Pineapple cookies with icing are a wonderful treat with tropical flavor. These frosted pineapple cookies are soft, filled with pineapple, and perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges and holiday gifts.
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Old Fashioned Pineapple Drop Cookies
Frosted Pineapple Cookies are buttery cookies are made with canned pineapple and remind me of all of the good things you expect in a fruit cookie. The icing is made with pineapple juice too!
They are simple drop cookies so there is no rolling or cutting out dough. Just mix up the dough, drop scoops of it on a baking sheet, bake, cool, and spread icing on top. Easy peasy!
Whether you are six or 60, a good cookie is guaranteed to make you smile. And these Frosted Pineapple Cookies are darn good. Topped with a pineapple-infused glaze and filled with bits of pineapples, these tropical-flavored sugar cookies are perfect for holiday parties and will be a hit at any cookie exchange! The best part is that they are super easy to make. But remember to bake a double batch to ensure there’s plenty to go around.
The Great Crispy vs. Soft Cookie Debate
Are you a crispy cookie or a soft cookie person? Crispy cookies have an addictive crunch and can withstand dunking, but then there are the softer cookies with their airy texture and slight chewiness. Really, you can’t go wrong with either one!
The Frosted Pineapple Cookie recipe below is halfway between a crispy and a soft cookie. But with a few minor changes, you can make it as crunchy as a cracker or as pillowy as cake.
For soft cookies, start by switching out the AP flour for an equal amount of cake flour. Cake flour has less gluten than AP flour and lets the cookie rise better. If you don’t have any cake flour, you can make a good substitute by measuring out the two cups of AP flour and removing four tablespoons. Add four tablespoons of cornstarch to the AP flour and sift together before using.
Another secret for softer cookies is to replace the butter with vegetable shorting. It may not be the healthiest option, but you can’t argue with the results!
For thin, super crispy cookies, replace the brown sugar with an equal amount of white sugar and leave out the egg. Space these cookies further apart on the baking sheet to prevent them from spreading into each other.
How to Evenly Coat the Pineapple Sugar Cookies with Glaze
The pineapple glaze that tops these cookies is optional, but it’s so simple and delicious, there is no reason to skip it.
There are several ways to apply the glaze to the cookies, and the easiest way is to drizzle spoonfuls of the glaze over the cookies. It might not look professional, but the cookies will still taste amazing, so who cares?
Another method is to pour the glaze directly over the cookies. Put the cookies on a wire cooling rack with a rimmed baking tray. Thin out the glaze with a tablespoon or two of warm water and pour slowly over each cookie. The results look amazing, but you will wind up wasting some glaze.
A compromise between the two methods is dipping the tops of the cookies into a bowl of glaze. It’s messy and a little tedious, but the results are pretty good.
Tips for Making and Storing Pineapple Drop Cookies
- Let the pineapples drain well. The drier the crushed pineapples are, the better the cookies will turn out.
- Remember never to pack your measuring cups. Never use your measuring cup to scoop the flour from the bag. Doing this will pack down the flour, increasing the amount in the recipe, and you’ll wind up with dry cookies. Instead, sift your flour and then spoon it into the measuring cup.
- Store any extra pineapple cookies in an airtight container on the counter. The cookies should stay fresh for up to five days.
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Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Crushed pineapple
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon zest
How to Make Pineapple Cookies
- Drain the crushed pineapple reserving the juice for the icing.
- Place the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add egg, pineapple, and vanilla.
- Beat until well combined.
- In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar and mix well.
- Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop cookie dough onto a greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
- Place powdered sugar, lemon zest, and some of the pineapple juice in a small bowl.
- Stir to combine. Add more pineapple juice, a little at a time, until it reaches spreading consistency.
- Spread the icing on the cooled cookies.
Christmas Cookie Recipe
Growing up, it wasn’t Christmas until some lady in my family made Hello Dolly Bars, Chex mix, peanut butter balls, and pecan sandies. So for me, the holidays are marked by those recipes. It was hard to resist the urge not to pull from one of those and to try something new.
