Pineapple Pockets to the Rescue-Pining for a Cookie
There are a couple of baking books that are my go-tos for cookies, especially during the holidays, like Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Christmas Cookies, Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies and Flo Bracker’s Sweet Miniatures. I find myself reaching for Sweet Miniatures when I want an elegant, fancy cookie. Yes it will probably require a bit more effort than drop cookies, but it’s Christmas, when else are you going to pull out all the stops?
Pineapple Cakes from Taiwan inspired me to make the Pineapple Pockets from Sweet Miniatures. Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes are little bite-sized squares of pineapple jam cloaked in a sweet, buttery pastry crust. I’m obsessed with these little cake-like cookies. My introduction to these treats came years ago when a friend returning from a trip to Taipei brought back Te Chia Pineapple Cakes. It was love at first bite. The sweetness from the pineapple offset by the buttery shortbread crust…needless to say, I was smitten. I casually mention pineapple cakes to every friend that goes back to Taiwan while giving them my best wistful look.
While these Pineapple Pockets are more complicated than your average drop cookie, the resemblance to Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes put these on my must-bake holiday cookie list. The process begins with making a caramelized pineapple jam then a pastry dough. The dough is rolled and cut into circles, dotted with the jam, and then shaped into cones. Labor-intensive, but in the end, you are rewarded with a meltingly tender cookie highlighted by the dollop of golden, caramelized pineapple preserves. They are absolutely delicious and well worth the effort. But most importantly, they are delicious enough to satisfy my Pineapple Cake craving. Now I don’t have to wait for friends to take pity on me and bring them back from Taiwan!
The jam is made first and set aside to cool. I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla to the jam and a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor. Make the dough, chill it, then roll it into a circle. The dough should be about 1/8-3/16 inch thickness. Use a 2 inch round cutter for the circles. Your best friend is your refrigerator. If the dough gets soft or sticky during the process, put it back in the fridge to chill. This will make it easier to handle.
Position the jam off-center. Using a butter knife or thin blade spatula, flip the edge closest to you over the jam. Angle your spatula on the opposite side and flip towards you, overlapping with the first.
Ta-da, ready to bake! Sprinkle powdered sugar on the finished cookies for a festive look. In a pinch, you could use jarred preserves, make sure whatever you use is not too runny or thin.
Pineapple Pockets
Ingredients
Dough
- 6 ounces unsalted butter, room temp 1-1/2 sticks
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar 50gms
- 1/2 cup unsifted powdered sugar 50gms
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1-2/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour 235gms
Pineapple Filling
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 65gms
- 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in natural juice
- 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- In bowl of mixer, cream butter at medium low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, then vanilla, beating until well combined and slightly fluffy. Scrape down the sides of bowl. Lower mixer speed, and gradually add flour and mix just until it is combined.
- Gather dough into a disc and chill 15-30 minutes. Divide dough in half and on parchment or wax paper, roll each piece into a circle. approximately 11 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet, cover top with parchment and refrigerate until firm about 2 hours.
Pineapple filling
- In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar over low heat. Swirl occasionally and wash down any sugar crystals that form on the side with a brush dipped in cold water to dissolve them. Increase heat to medium-high and cook without stirring until sugar thickens and turns amber in color about 8 minutes. Take it off the heat and add crushed pineapple and juice all at once. Careful as mixture will bubble up. Stir to combine and return the pan to stove and cook over med-high heat until mixture is golden and syrupy. Remove from stove and stir in butter. Place in bowl and set it aside to cool.
Putting It All Together
- Preheat oven to 325
- Remove one piece of dough, peel off parchment. Put parchment back on dough and flip dough over and peel off bottom parchment.
- Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter cut out circles and place on lined baking sheets. Place 1/2 teaspoon of cooled jam off-centered on circle. Fold over one edge of dough over jam, then overlap the opposite edge at an angle to form a cone. See pics.
- Bake one sheet at a time, for 12-14 minutes until edges ar light golden.
- Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Lift cookies off and place directly on cooling rack.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar. optional)
- Store at room temp for up to 10 days.
The 2020 Holiday Cookie Tin