Chinese Almond Cookies

I'm back!!  After a long break.  I wanted to spend more time with the kids during the summer holidays.  And when the holidays were over, we bought a house in Langenhagen, Germany.  So I had spent a lot of time packing and unpacking.  Though this time we just moved from an apartment to a house which is 1 km away, this was our 6th move for the last 11 years!  Now that the kids' rooms are nicely done.  99% of the boxes were unpacked, I finally have time for blogging. :-)

This Chinese almond cookies had been in my draft for quite a while.  It's the right time to post this as Chinese New Year (CNY) is only a month away.

I remember these cookies were sold in the shops in a plastic container with a red cap.  This cookie and pineapple tart are my favourite.

The first photo shown is the traditional shape of the cookies.  But you can make them into different shapes as well.



Ingredients:

250g all purpose flour

90g icing sugar

50g ground almond

165ml vegetable oil

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp almond essence

some almond for topping

1 egg yolk mix with 1/2 egg white for egg wash

Method:

1.  Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and icing sugar onto the worktop.  Add in ground almond.  Make a well at the center and add salt, oil and almond essence.  Mix well to form a dough. 

2.  Knead into small balls.  Place baking paper on a baking pan.  Place balls on the pan.  Egg wash and then press an almond on each ball.  

3.  Bake in the oven at 150 degree C for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Note:  To make into different shape, refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.  Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper into 1 cm thickness.  Cut with cookies cutter and bake in the oven.



Soft Easter Cookies

This soft cookie dough is a great cookie base for all occasion.  They are always a hit in kids parties.  The dough itself is not too sweet as I normally decorated them with sugar icing which is fun and looks wonderful!

Ingredients:

250g all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

110g butter, soften

150g powder sugar

1 medium egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp grated lemon rind

Powder sugar, golden syrup, milk for sugar icing

Makes about 20 cookies



Method:

1.  Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in egg and then vanilla essence.

2.  Add all dry ingredients to the mixture to form a dough, wrap with a plastic wrap and press to form a disc.  Chill for at least 2 hours.

3.  Roll the dough into 5mm thickness on lightly floured surface or between two plastic wraps.  Cut with your favourite cookie cutters.

4.  Bake at 180 degree C on the medium rack for 5 to 7 minutes or until the sides turn a little bit brown.  Cool cookies on a wire rack.

5.  To make sugar icing, mix together 3 1/2 tablespoons powder sugar, 1/4 teaspoon golden syrup, 1 teaspoon milk and stir well.  If it's too runny, add a little sugar, bit by bit.  Add your favourite food colouring.  The amount of sugar icing you require may depend on how you decorate the cookies.

                          The same cookie base I used for Christmas cookies:

   

Soft Chocolate Cookies / Schokoladenkekse



This cookies are soft and my kids love them!  They can be a big hit on your next school bake sale.  Swap in different cookie cutters as you wish and adjust the baking time according to the size and thickness.



Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

110g semisweet chocolate, chopped

55g butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

extra 100g semisweet chocolate for topping, chopped

Sugar deco or nuts

To prepare:

1.  Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

2.  Place chocolate, butter, sugar in another bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Stir frequently and remove from heat when it's almost completely melted.  Then stir until completely melted before let cool slightly.

3.  Add egg to the chocolate mixture.  Beat until well blend with a mixer on low.  Gradually stir in flour mixture to form a ball like dough.

4.  Divide dough in half, wrap each dough with plastic wrap and press them flat.  Freeze for about 20 minutes.

5.  Preheat oven to 170C.  Working with one half at a time.  Roll the dough between two sheets of baking sheet to 4mm thickness.  Cut out cookies (I used a 7 x 4cm cookie cutter and make 30 cookies).  Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes.  Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

6.  For topping, melt the extra chocolate and brush on cooled cookies and sprinkle with  sugar deco or nuts.