are just like your favorite lemon bars with a shortbread crust and citrus curd, but with the sweeter flavor of pink or ruby red grapefruit.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (cut into 8 pieces)
Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon grapefruit zest
- 1 cup grapefruit juice (or combination or grapefruit + lemon juice*)
- pink food coloring, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease or line an 11x7-inch baking dish with parchment paper that overhangs 2-inches on both sides. (Do not overdo it on the cooking spray; just a very light coating.)
- CRUST: Combine the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor or stand mixer. Pulse/mix until mixture resembles fine crumbs that start to clump together. Press onto the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350˚F for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- FILLING: Prepare filling when crust is just about done. Whisk together the sugar and flour in a bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the zest, juice, and 3 drops or so of food coloring (if desired).
- Pour filling over hot crust and bake an additional 20 minutes or until filling no longer jiggles, and edges brown.
- Let cool completely in the pan, about 1 hour. Then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours until cold. Lift bars out of pan with parchment paper for easy cutting and serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Notes
- NOTE: Grapefruits are a very mild citrus fruit compared to tangy lemons or limes. Consider using 3/4 cup of grapefruit juice and 1/4 cup lemon juice to help boost the flavor and/or use more zest (up to 1 Tbsp more).
- FYI: Pink or White Grapefruit is more tart than Ruby Red Grapefruit
- This can be made in a 9x9-inch square baking dish, but would be best made with less filling. The crust measurements can remain the same.
- To reduce the filling for a 9x9-inch pan, I would do: 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour, 3 large eggs, 2 tsp grapefruit zest, and 2/3 cup grapefruit juice.
- This recipe can be made in a 13x9-inch pan, but you may want to 1.5x the crust recipe, or the crust will be very thin.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 253Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 134mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 0gSugar: 27gProtein: 4g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix, and is an estimation only.
*Originally published 2/7/12. Updated 3/25/20.
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Welcome!
Hi, I’m Amber! I am a culinary graduate and dessert lover! This is where I share my favorite sweet and savory recipes alongside my knowledge and skills as a culinary graduate. I hope you find something you like!
41 Comments on “Ruby Red Grapefruit Bars + Video”
Needed to make this gluten free for a guest, used Bob’s 1 to 1 baking flour, and the squares are amazing! Only had one grapefruit hanging about so not quite enough juice, supplemented with lemon and also added a couple of drops of Young Living grapefruit essential oil to boost the flavour. Could have used another drop, but overall this recipe is a win for me. I doubled the crust recipe (didn’t want to fuss around with halving the measurements) and the ratio is pretty good. I look forward to trying these with regular flour, but the gluten free is not bad. I’m sure my friend will love them!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe!
These were pretty good, but I’m not going to lie, they turned out really bitter 😅 Maybe the peels on the grapefruit we had were extra bitter, but I would definitely add less zest in the future. Overall, great recipe! The crust was fantastic.
Hey Ashley, if they were bitter, you may have zested a bit too deep into the flesh. You just want the very outer layer of rind (the peel), but none of the pith (white part between the peel and the fruit) because that is where the bitterness comes from. The peel has all the natural oils and flavor of the fruit. You can always opt to leave it out, but I do find it adds an extra concentrated flavor. Hope this helps!
These came out great! I made them in a 9×13 with 1.5x the crust. I followed the recipe exactly and had no issues.
Yay! So glad to hear it!
Question – when juicing fresh grapefruits, do you strain out the pulp or keep it in? It would completely change the thickness of the juice, so seems important! Thanks 🙂
Pulp and everything. Enjoy!
Not enough crust!! Very very thin. I’d double it.
It should look like the thickness in the photos if you used a 7×11-inch pan (not 9×13). But definitely feel free to double it if you like it thicker.
Even though I’m not a fan of grapefruit, I’ve been wanting to make Grapefruit Bars for a couple years now because I’ve enjoyed making Blood Orange, Lemon, and Orange bars. I used a 9×13 pan, did 1.5 for the crust. Because of the elevation in Albuquerque, I added about two tablespoons of flour to the crust and about 1/4 of cup extra flour to the filling. I baked the crust for 20 minutes and the filling for 24 minutes. I used 1 grapefruit and two small lemons for my one cup of juice. I made the bars Sunday night, and I didn’t cut them until Monday night so they could have a fair chance to set. My roommate and I ate four that night and my coworkers raved about them Tuesday. Even the ones like me who don’t care for grapefruit. I got compliments on the pretty pink color. I even took some to the New Mexico Lottery office. I love the recipe! Nice work! And I am typing this long REPLY because I really appreciated everyone else’s replies.
So glad to hear they were a hit NaDeen! Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your experience with the recipe.
I made these tonight and so far they came out beautifully. I kept the recipe as is except I added at least 2 tablespoons of zest, plus more sprinkled on top. I also used dragonfruit powder for color but I doubt that effects the taste or texture. I used an 8×8, baked the crust about 22 minutes, the filling for 35 minutes. I did a test slice in the corner and it looks like it’s going to hold together great once they cool overnight in the fridge. Awesome recipe!
Thank you for sharing your experience with the recipe Lauren. Your comment helps others who want to make the recipe as well.
Thanks for reminding me to follow up lol. They turned out really as best of a texture as it could have I think for that size pan. They were a little thick and I have a feeling that no matter how long I baked them, they would still mush if I stacked them – just from the height of the filling. Overall really delicious though, I’m putting this one in the recipe box! I’m going to try again with a 9×11, I’ll let you guys know how it goes 🙂
Oh also – I’m opting to add 1/4 cup lemon juice this time to replace some of the grapefruit juice. It’s just such a mild flavor, I think it could use it.
