Filled Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
My extended family enjoys these pineapple raisin filled cookies every year on Christmas. It’s such a delicious family recipe!
I feel a little guilty about making these cookies in November.
Filled cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my husband’s family for decades. We’ve never eaten them outside of the Christmas season. They’re sacredly enjoyed in late December.
These cookies are a special treat that all my in-laws look forward to at Christmastime. Some of our relatives make them a little smaller, some prefer extra filling, and others like the dough to be rolled out extra thin. We all have opinions about these cookies.
Pineapple Raisin Filled Cookies
When my husband and I were first married, we often visited his parents in Vermont on or around Christmas. One thing we could always count on during those visits were giant tins of cookies. There would be a big batch of chocolate chip cookies and a big batch of these pineapple and raisin filled cookies. It was always a hard decision between the two.
I love holiday traditions, especially when cookies are involved.
This recipe originated with my husband’s grandmother, and the cookies are delicious just the way she made them. It’s a rare use of white sugar on my blog, but you can substitute pure maple syrup if you’d like to try a real food version.
I did adjust great-grandma’s recipe to make the cookies gluten-free and dairy-free to accommodate food sensitivities in my family. If you want to try these delicious cookies for the holidays, feel free to substitute wheat and dairy ingredients for the coconut oil, coconut milk, and gluten-free flour if you prefer. You’ll love them either way!
Filled Cookies
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Dough
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
Ingredients for the Filling
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 20 ounces crushed pineapple with juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbs tapioca starch or other starch
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Melt the coconut oil, and let it cool to room temperature.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cooled coconut oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients a little bit at a time, alternating with the milk. Start and end with a portion of the dry ingredients (i.e. dry, milk, dry, milk, dry). Form the dough into two balls. Wrap each ball in a piece of wax paper and refrigerate briefly while you prepare the filling ingredients. (If you refrigerate it for too long, the coconut oil will solidify and the dough will become too hard to handle.)
- To make the filling, combine the raisins, crushed pineapple, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a slight boil. While this mixture is heating up, stir together the starch and the water in a small bowl. Add it to the boiling filling mixture, and stir to thicken. You’ll need to stir the lightly boiling mixture for a minute or two until it’s no longer runny.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out to about 1/8 inch thickness (as thin as possible) on a well-floured surface. Cut out 3-inch circles of dough using a cookie cutter or a glass.
- Put 9 circles of dough on a cookie sheet, and place about two teaspoons of filling in the middle of each circle. Then place another circle on top of the filling and press down the edges.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.
Approximate Nutrition Info
This recipe may contain affiliate links. A purchase or click through one of these links may result in a commission paid to us at no additional cost to you.
Price Breakdown
This recipe costs a total of $8.14, or $.23 per cookie. These filled cookies are such a fun holiday tradition in my family!
Here are more healthy Christmas cookies to enjoy during the holiday season.
Pin this recipe here:
These cookies are great for the holidays!
These little cookies look so cute!!! Almost like an apple pie. I would love to make these for my family. I am pinning to try this weekend.
these are like apple pie meets cookie, and they look delicious too!
I’ve never made filled cookies, but have loved receiving them during the holidays. This recipe sounds delicious, can’t wait to make it!
They reminded me of Taiwanese pineapple cakes. So delicious!
Oh yum! That filling sounds divine. Love that these are gluten free as well!
Really great idea what you have used to fill up the cookies with. Perfect inspiration.
What a fun treat! I’ve never had filled cookies before. I’m sure my kids would love them, though.
Wow, those look so yummy! Like a small pie in a cookie!
A little pocket of love! So fun!
Omg these are so cute! I’ve never had a filled cookies but these look incredible!
I have been looking high and low for my grandmother’s mincemeat filled cookie recipe for many years. This is the closest I’ve seen! My grandmother’s cookies were soft and you don’t mention if yours are soft or crunchy, but I’m going to try them!
These are soft. I hope you love them as much as we do!
You can never go wrong with cookies during the holidays, and these look especially delicious! Pinning now!
What a fun idea! I’ve never made filled cookies before. These look delicious!
My mother-in-law used to make a filled cookie similar to this one, but she filled hers with dates. Your raisin pineapple filling sounds wonderful.
Interesting! I hadn’t thought of dates for a filling. Sounds yummy. 🙂