Step by Step Instructions

Mom's Pineapple Bake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.  Set aside

In a large bowl combine eggs and sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add melted butter and crushed pineapple and blend well.

Add in cubed bread and marshmallows and stir well to combine.

Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set in the middle or when a knife inserted comes out clean and free of any liquid.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing into squares and serving.

Mom's Pineapple Bake

Pineapple bake is a true throwback recipe.  This one is straight out of a church cookbook and it is worthy of any Easter table.  A combination of bread, eggs, crushed pineapple and mini marshmallows with a bit of sugar to round things out.  This one eats like a French toast casserole but is oh, so much more.  This is one of those "it might be a dessert" side dishes, but you won't care because next to a salty slice of ham it adds balance to your dinner plate.  This is a happy memory of my childhood, having been on many a holiday table.  Sometimes you just have to go with it and consider marshmallows an essential for holiday cooking!  

In the "Our Daily Bread" cookbook from the Columbus/Reading United Methodist Church circa 1975.  The cover has long since bit the dust.  I only know what the book is because I have held and leafed through it many times since I was 10 years old.   On page 60 you will find not one, but two recipes for what is called "Baked Pineapple".  Both recipes are essentially the same but different in their own respects.  Off to the left written on the facing blank page, in my mom's handwriting is a pencil noted recipe of "mine".  This casserole that my mom always called "Pineapple Bake" is also similar but different from the two original.  So this is the one I am sharing today.  I would also say that there are changes of my own that I would make as well adding "mine" to the page just below my mom's but that is for later.

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4 cups cubed white bread
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
1, 20 ounce can crushed pineapple lightly drained

2 cups mini marshmallows

This all starts with bread.  My mom always used plain old white bread.  She cut off the crust and cut it into cubes.  I used brioche hamburger buns that were needing to get used up.  I had three of them and they equaled four cups.  I would have used four of them if I had them.  A custard is built using sugar, eggs, butter, and crushed pineapple.  No milk anywhere.  Still a custard.  Now add in the bread and give everything a good mix.  You want that bread to soak into the custard.  Add in the marshmallows and combine. Now pour everything into a sprayed pan and bake.  

While this casserole bakes the marshmallows melt and combine with the custard to sweeten and thicken it.  They leave behind a textural wonderland of crispy bits, browned edges and chewy deliciousness where they once were before baking.  This is definitely a sweet side dish, much like candied sweet potatoes might be but it is no less delicious next to your perfectly roasted ham, turkey or lamb.  It makes that holiday meal a real treat!

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Ingredients

We always had this on Easter, without fail.  This will be my first Easter without my mom.  She passed away on Valentine's day this year and now it is one of those iconic moments when you realize that you are the matriarch of the family.  As a way to honor her I am revisiting some of her classic recipes to be sure she is still at our table in spirit.  

This pineapple bake was always a side dish but since my mom always doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9x13 pan we had leftovers.  They make a great dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a great breakfast the next morning.  This casserole is as at home on the dinner table as it is on the brunch buffet or dessert bar.  This is easy to make with simple ingredients and hearkens back to a simpler time when we didn't have "screens" except for the ones on the porch door.  

I hope you will give my mom's recipe for pineapple bake a try and I hope you love it!  Don't wait for a special occasion to make this.  LIfe is much too short for waiting.  I hope you try this and I hope you love it! 

Happy Eating and Happy Easter!

1 Cup good quality mayonnaise
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

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Hi!  I'm Noreen, wife, mother of two amazing, almost grown, daughters, content creator, cook, baker and sister in Christ. Welcome to my Kitchen!   I hope you stick around, enjoy the recipes and share them with those you love!

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