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Pineapple Jam Squares
Most Indonesians prepare nastar (pineapple tarts) for festive occasions, such as Chinese New Year, Christmas, or Idul Fitri. They are delicious, but can be time consuming to make. I only make nastar once a year, and for any other day when I need a quick nastar fix, I make this pineapple jam squares instead. They are just as delicious, but come together very easily and quickly.
Homemade pineapple jam
I prefer making my own pineapple jam because I can control the sweetness, and also because I like infusing the jam with cinnamon and cloves. If you have favorite pineapple jam recipe for making nastar, feel free to use that, but do stop the cooking process while the jam is still quite spreadable.
Unlike nastar, the pineapple jam for this recipe needs to be spreadable. If your jam is too stiff, you can always add a bit of water to soften. Or, if it is spreadable but cold because it is just out from the fridge, simply scoop out the required amount, and microwave for 30 seconds or so to soften it a bit.
Cookie dough
The second part of the recipe is the cookie dough. It is a very simple dough, almost short-bread like, but healthier because of oats! You will need:
- all-purpose flour,
- oats (old fashion is best, but use whatever you have),
- brown sugar (dark is best, but light is okay too),
- baking powder,
- salt,
- unsalted butter, and
- egg.
Just mix everything together into a coarse crumbly texture to make the dough. A spatula is all you need, very simple.
Shaping, baking, and serving the pineapple jam squares
This pineapple jam squares cannot come together any easier. Here’s how to do it:
- Grab an 8" square cake pan, line it with parchment paper. You want the paper to overhang so you can just grab the overhang to release the baked cookie.
- Press 2.5 cups of cookie dough into the pan to make the base.
- Spread the 1 cup of pineapple jam.
- Cover the jam by crumbling the remaining cookie dough on top.
- Bake in preheated 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) oven for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
Be sure to let the cookie cool completely before removing it from the pan, and cut neatly with a knife into squares. Cut into tiny 1" squares to get 64 squares. Or go bold and cut the whole pan into large 9 squares!
Pineapple Jam Squares
Ingredients
- 225 gram (~ 1 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
- 135 gram (~ 1 1/2 cup) oats
- 100 gram (~ 1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pineapple jam (homemade or store-bought)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit), and line a 8"x8" square cake pan with parchment paper with an overhang to make it easier to release from the pan later.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour melted butter and mix well, then add the egg and mix again. This is our cookie dough mixture.
- Place 2 1/2 cup of the cookie dough mixture into the prepared pan, press to make the cookie base.
- Spread the pineapple jam over the cookie base, then crumble the remaining cookie dough mixture on top of the jam.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let the cookie cool completely in the pan.
- Gently remove cookie from pan (that's why you want the paper overhang, to make this step easy), cut neatly into squares.
- You can cut however large or small you want, from 1"x1" tiny squares (64 tiny squares total), all the way to large 9 squares. Store leftovers in air-tight container.
Comments
These squares look so delicious and comforting! I love the idea of filling it with pineapple jam - sounds amazing!
I love LOVE pineapple and these squares do not disappoint! We all love them.
I'm a huge pineapple fan too, Katie. I'm happy you guys are loving these as much as I do. :)
Great snack you got there! Pineapple is a fun choice for these!
Yum these look phenomenal ! What a fun twist on traditional jam filled squares!
Thanks, Farah! And if pineapple jam is not your thing, you can easily use other fruit jam/preserves too. My other favorite fillings include blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. :)
Love your recipe to making these delicious Pineapple Jam squares. Looks easy to make and definitely delicious to eat. Best as my snack box option too.
Thanks, Veena. These squares are super easy to make, and you can switch the pineapple jam with other fruit jam/preserves of your choice. And I agree, a great snack box option. :D
Very easy and common ingredients make this a winner in my book. Bar cookies are really convenient and I love how it's a cookie version of a cobbler dessert.
The cookie part is only slightly sweet, so what determines the sweetness of this cookie is the filling. This is great if you prefer less-sweet desserts because you can control the sugar by using your preferred preserves. I think with the oats and a modest filling, it could also be comparable to a homemade granola bar or breakfast-type pastry.
What I did for mine was use a 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks in juice and just dumped the whole thing in a pot with (approx) 1/3 c. sugar and mashed at it and cooked it until the liquid was mostly evaporated. I added a shake of Pumpkin Pie Spice (because I was too lazy to dig out the whole spices, and it has cinnamon and cloves anyway). The result was just about 1 cup of filling, so that worked out almost TOO good!
Wonderful. It's a deep dive into my favourite pineapples and a simple recipe too. Thanks for sharing Anita.
Great recipe. Not too sweet (made it with homemade pineapple jam) and extremely easy to make! Perfect weekend project with the kids :)
My pineapple jam squares turned out amazing! So much flavor and they were easier to make than I first thought. Your recipe is fabulous and can't wait to make it again!
My kids are huge fans of pineapple and I know they will go crazy for these little dessert bites! Can't wait to make them very soon!
Such an amazing dessert! My whole family enjoyed it!
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