9×11 is perfect, baked this time for about 13-15 minutes and again with the filling for about 25 more minutes. Came out a little looser than I was hoping for how brown the top got. I think my final adjustment will be increasing the amount of flour a little bit, and maybe try baking it partially covered for the first half of the time with the filling.
With that, I call this recipe perfected lol
Unfortunately this recipe didn’t work out for me. I found the curd lacked flavor and tasted kind of eggy, and the crust was far too thin for my baking pan, but did puff up a little bit after baking. Still, the end product just wasn’t meshing with my taste buds. They look wonderful in the photo however, and I’m glad they worked out for you!
I’m sorry you did’t enjoy this recipe Allison, but thanks for your feedback anyway.
These look great and I hope to make them very soon. Have you ever used bottled grapefruit juice? Does it come out the same as juicing fresh grapefruits?
I’m sure bottled grapefruit juice would work as long as it’s 100% pure juice.
I don’t know what I did wrong but this was a DISASTER LOL! definitely a learning experience hahaha. I took the word of the other comments and opted for a smaller pan, 9×9 to be precise, baked the crust and it was a nice thickness…then came the filling! it ended up being way too much and much too liquid when I put poured it on top of the crust. So much so, that my crust floated to the top it was hilarious. I still popped it in the oven – as long as it’s edible I’m gna eat it. Excited for the results regardless!
I’m so sorry for the trouble, but I really appreciate your feedback. I went ahead and added an adjustment to the filling measurements for a 9×9-inch pan in the notes. Hope this helps in the future!
I had the same issue :/ the crust floated to the top
That’s not good, I’m sorry. I’m a little bit baffled by why this is happening, because it’s never happened to me and I use basically the same recipe for my other citrus bars (lemon and lime.) I’m trying to figure out how this can happen. Were you making the full size (11×7″) or did you make it in a 9×9″ pan? The filling should be adjusted for a 9×9 pan and those measurements are in the notes. Other tips are that the pan should be just ever so lightly greased with cooking spray. You could also skip the cooking spray altogether and when you pour the filling make sure you’re pouring it evenly and not just in one spot or near the edges.
This looks delicious! Will these freeze well? I’m looking for desserts I can make ahead for a large tea party.
They should freeze similarly to lemon bars. Don’t dust them with powdered sugar. And place parchment paper between any layers.
I used one 9×9 pan and one 8×8 pan, crust worked really well in both, however it hat to be baked almost 45 minutes to set and the top was cracked all over so I couldn’t cut them to put them on a tray. I had to leave them in the baking pans so it wouldn’t fall apart.
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time with this recipe. It is ideal to use a 11×7-inch pan. You might have better luck doing it in a 13×9-inch pan, but you may want to 1.5x the crust recipe so it’s not too thin.
Hello, I did as others had same problem with this recipe. The crust was too thin or not enough and the filling was too much and thin. The flavor was very good so I think the next time I will try doubling the crust and maybe cutting filling on half and use a smaller pan and see how it goes. This time I did use a smaller pan but it had to be cooked much longer because the filling would not start getting set so I had to bake it for a long time but it came out pretty good .
An 11×7-inch pan is ideal for this recipe. A 9×13 is too big, and it will definitely take longer to bake in a 8×8 or 9×9 square. I’m glad the flavor was good and that you feel like you can adjust it to get it exactly how you like it.
Hello!
I found your recipe and post here from Pinterest and had to give it a try! I doubled it, used a 9×13 pan, and it turned out perfectly! Delightfully creamy, with that balance of sweet and tart and the crumbly shortbread crust, it was a hit after lunch today. I love grapefruit too so this was exciting for me to make.
I did post about it over on my blog but didn’t include the recipe or any of your photos, so as not to infringe on your copywrite, and linked here to you.
https://rabbitandcrown.com/2021/03/07/a-bag-of-grapefruit/
Please let me know if you have any concerns with that and thank you very much for creating this delightful recipe!
I’m glad you had success doubling this recipe Stephanie! Your post looks great. Thanks for linking to me as the original source.
This recipe does not have enough crust for a 9×13 pan, and too much filling for an 8×8.
The crust does seem really thin and almost impossible to cover the whole pan, but it puffs up nicely after it’s baked. I like to use a mini rolling pin to help flatten the dough to get all areas of the pan. You can definitely feel free to double or 1.5x the crust recipe if you still feel it’s too thin.
The flavor and texture were great in this recipe, but the crust and custard turned out razor thin. I suspect a 8×8 dish would be the right size, not a 9×13?
You can definitely switch to a smaller pan if you like a thicker crust and custard.
I’m a pretty seasoned baker, but these were a big flop for me. The crust barely covered the bottom of the 13×9 pan and was so thin in some areas that it broke. The filling came out flat, it was not thick like in the pictures, it was just as thin as the crust. Flavor was good, but the filing came out a bit chewy (possibly because it was so thin) and not thick and creamy.
I’m really sorry you had a rough time with this recipe Jamie. You can try a smaller pan next time. Or double the ingredients for the crust and or filling. I’m not sure why everything seemed so thin as these are very similar measurements that I use for all my citrus bars. It definitely didn’t need to cook as long if it was so thin, but I’m perplexed.
Thanks for the response. Maybe I didn’t whip the eggs in enough? The instructions didn’t sound like whipping in air was that important so I mostly just stirred them in with the whisk?
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These look amazing! How come no one ever told me about these?!!?:D