Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! 2016 is the year of the monkey. If you were born under the year of the monkey, it is said that you are very intelligent, honest and quick-witted! Yesterday I channeled my inner monkey to create these fun fortune cookies to celebrate Chinese New Year! I have to admit, I was a little intimidated at first, but once I’d gotten through the first batch it was a cinch.

I amalgamated two great recipes I found on the web. I used About.com‘s recipe for the batter mix and Leite’s Culinaria‘s for the decoration.

Fortune Cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½  teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1½  teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 teaspoons water
  • 50g dark chocolate (I used 70%)
  • Few handfuls of chopped nuts

METHOD

1. Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3½ inches long and ½ inch wide. Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease 2 or 3 baking sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.

4. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon. If you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food colouring at this point, stirring it into the batter.

5. Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart and swirl with the back of a spoon to form a circle – don’t worry they don’t need to be perfect! You have to work very quickly once they’re done, I started off with 3 per sheet but reduced this to 2 for the 2nd and 3rd batches.

6. Bake until the outer edges of the cookies are just turning golden brown (around 10-15 minutes). Keep a close eye on them, because the more they brown the harder it will be to create the desired shapes.

7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

8. Once cool. Melt the chocolate over a low heat and drizzle over the fortune cookies. At this point you can then top them with whatever you like! Chopped nuts complement the cookies really well, but you could also use sprinkles or even something spicy like chilli to give it a real kick.

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