by Lexie
Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!) In honor of the Chinese New Year, Lily and I whipped up a batch of Chinese Almond Cookies. These cookies, similar in texture to the sugar cookie but with a distinct almond flavor, symbolize coins and are said to bring good fortune during the New Year! The recipe originated many centuries ago and is enjoyed in Chinese bakeries year-round in addition to the New Year celebrations.
Chinese New Year Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 pound butter
2-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons almond extract
60 blanched whole almonds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Cut the butter into the flour mixture. Add the egg and almond extract and mix well. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand and press one almond into the center of each cookie.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges look slightly firm. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Mmmm Sounds good. Happy Year of the Horse! BTW I was born in the year of the horse.
So was Will! It was clearly a good year. 🙂
I think your blog would be more effective if you could provide some way for readers to consume the delicious-looking cookies directly from the web browser. Can you get on that?
Hmm…aren’t you the webmaster?
Thanks so much for posting the recipe. They look yummy. I was looking for a way to celebrate this Friday and these look perfect!
They’re so good! And really easy to make. I have a feeling we won’t just make these for Chinese New Year….
I had my 14 year old daughter make them and they turned out great! I can see making these more often. Thanks again!