Nana’s Pineapple Delight is a vintage recipe from my grandmother; sweet, fruity pineapple bars with a creamy vanilla frosting and flaky butter crust. It’s a staple summer dessert that makes enough to feed a crowd!

As a kid summertime functions had different desserts on my mom’s and dad’s sides of the family.

On my maternal side, it was usually strawberry shortcake or sometimes a fruity pie like blueberry, peach, or cherry.

And in my dad’s family it was things like cookies, brownies, or my Nana’s Pineapple Delight.

These dessert bar cookies have a flaky pie crust bottom, sweet/tart pineapple pie filling, vanilla frosting, and crunchy walnut topping. Each slice has its own glistening sticky sweet red maraschino cherry on top. I remember we all enjoyed it, but my dad in particular loved this treat.

It was the type of thing my grandmother would bring to every summertime family function. And of course it was always one of the first things to disappear from the dessert table. Which was good in the sense that it was less to pack up and cleanup!

If you’re looking for a new treat to try for summer gatherings, bookmark this recipe. It makes 20 servings so there’ll be enough for the whole family. And its sweet/tart fruit filling, flaky butter crust, and decadent vanilla frosting will make it a treat everyone can get on board with. Just be prepared to have people ask you for the recipe!

In This Article

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

With 20 servings, it makes enough for the whole party. And you can cut the squares a bit smaller to get more servings.
The textures in this dessert are perfect. Flaky crust, fruity filling, creamy frosting, and crunchy walnuts!
If you’re pressed for time, you can make this semi-homemade-style! Use store-bought pie dough, pie filling, and vanilla frosting.

The Best Pineapple Bars Recipe

Like many vintage recipes that are passed down, this one came with minimal instructions. My grandmother Nancy’s original recipe stated:

“Pineapple Delight: Make enough dough for 2 double shelled pies, spread in pan, spread pineapple (or other fruit) filling on that, bake at 400F for ½ hour (or so). Frost, then sprinkle with nuts.”

I filled in the gaps! And I'm sharing step-by-step instructions to walk you through the whole process.

pineapple bar with maraschino cherry on top

Ingredients

Crust:

All-purpose flour: Regular flour is what we’re going for here.
Salt: This is for flavor, don’t skimp!
Unsalted butter: Use unsalted because it lets us add salt to taste, and it’s fresher! Make sure the butter is cold when you cut it into the flour.
Ice water: The water needs to be icy cold so it doesn’t melt the butter.

Filling:

Canned crushed pineapple in heavy syrup: If you can only find crushed pineapple in juice, use that and add another ¼ cup granulated sugar.
Granulated sugar: To make it sweet and balance out the sweet/tart pineapple flavor.
Fresh lime juice: This enhances the fruit’s natural flavor and creates balance.
Salt: This pulls out the fruity flavor.
Cornstarch + water: This creates a slurry and thickens our filling.

Frosting:

Unsalted butter: This is the rich, creamy base for our American buttercream frosting.
Vanilla: Adds aroma and flavor.
Salt: This balances the sweetness and pulls out the butter and vanilla notes.
Powdered sugar: Along with butter, this is the other classic component of American buttercream. It adds sweetness, structure, and volume.
Heavy whipping cream: Helps create the perfect creamy consistency. If you prefer, you can use half and half or whole milk instead.

Decoration:

Chopped walnuts: For crunch and nutty flavor! You can omit them or swap them out for any type of nut you like.
Maraschino cherries: My Nana always served this summertime treat with a cherry on top!

Step-by-Step Instructions

How to Make and Roll Out Pie Dough:

Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks crumbly.
There should be some pieces of butter the size of small peas.
Drizzle in the water a little at a time, stirring in between additions.
The dough should look shaggy. Only add enough water so that the dough comes together when you squeeze it.
Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.
Flatten the dough out to a rectangle about 8 inches wide by 11 inches long (this will help you roll it out later). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill.
Flour a piece of parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and place it on top of the floured parchment paper. Flour the top of the dough, and place another piece of parchment paper on top.
Roll out the dough to a rectangle about 15 inches wide by 22 inches long.
Peel off the top piece of parchment paper from the dough. Place an 11.5 by 17.5-inch baking tray on top of the rolled out dough.
Carefully invert it so that the tray is on the bottom and the dough is on the top. Slowly peel off the bottom piece of parchment paper, which is now on top. Gently press the dough up the sides of the tray.

How to Make Pineapple Pie Filling:

Mix together the cornstarch and cold water in a bowl to form a slurry.
Add the pineapple (with liquid), sugar, lime, juice, and salt to a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Stir to dissolve the sugar.
Once the mixture is steaming, stir in the cornstarch slurry.
Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened, about 1 minute. Cool.

How to Bake and Frost Pineapple Bars:

how to bake and frost pineapple slab pie

Use a fork to poke several holes in the bottom of the dough.
Spread the cooled pineapple filling evenly out onto the pie crust.
Bake until the crust is light golden, about 28 to 32 minutes at 400F. Cool.
Make the frosting.
Once the bars are cooled, evenly spread the frosting on top.
Immediately sprinkle the walnuts evenly on top. Let it set for about 20 minutes, and then cut into slices. Top each slice with a maraschino cherry.

Storage

Store leftovers wrapped in the fridge for up to 3 days.

pineapple square on plate with bite on fork

Variations on This Recipe

Swap out the fruity filling for any type of pie filling you like!
If you prefer a cream cheese frosting instead of regular vanilla buttercream, go ahead and use that! My all-time favorite cream cheese frosting is the one I use to frost carrot cake in this post.
Go nuts with the nuts and use your favorite type.

Tips

Be careful not to add too much water to the dough or it can become gummy.
Instead of making your own pineapple filling, you can use a 20-ounce can of store-bought pineapple pie filling.
If walnuts aren’t your thing, swap them out for chopped almonds or pecans. Or omit them if desired.

More Summer Desserts to Make

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Nana's Pineapple Delight (Pineapple Bars Recipe)

Why You’ll Love This Recipe