Every holiday my family makes a giant batch of pineapple filled cookies. It’s been a tradition in our family for as long as I can remember.

The thing is, these particular cookies are a bitch to make on your own. Sure, it can be done but it’s a tedious job and takes up a good portion of your day. That’s why we used to divide the recipe up between the 3 of us. My grandmother would make the dough, my mom would make the filling, then it would be handed off to me to cut, stuff and bake them. The next day we would practically stampede each other to get to the platter. Needless to say, they would disappear within a matter of hours.

Since my grandma passed a few years ago two things have happened.

1. I went vegan.
2. No one wanted to attempt the cookies on their own.

Then, a miracle happened.

The other night, my doorbell rang. I opened the door and saw my cousin standing there with a small, white Tupperware box. When I opened it, rays of bright light beamed from inside and angels began to sing. I looked at her with excitement. Could it be true? A vegan version of our family’s recipe? By God, it was!

My cousin, my hero!

Ok, so the light and the angels thing didn’t happen but holy hell were these cookies perfect! They tasted just like the original recipe minus the death. I’m so stoked to have snagged the recipe in time for Christmas!