I’m glad I made them! I’ve added these pineapple drop cookies to my must-make Christmas cookies list.
How to Store Pineapple Cookies
You should store these in an airtight container. They will last for about 3 to 5 days. After five days they begin to get a little soft.
How to Freeze Pineapple Cookies with Icing
When I freeze these cookies, I like to wrap them in plastic wrap, and then place these into an airtight container. Placing them into a container keeps them from getting broken. These will last for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Love pineapple desserts? Try these recipes!
- Millionaire Pie
- Orange Pineapple Cake
- Pineapple Angel Food Cake
- Pineapple Dump Cake
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Pineapple Cream Cheese Pie
Favorite Cookie Recipes
- Cake Mix Cookies with Butter
- Chinese Almond Cookies
- Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
- Cranberry Pecan Cookies
- Crispy Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
- Keebler Shortbread Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Check out more of my easy cookie recipes and the best Christmas treats recipes here on CopyKat!
Pineapple Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Drain pineapple reserving 3 tablespoons of juice for the frosting.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in egg, pineapple, and vanilla.
- In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir or whisk until thoroughly mixed.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar.
- Grease a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop cookie dough onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies will spread.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes or until golden.
- Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
- Place powdered sugar, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons pineapple juice in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Add more pineapple juice, about ½ teaspoon at a time, if needed to achieve spreading consistency.
- Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies.
Susan
Just made these and they came out perfect. Adult, kid, and dog approved. I strained the juice off through a strainer and mashed the fruit against screen to get all the juice out. A new favorite.
Gwen Colmon
I made the cookies according to the recipe and they came out perfect! Thank you soooo much you made everyone day.
Rene
This was too runny and flat
Lorrie
Just tried this recipe and my cookies also came out flat and crispy. The taste was good, but the dough was a little runny. I presume I didn’t drain my pineapple enough.
Pat
These are the best cookies. My husbands new favorite!
Jackie
I used 1/2 cup more four than the recipe called for and chilled the dough before baking. This made for plumper cookies instead of flat
I wanted more of a pineapple taste but the texture was good. crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, I would make again.
Stephanie
I made these with fresh pineapple and they turned out wonderfully. I blended pineapple and let it strain through a mesh strainer just while I mixed other ingredients and got the pans ready. I’m really not a great baker, but somehow, these turned out perfect. Better than I thought. I spent a fortune on some pineapple themed sprinkles, so I threw those on top with the delicious frosting and they made an great gift for my sister’s birthday.
Stephanie Manley
I am glad that worked out for you!
Seriously Spain
Will definitely have to try these. They look amazing. But yes, agree with Shannon below, pineapple must be drained properly or the juices will kill many things you cook with it 🙂
pc
I have not made these yet, but I wanted to say in reply to the comment about there being too much pineapple juice in the crushed pineapple after being drained and the cookies went runny.
Yesterday I made a pineapple cake and needed to get as much liquid as possible out a can of crushed pineapple. I drained and squeezed all the juice out….and was very surprised to realize that one can of crushed pineapple was about 60 percent liquid, the can yielded probably less than a cup of actual pineapple.
I wasn’t going to try these cookies after reading the last comment, but now I think I will give them a try and not just drain the liquid, but also I will squeeze the heck out of it.
Stephanie Manley
I understand your reservations. You can watch my video, I didn’t squeeze out the pineapple, and I did not add additional flour. They were more wet than other cookies but they baked up very well.
Shannon Erin Louvin
Caution- I’m an experienced baker- but just made these and am afraid I didn’t drain enough juice from the pineapple. The batter is way too wet. The cookies baked paper thin and obviously not right. Just added flour and remixed, so I’m going for the second batch now- fingers crossed!
Stephanie
Shannon, I appreciate your suggestion. I have made these cookies this way several times. The dough is sticky, but baked up more cake like than a crisp cookie. To me it reminded me of a cake-like cookie. I hope you enjoyed your second batch.