In Malaysia, pineapple tarts are one of the cookies that you will always find in most homes for Chinese New Year. There are two types of pineapple tarts– the first one is the open faced variety which is the original version (which is also why this cookie is called a tart) and the second is the enclosed jam version (which I suspect came from Indonesia where many beautiful and time-consumingly designed versions of this cookie can be found).
Homemade Pineapple Tarts
I got this recipe from my third aunt, who through trial and error has created a really delicious, melt-in-your-mouth dough which is truly sublime. In some ways, I have always had some reluctance sharing this recipe because if there is one recipe that I feel is part of my family, this is probably it.
However, I am also one who doesn’t believe in hoarding recipes. And I also believe that the magic isn’t in the recipe anyway – it’s in the person using it. As many times as I’ve made this pineapple tart, the same cookie tastes a whole lot better baked by my aunt. It’s her skill and love and that extra something that makes the cookie better (which is why I would love to sit at her feet one day and just learn and absorb everything she has to teach me about baking).
So I will share this recipe and I hope you will find some of that magic in making it yourself.
Before we begin making the cookie, we first have to make the jam.
Homemade Pineapple Jam
You have already done that, right? Alrighty then.
Easy Does it
The mixing of the pastry is actually really easy. You just dump all the ingredients into your mixer and mix it till it forms a dough. Easy peasy huh?
Well, pretty easy but I do want to share that this pastry dough makes quite a lot of cookies (about 8-12 dozen cookies, depending on the size of your cookies). Because of the amount of dough, when you’re mixing it, the flour could make quite a mess at the start of mixing. I’ve overcome this by placing plastic wrap over my Kitchen Aid mixer before turning the mixer on. This way the mess is contained and falls right back into the mixer (yes, you could use the KA shield but that just is so humbug and requires more washing).
Plastic Wrap over Kitchen Aid
So what makes this recipe so hard then? Well, it’s the time spent wrapping the cookie. The dough itself is really soft and buttery and will stick to your hands if it gets too warm. I recommend chilling the dough a little bit and also keeping a bowl of all-purpose flour on your work table to pat on your hands as you work on the cookie.
Pineapple Tart Pastry
(for enclosed jam version)
Ingredients
350g all-purpose flour (bleached is better)
350g cake flour (I use Softasilk brand)
500g butter
100g sugar
100g milk powder (I’ve used non-dairy creamer as a substitute)
1 whole large egg
2 egg yolks (save whites for other purposes)
1 Tbsp butter essence (optional)
Glaze
1 egg, lightly beaten
Method
1. Place parchment paper on your cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 350* F.
2. Measure and place all the ingredients in your mixer and mix on medium speed until it forms a dough. Chill for 10 minutes to firm up a little (you can use it immediately too).
Dough for Homemade Pineapple Tarts
3. Keeping your hands floured lightly, pinch off dough in about large marble sized pieces and roll into balls.
4. Press balls into circles and place a teaspoon of pineapple jam in the middle of the dough. Enclose jam with dough (practice makes you better at this, try to keep the pastry part thin, so that the cookie part won’t overwhelm the jam. Be careful that it’s not TOO thin as that would cause the jam to burst through).
Making Homemade Pineapple Tarts
5. The final shape is up to you. I tend to like to make them more oval because the original versions of these would be oval and then snipped all around with a small, sharp scissors to resemble a pineapple–much too much work for me! My aunt also used to roll them round and stick a clove into the top of each to resemble an apple.
6. Place them about an inch apart on the cookie sheet (or a little less space is ok too, they don’t expand too much).
7. Brush the eggwash gently on the tops of the cookies.
Eggwash on Homemade Pineapple Tarts
8. Bake until golden brown (about 20-30 minutes).
Enjoy!
Homemade Pineapple Tarts
*you might find yourself with more jam than cookies (depending on the size of the pineapples you bought). I got my pineapples from Costco and I still have about 1/3 of the jam left. They can be frozen and used later or I’ve also made an extra half portion of this recipe to use up the rest of the jam (if you have leftover cookie dough, just treat them like turnover dough and use fruit filling to use it up).
**don’t try to make open-faced cookies with this recipe. The dough is much too crumbly to hold up to that version. I will be trying out some open-faced versions soon with my leftover jam and I will share that recipe with you in another post.
Cheers, Annie
>These little pineapple tarts look so darling and yummy, too! I give you credit for folding all these little cookies. I don’t think I have the patience to do that, which is why I’m the Single Guy. 😉 thanks for the post!
