Irresistable pineapple cookies. These disappear in 3 days in my house, but the store-bought ones are still around after 3 weeks. They're are called "Pineapple Tarts" in Singapore.
Cook pureed pineapple in a dry, clean wok.
Cook till pineapple is thick and light brown in color - takes quite a while. Well, no pain, no gain.
Roll pineapple paste into small balls.
Cover dough with another layer of plastic wrap for easier rolling - othewise dough will stick.
Special cookie molds bought in Singapore at a Malay market - they make an indentation.
Ready for the oven. Don't worry about tidying the shape of the pineapple. They will firm up after baking and will be easy to shape again after it's baked and cooled for a minute.
Out of the oven.
All that work for one jar of cookies - no wonder it's sold so expensive in the stores!
Leftover dough can be baked plain.
Makes about 100 cookies.
Dough Recipe:
2 cups flour
2 sticks butter at room temp
1 egg at room temp
1 tsp vanilla essence
Either 1/4 cup custard powder Or 1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup icing sugar
Cream butter together with egg, vanilla and icing sugar.
1/4 cup icing sugar
Cream butter together with egg, vanilla and icing sugar.
Stir in flour and custard powder or cornstarch.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill till firm.
Roll dough between two layers of plastic wrap sprinkled with flour on both sides.
Cut out small cookie shapes and put one piece of pineapple filling on top.
Bake cookies at 350 deg for 15-20 min till light brown at edges.
Pineapple Filling:
Three 20-oz can pineapple chunks, drained.
Puree pineapple in blender in batches, or put them all in a deep bowl and use a hand held blender.
Stir in 3/4 cups white sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon & 1/8 tsp cloves.
Cook over high heat in dry, clean wok, stirring constantly till it turns thick and brown in color and reduced to about 1/3. Watch out for splatters in the beginning. This process takes about 30 min, depending on the level of heat.
Cool and then roll into small balls.
