My dad was the only one of his family to move more than 2 or 3 hours away from his parents, and so my sisters and I were the only cousins not to see our grandparents on a regular basis. One thing that I remember of our visits, from fairly early on–going back to the early 70’s, I think–was some sort of cookie, large, flat, and soft. I never knew exactly what they were, and I just thought of them as “those cookies we get at Grandma Smith’s house.” Years later I learned that they were pineapple cookies. (Grandma died in 1990, but she would have been 120 this August.) Grandma had a worn-out little cookbook, bound with one of those black coils; its blue cover was coming loose, and its pages were stained from years of use. I remembered the other day that it was called something like The Blue Star Mothers Cookbook, which suggests that all the recipes were submitted by women who had sons or husbands in the service during World War II. Grandma had at least a few recipes in there, and there was a recipe for pineapple cookies, but my dad says Grandma’s recipe was different, and we don’t know exactly where it came from. At the end of June we celebrated my parents’ fiftieth anniversary, with relatives from both families in attendance, including over half of the cousins on the Smith side. After one of the large casual dinners for the relatives, my mom brought out bags of her homemade cookies–five or six different types, including the pineapple cookies. When that particular bag was opened, at least one of my cousins happily exclaimed, “Grandma’s cookies!”
Grandma Smith's Pineapple Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 20- ounce can crushed pineapple drained
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream together butter and sugars.
- Beat egg and vanilla into creamed mixture.
- Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into creamed mixture.
- Stir in pineapple and nuts.
- Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
- Bake until light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. (If the first tray turns out a bit crispy, reduce the baking time.)
Recipe Notes
These cookies can be fairly soft, so if you want to freeze them, do so on the cookie sheet before bagging them. Makes 2-3 dozen.
julie green says
May 26, 2016 at 11:44 PMwe save the juice and mix with powdered sugar to frost our cookies with. other then that I think our recipies are the same. my recipie came from my mother’s friend’s mother. she was born and raised in the south east PA area..
April says
February 5, 2017 at 1:30 AMBeen looking for this recipe for ages my mom has made these cookies for so many years and they sure are my favorite. I always ask her for the recipe but she claims she only knows it when she makes them or eye balls it out !!! Thank you for sharing
Kelly Deal says
October 27, 2017 at 7:15 AMI also had a grandma Smith, which was my father’s mother. She would make these pineapple cookies for my dad. I’m going to see my dad tomorrow, im so happy i saw this, I’m going to bake some tonight and will be taking them to him tomorrow.
Olives & Okra says
October 27, 2017 at 3:32 PMLet us know if he likes them. Thanks for stopping by.
Kelly Deal says
October 28, 2017 at 8:01 AMMy cookies spread out like pancakes while baking. I was hoping for a cookie like in the picture.
Olives & Okra says
October 28, 2017 at 4:38 PMI’ve never had that happen. Did you substitute any of the ingredients?
Tracy says
June 28, 2018 at 6:29 PMJust tried this recipe today, what a lovely cookie! I added 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to the batter and made a glaze from melted butter, confectioners sugar and some of the drained pineapple juice. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing! 🍍❤
Greg says
December 6, 2018 at 2:30 PMI don’t see what all the fuss is about…I made the cookies to the exact directions and I thought they lack flavor… They almost taste more like a biscuit you would use for strawberry shortcake….the pineapple flavor was not even there…I’m sure you can do better than this…on. A scale of
1 to 10 I give them a 2
Teresa Nelson Benson says
December 19, 2018 at 9:19 PMMaking these to add to my Christmas cookie trays (sprinklingbthe icing with colored sugar). Used to make these ages ago but don’t recall figuring out best way to store them. Suggestions?