Ruby Red Pomelo Cookies

I'm having some sort of love affair with Florida ruby and pink pomelos.  I've been eating a half each morning with my goat milk and dried fruit oats and they just give me that morning buzz I now crave. It's a bit surprising to taste a pomelo while in Europe, where here the grapefruits are very sour, not too juicy, and kind of a punishment to eat on their own.  The Florida pomelos are reaching their season's end right now, but they are still incredibly juicy, not too bitter, sweetly acidic...but most importantly, are more of a blessing to eat on their own than any other fruit right now at this moment.  Apples and pears are great, don't get me wrong....but they certainly don't get me all buzzed up in the morning.

(As if I needed that)

So when I saw the Homesick Texan making cookies with her Texas grapefruit, I thought I might as well try making cookies with my Florida pomelos.

I did cut the sugar down by half.  She uses 1 1/2 cup which is just an enormous amount, so cut it down to 3/4 cup and they are still pretty sweet.

Yield 33 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (110g) room temperature butter

3/4 cup (185g) brown sugar

1 medium egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 1/2Tbsp + 1 Tbsp pomelo zest (1 1/2 pomelos)

3 Tbsp pomelo juice (1/4 pomelo)

2 cups (250g) flour (I used half white, half buckwheat)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

Handful walnuts (optional)

Directions

1.  Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.

2.  In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together, then add the egg and beat well until homogenous.

3.  Add the pomelo juice and 1 1/2 Tbsp of the zest and mix well.

4.  Ditch the whip and switch to a wooden spoon.  Add the dry ingredients little by little, while mixing until all incorporated.  The end result should not be dry and should stick to your fingers forcing you to lick the batter off. Oooh

5.  Chill the batter while you preheat the oven to 350°F 175°C.  If you chill the batter it will be easier to manipulate...but less will end up in your mouth.

6.  Take a tablespoon size amount of dough and plop it onto you cookie sheet.  This might be easier with an ice cream scooper.  I don't own one of those.  Sprinkle with a bit of the extra zest and top with a piece of walnut.  Keep about 2 inches of space around each one since they are going to expand.

7.  Bake for about 12 minutes or until they are just about to golden.  Remove and let cool on a wire rack until they set.

These are really wonderfully crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Not too overpowered with pomelo, but it's subtle tang is definitely there.
Intriguing!