This week we are going to make a super-easy recipe because other things in life are really hard right now.
These are Pineapple Puffs!
AuthorRetroRuth
[cooked-sharing]
Mix pineapple and marshmallows. Let stand at least one hour.
Fold in whipped cream and 1 1/4 cups nuts. Chill this mixture overnight.
The next day, shape into balls (I used a cookie scoop) and roll in reserved nuts or toasted coconut. Keep chilled until serving time.
These cookies may be rolled in toasted coconut or in red or green sugar or colored coconut for the holidays.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix pineapple and marshmallows. Let stand at least one hour.
Fold in whipped cream and 1 1/4 cups nuts. Chill this mixture overnight.
The next day, shape into balls (I used a cookie scoop) and roll in reserved nuts or toasted coconut. Keep chilled until serving time.
These cookies may be rolled in toasted coconut or in red or green sugar or colored coconut for the holidays.
Now, this recipe was once again chosen by the lovely Patrons from our Patreon. And most of them chose it for the same reason I put it up in the poll to begin with, which was to figure out if this mixture can actually form balls that are sturdy enough to be rolled in nuts.
So let’s find out.
Since there are so few ingredients AND instructions in this recipe, my immediate thought was that they needed to be measured well and they needed to be exactly the right texture so the mixture can hold it’s shape. The problem was that I didn’t know what that texture needed to be. Common sense tells me all the chunks of stuff need to be on the small side.
So, I ended up using miniature marshmallows, which is what I had on hand. I figured the kind of marshmallow didn’t matter, just their size. I ran my knife through them a couple of times, but some of them were still left whole. After mixing them with the pineapple, I became concerned that the marshmallows that didn’t get the chop would remain whole and not really mix in with the rest of the…goo.
So I took a little more time chopping the walnuts fine. Now, this is totally ridiculous, because nuts aren’t going to dissolve at all.
But it strangely made me feel like I was fixing the problem, so let’s just go with it.
Here are the two toppings, chopped walnuts and toasted coconut.
(Which I “toasted” in the microwave, by the way, and it actually worked!)
I used a cookie scoop on the overnight goo. And yes, it did hold together. It wasn’t solid at all, but it was good enough to sort of roll it into a ball. Especially if you plop the scoop of goo straight onto the stuff you are going to use to cover the outside.
Here is a scoop from a larger cookie scoop, and you can kind of see the…strange texture. It was very light and puffy and honestly kind of fuzzy looking? Furry maybe? But it held together in the end, so that shows me.
There. I’ve made myself fuzzy balls.
Have you been waiting this whole time for a joke like that? Because I’ve been working up to it for about 4 paragraphs now.
Anyway, let’s make Tom eat these!
“These taste like nothing.”
The Verdict: Nothing
From The Tasting Notes –
Overall, these taste like melted marshmallow and air. That was about it. The flavor and sweetness was incredibly mild. The nut ones were not as good as the toasted coconut ones, because the coconut actually made them taste like something. But they were light and fluffy and were just like a bit of sweet…air? They were very light, so the puff in their name is definitely there. Tom and I both feel like these needed lots more pineapple, and I was thinking that cream cheese would go well with these, too. Also, I used unsweetened whipped cream, but I bet Cool Whip would be way better.
Side note: My fears about the marshmallows came true, and wasn’t at all fixed by finely chopping the walnuts. The chopped marshmallow bits just seemed to melt and combine with the other goo, but the marshmallows that I did not chop just stayed whole. So chop those marshmallows to bits if you are going to make this.
But if you want something easy to make that tastes light and airy, and like straight melted marshmallow, these will work!
Oh no, I was sure while reading this that some type of chemical reaction would happen from the pineapple enzymes that would break down the marshmallow structure and create some type of bizarre not-yet-set divinity-esque concoction, but it doesn’t sound like that was the case. Knowing how pineapple enzymes can break down meat in marinades and such, it really did seem like this was going to wind up being some type of lost to the ages undiscovered midcentury kitchen hack but that wasn’t the case.
So is this your version of Schweddy Balls?
I wonder if it’s because it was canned pineapple? Maybe if it would have used fresh pineapple it would be better? That is a good idea!!
Ha ha ha!!! Yes!
Pretty sure that wouldn’t work. The bromelain in the fresh pineapple would break down the gelatin, so the “goo” would be basically pineapple + sugar. I doubt that would be good for making balls.
From your description I’d think some chopped + some whole marshmallows would be good because the chopped marshmallows would stick everything together while the whole ones add some interest to the texture. Really surprised it lost the pineapple flavor, though; I’d expect the pineapple flavor to overwhelm the marshmallows, not the other way around.
I bet melting the marshmallows and then stirring in everything but the coconut would work well, then roll in coconut and refrigerate. But I’m not sure that would solve the blah taste problem. Maybe a bit of some kind of extract would help.
I know, right? I ended up stirring more pineapple into the goo in the end. Tom said it really needed big chunks of pineapple rather than just crushed pineapple. Which would kind of kill the whole rolling it to balls aspect, but we ended up eating the rest of it as a salad anyways.
This sounds a little bit like my favorite “salad” that my Mom made, “back in the day.” It had cottage cheese, whipped cream, pineapple, mini marshmallows–and maybe that was it, or else I’m forgetting something.
Anyone have that recipe?
Ha, the classic Sunshine Salad. Can of pineapple, can of mandarin oranges, tub of sour cream, bag of mini marshmallows all stirred together and topped with shredded coconut (tinted to the colours of the season of course). Still served at our family dinners even though my sister and niece are the only ones who eat it.
Thanks Marsha, but that’s not the one. No coconut, no mandarin oranges, no sour cream. If I can track down who’s got Mom’s recipe box, it might be in there.
It was the only one of those desserty salad concoctions that regularly showed up on our dinner table in the 60s. I remember feeling confused about dessert on my dinner plate (no matter what Mom said it was supposed to be), and a little wary that I might get in trouble if I ate it first.
Gotta say that the Disneyland plate (Hi Dumbo! *waves*) is my favorite part of the recipe. I should have saved my comments about the gelatin/Cool Whip “salad” rabbit hole for this post!