Today marks the start of Chinese New Year Celebrations #yearoftherat and we were all psyched to ring in the occasion with our homemade Fortune Cookies. However, my 8-year old pointed out that Fortune Cookies aren’t actually a ‘thing’ in China #clueless (I googled it and apparently it’s true!). Nevertheless, we love a good fortune cookie so we felt compelled to share. These are a great end to a dinner party regardless of the celebration or theme. We’ve had a blast with these and you can have a good giggle making up your own messages. Check out our favorite fortunes at the end of this post!
We’re not gonna lie - they are a bit of work. The batter comes together very easily, but it takes about 45 minutes of ‘active time’ to shape a batch. Once they’re baked, you have 30 seconds at most to put in the fortune and fold them before the cookies harden. This means I can only manage two at a time (more skilled hands can probably double this), and I have two trays rotating into the oven at 5 minute intervals.
They do keep well for a few days in an airtight container (if it’s humid, slip in a piece of bread to keep them crisp), so they can be made ahead.
Ingredients for 12 cookies. Recipe adapted from food.com
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (we used grapeseed)
1/2 cup (60 g) flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch or arrowroot
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (95 g) sugar
1 tablespoon water
Write out, or print, fortunes on pieces of paper that are about 3/8 inch (1 cm) wide. Cut them out.
Preheat the oven to 300F (150C). Prepare two sheets of parchment paper. Draw two circles, 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter each, on each sheet. Turn over the parchment paper so that the pen or pencil marks are on the underside of the paper and place on baking sheets.
In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the egg whites, vanilla extract, almond extract and oil until frothy, but not stiff.
In another bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar.
Stir the water into the flour mixture. It will be lumpy and it won’t come together completely but it will be fine in the end! Add this to the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a spoon.
Place level tablespoons of batter onto each prepared circle on the prepared baking sheet. Use the back of a teaspoon to smooth out the batter within the lines.
Bake until the outer 1/2-inch (1 cm) of each cookie turns golden brown (12-14 minutes) and prepare the ‘folding station’.
Have two mugs and a muffin tin ready. Now get ready to work quickly!
Remove a cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie and fold it in half. Gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a mug (I place the mugs close together so the first cookie can rest between the mugs whilst I fold the second cookie). When you’ve folded both cookies, place each one in the cup of the muffin tin until it hardens completely. Store in an airtight containder lined with a paper kitchen towel, and add a piece of bread for good measure if it’s humid.
Gong Xi Fa Cai to our friends who are celebrating! 🐀 🧧🎊
Favorite Fortunes:
The fortune you seek is in another cookie.
A foolish man listens to his heart. A wise man listens to cookies.
You will live long enough to open many fortune cookies.
Flattery will go far tonight.
He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.
We don’t know the future, but here’s a cookie.
You will be hungry again in one hour.
Help! I am being held prisoner in a fortune cookie factory.
That wasn’t chicken.
You are not illiterate.
You have rice in your teeth.
This cookie contains 117 calories.
This cookie fell on the ground.
Dare you to take the last cookie