>These look amazing. I wish you could send a few my way.
>Finally! I’ve been wondering when you’d post the pineapple tart recipe. Man, you weren’t kidding that it’s a lot of work. But they look divine, so I’m sure they are worth every bit of effort.
>Those look so delicious!! I have to try those myself one of these days.
>Kudos to making such perfect and beautiful pineapple tarts… and from scratch too! =) Nice red kitchen aid mixer too, it’s my dream kitchen tool hee
>That looks good!
But the pineapple tart which I had here do not cover the pineapple jam.
Check it out here.
http://www.foodpoi.com/2007/11/bibik-house-cendol-and-pineapple-tarts/
>oh, yum! annie, do you think that we might be able to use your recipe for my cooking classes? this semester we’re focusing on traditional foods from around the world. these tarts look wonderful, and we need a new year recipe. a lot of work, yes, but i think we’d be up for it.
let me know if you’re at all interested…recipe featured, of course, on my blog, and (gulp) partially in the hands of 2 and 3 year-olds.
and, of course, happy new year!
>@all – thanks for your comments!
@Carolyn – The work is in making the dough rounds, filling them, and shaping them. Eventually it becomes automatic.
@noobcook – what would we ever do without our beloved KitchenAid? hee hee!
@email2me – yes, these are not the usual open-faced version.
@Cate – I think you and the kids could do the rolling, filling and shaping of the cookies. But an adult should do the pineapple jam part as it’s quite dangerous to deal with.
>wow kitchen aid! haha. i’m using kenwood’s. but i prefer kitchen aid, looks nicer. lol!
>These are some beautiful photos of your recipes! I’m hungry now!!!
>Your recipe looks the most appealing from those I saw on the net. I’m definitely going to try yours as my family likes closed versions of the pineapploe tarts. They look so yummy!
>Those look delicious! How long do they last cuz it would take me forever to go through so many cookies, even with the help of my many co-workers!
>This reminds me of those little crumbly pineapple candies we buy in stores.. So glad to find your recipe! Pastry dough is not my strongest suit but I hope to try it soon.
>@Anonymous – thanks for your comments! I hope your family likes them.
@Amanda – I’d say they last about a week. What I mean is, we’d have eaten them all by then 😉
>i printed out your recipe a few days ago and it didnt state 500g butter for some reason… maybe it got deleted while printing or… wasted my first batch of ingrdients for the pastry… came to check out your webby and found out that i needed the butter, and my 2nd try was superb, they are really yummy… 🙂
>@Tucky – I really love to hear when people try out our recipes. Sorry it didn’t come out the first time (but it gives me an idea about how to make recipes more “printable”). Glad to hear that the 2nd time worked out great for you! We’re probably going to do another batch this week ourselves.
>I tried making the tarts and it was really nice! Thanks for such a detailed recipe! But I am just wondering, when will you be posting up the recipe for those ‘open’ tarts! Would love to make those too! Thanks heaps!
Li Lian
>I bookmarked this post awhile back and realized I never commented! My mom would probably love me forever if I made these. Looks like a lot of work but it might just be worth it! Happy New Year!
>@moufat – we probably won’t be trying the open-faced pineapple tarts for a little while. We want to try out a few recipes and perfect them before posting. Thanks for asking!
@Sharon – I say go for it!
>hey guys…. think I'll pass on the scone recipe… just because I am besotted with my own scone recipes…. but, I do think I will give this a try … and, am still on the lookout for a pastry that would work for a Jamaican Meat Patty …Safeway quit carrying the ones from a real Jamaican bakery and the ones they carry now are absolutely horrible…so I must learn to make my own…. have you tried any of those? or something like them>??
Hi Annie, thanks for the recipe! Tried it today and tasted so yummy! Can I just check with you whether is the top of the tart (where the eggwash is) crispy? Wonder if I have overbaked it.
Hi, i would like to try this recipe. may I know what kind of attachment did u use with the kitchenaid for this recipe?
Tried your recipe this afternoon and it’s the best one out of the recipes that I’ve been experimenting with this month! I didn’t have milk powder at home, so I substituted it with organic soya milk powder and it tasted great! Will be making more batches for Chinese New Year!
Hi Annie! I’ve used this recipe the last two Chinese New Years and my family LOVES this recipe. Do you think if I was in a pinch I could substitute the pastry dough for a premade version?
Thanks Annie. , I had been using ur recipe for tis two year. Great we all love it very much. It really melt in the mouth