Bright, buttery, and tropical, these pineapple shortbread cookies are a little bite of island sunshine. Inspired by the iconic Honolulu Cookie Company pineapple shortbread, this homemade version may not have the signature pineapple shape, but it delivers bold, tangy pineapple flavor. Freeze-dried pineapple powder is mixed right into the dough, and a jewel-like piece of candied pineapple in the center makes each cookie as pretty as it is delicious.
Like any good shortbread recipes, you have to chill the dough. This allows the flour to hydrate and the flavors to develop. This recipe requires a short chill to harden the dough slightly to make it easy to cut. But you don’t want the dough to be too hard since you’ll need to add the candied pineapple center after this first chill, so set a timer for this! Then you’ll want to chill it again either in the fridge or freezer right before baking or for long term storage.
Trang’s Recipe Highlights
- FLAVOR: These pineapple shortbread cookies are buttery with a sweet and tangy tropical pineapple flavor.
- TEXTURE: Crispy at the edges with a chewy candied pineapple center.
- EASE: This recipe is very similar to my strawberry shortbread cookies but with freeze-dried pineapple powder instead of strawberry. While adding the candied pineapple center is a bit of extra work, this recipe is still very easy.
Key ingredients
You’ll need 8 ingredients to make this pineapple shortbread cookie recipe. As always, for the full list of ingredients with quantities and step-by-step instructions, skip straight to the recipe card.
- Freeze-dried pineapple is the key ingredient here to impart sweet pineapple flavor to these cookies. I usually get the Good and Gather (Target’s store brand) freeze-dried fruits, but grocery stores carry their own store brand as well.
- And dried pineapple, while you may omit them, makes these cookies just like the well-loved Honolulu Cookie Company pineapple shortbread. I got these in bulk at Sprouts. These are pineapple chunks or diced dried pineapple. They are sweetened so they look translucent and when baked they look like a gem in the middle of the cookie. If you have any extra, use them in these rosemary shortbread cookies!
- Cornstarch gives shortbread cookies a subtle melt-in-your-mouth texture. You can skip it if you don’t have any without needing to make adjustments to the other ingredients.
Troubleshooting tips
Butter temperature: room temperature butter is typical for any recipes calling for softened butter. But I would let it soften a bit further than that. I like using extra soft butter for shortbread dough because it’s easier to beat, the flour incorporates into the butter quicker, and you’ll less likely encounter the issue of “crumbly” dough, which some readers have experienced with my matcha shortbread and chocolate espresso shortbread.
Crumbly dough: if you encounter crumbly dough, add a splash or two of water and continue mixing, it should come together, similar to the way you would make pie dough.
Cracked dough: this can happen when you try to push a piece of dried pineapple in the middle of the sliced cookie dough when it has hardened too much. Like if you accidentally left it in the fridge for a few hours instead of 1 hour, or if you refrigerate it overnight. This is okay, just squeeze the dough together and shape it back into a circle. Or you can let the dough soften a bit further at room temperature before adding the dried pineapple.
Skipping the first chill is not recommended: you may be tempted to skip the first chill and add the candied pineapple immediately after you make the dough. Be warned that freshly made shortbread dough can be quite soft, chilling is necessary to allow the dough to harden up which makes it easier to cut. Further chilling the dough the second round will prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
Hungry for more?
Pineapple Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
Pineapple shortbread dough
- 1 (28 g) bag of freeze-dried pineapple
- 8 oz (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup (135 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (2 g) kosher salt
- 2 ¼ cup (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon (18 g) cornstarch
Topping
- A handful of dried diced sweetened pineapple
- Extra granulated sugar for topping
Instructions
- Process the freeze-dried pineapple – Grind one 1-oz (28 g) bag of freeze-dried pineapple in your food processor or high speed blender until a fine powder forms. Set aside. Drape a towel over the food processor in this step to prevent the powder from puffing up.1 bag of freeze-dried pineapple
- Cream wet ingredients together – Add softened butter, sugar, vanilla and salt to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated and creamy.8 oz unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add dry ingredients – Sift flour and cornstarch into another mixing bowl, add the freeze-dried pineapple powder to it, and whisk to distribute evenly. Add the mixture into the stand mixer bowl with the creamed butter. Stir to combine, then increase the mixer speed and beat until no trace of flour remains and the dough is formed.2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- Form the logs – Place 2 long pieces of plastic wrap flat on the countertop. Divide cookie dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion on top of the plastic wrap into a log about 6” in length. Wrap it up and refrigerate for about 1 hour. You only want the dough to be sturdy enough to slice but not too hard at this point.
- Slice the cookies – Use a sharp knife to slice each cookie dough log into 12 cookies about ½” thick. If the dough is too hard, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.
- Decorate with candied pineapple – Press a piece of dried diced sweetened pineapple in the middle of each cookie. If the dough is soft enough, this should be very easy. If the dough is still hard, it may crack a bit, just squeeze it back together and reshape. Wrap the cookies back up and refrigerate again for at least 1 hour or freeze for at least 30 minutes before baking.A handful of dried diced sweetened pineapple
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 12 cookies on a large lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top and bake 1 batch at a time for about 20 minutes, until the edges on the cookies are golden brown.Extra granulated sugar for topping
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 5-10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store your pineapple shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week.
- Storing cookie dough: Unbaked shortbread dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, or freeze for 3-6 months. It is best to slice the dough and decorate with the candied pineapple for long term storage.
- Baking frozen dough: no need to thaw frozen cookie dough, you can bake directly from the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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