Chinese New Year Food Recipe: How to Make Fortune Cookies

A Chinese New Year's celebration would not be complete without fortune cookies. Fortune cookies are great snacks that the whole family can enjoy, especially as they try to open the fortune cookies to find out what the "Year of the Rat" has in store for them.

INGREDIENTS: (6 servings)

1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2Tbsp white sugar
2Tbsp butter

MATERIALS:

Cookie sheets
Oil spray (to grease cookie sheets)
Coffee mug
Muffin tin
Mixing bowl (medium)
Wooden cutting board
Spatula
Paper cut in strips (4 inches long and ½ inch wide)
Ballpoint pen (for writing fortune)

DIRECTIONS:

a) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

b) While waiting, write fortunes on white paper cut in strips about 4 inches in length and ½ inch in width.

c) Grease the 2 cookie sheets generously.

d) In a medium size mixing bowl, mix the egg white, butter, almond and vanilla extract until foamy. Make sure that it is not stiff. Add flour, salt, and sugar by sifting and blending them to the egg mixture.

e) Scoop the batter using a teaspoon then place them at least 4 inches apart on the greased cookie sheets. Place at least 3 to 4 on each sheet to avoid crowding. Shape each one into a circle about 3 inches in diameter by tilting.

f) Bake for approximately 5 minutes, or until each cookie turned to a golden color edge of the circle, with the center remaining in a pale color. Prepare the other sheet while the first one is still baking to save time.

g) Remove sheet from the oven. While still hot, quickly move cookie with a wide spatula then place upside down on a wooden cutting board. Insert the fortune on the cookie at the center then fold the cookie in half on a wooden cutting board.

h) Place the folded fortune cookie's edge across the rim of a coffee mug. Pull the pointed edges down with one on the inside of the cup and the other on the outside part of the cup.

i) Cool by placing folded fortune cookies a muffin pan to help keep their shape.

Tips:

Thin the batter by adding a bit of water.

Spray the sheets between each use.