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Fortune Cookies for Valentines & Chinese New Year

Published 01.14.2010 | Permanent Link | Comments (27)

By Cindy Hopper

If you are looking for a fun way to celebrate the Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day (both on the same day this year) give these fortune cookies a try!

Before starting the cookies make slips of paper to fill the cookies. Simply download, print and cut the paper into strips.

Fortune Cookie Papers for Valentine's Day

Fortune Cookie Papers for Chinese New Year

This simple recipe is adapted from Paula Deen. The butter or oil that is normally found in other fortune cookie recipes is missing, but I figured if Paula leaves out the butter it must be okay!

Fortune Cookie Recipe

2 egg whites

1/2 cup flour (sifted)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Makes about 12 fortune cookies

Instructions


Set oven to 400F degrees.

1) Place egg whites in a bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed until very frothy, almost soft peaks.

2) Add sifted flour,

3) Add sugar, almond, and vanilla then mix.

4) Stir in 2 tablespoons of water to thin batter.

5) Using a Silpat baking mat, parchment paper or  un-greased baking pan place 1 tablespoon of batter on pan. (I liked the Silpat mat the best.  I did not have a problem removing them from my un-greased pan. When I greased the pan the batter did not stay in a circle. Since the moisture content in the batter is high, it does make the parchment paper wrinkle slightly but it still worked.)

6) Working from the center in a circular motion, spread the batter into a 5 inch circle.

7) Start with two cookies. Once comfortable with the process more can be baked at one time.  I was only able to ever bake two at a time. I used two pans and staggered the baking time so I had time to form the cookies.

8) Bake until edges are lightly browned. Mine baked for 6 minutes. Start watching closely at 4 minutes.

9) Working quickly, remove cookie from pan with a very thin spatula.

10) Flip the cookie over and place slip of paper on top.

11) Bring sides up and pinch together.

12) Next bend cookie over the edge of a cup. The whole process of forming the cookie should take about 10 seconds. Once formed place cookies in a muffin tin to help them keep their shape while cooling.

Then, package in some festive Chinese take out containers...

and you have a sweet way to celebrate!

NOTE: The cookies are VERY hot. It is easy to burn fingers on the cookies as they are being formed. Try wearing thin white gloves to protect fingers.

Comments (27):

Laura said:

I *love* this. I am always looking for ways to make things from scratch that people never make from scratch. :) This is totally next on my list! I can't wait to try it!

Posted on January 14, 2010 10:01

Beth Moore said:

oh sister! I'm all over this! thanks!

Posted on January 14, 2010 11:04

Nancy Reffle said:

Thanks so much! What fun to learn how to make these fun treats.
Nancy
www.coeurdalenegifts.com
coeurdalenegifts.blogspot.com

Posted on January 14, 2010 11:32

Judy said:

Sweet! I have a fortune cookie recipe that I've used before but I'm pretty sure it calls for butter or oil, so I'll have to try this one. The pics are wonderful for explaining all the steps Thanks!

Posted on January 14, 2010 11:36

aimy said:

do you know if i can just substitute more vanilla x instead of the almond? my son has allergies and reacts to this. please say yes! i imagine the only thing it would change would be the flavor, right?

Posted on January 14, 2010 11:40

Stephanie said:

Aimy, I am getting ready to try the recipe and going to try with all vanilla instead since my family has nut allergies. I'll write back and let you know what I find :)

Posted on January 14, 2010 12:38

LisaP said:

So stinkin' cute! Thanks for the dowloadable slips, too - very handy! FYI, the links are actually backwards: click Valentines for New Years & vice versa.
Can't wait!

_____________
Editor: Thanks for catching that. Will fix now.

Posted on January 14, 2010 13:25

Stephanie said:

Aimy, I tried it will subbing all vanilla, and made it too sweet!! LOL I would say make it 3/4 tsp vanilla and then 3/4 tsp water?? Anyone else have suggestions?

Posted on January 14, 2010 13:29

Lisa said:

Can this be done with just parchment paper rather than a silpat???

Can't wait for Chinese night!

___________
Editor: yes. per the directions above: "Since the moisture content in the batter is high, it does make the parchment paper wrinkle slightly but it still worked."

Posted on January 14, 2010 13:46

Kate said:

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
These are fabulous! I had red take out boxes left over from Christmas and was trying to think what to do!

Thanks for the inspiration!

Posted on January 14, 2010 14:33

Beth Moore said:

ok- so we're ready to make them. What's the oven temp? Did I just read over it?

_______
Editor: thanks for the catch. it's 400 degrees F. we just fixed it. ;)

Posted on January 14, 2010 16:20

Julia said:

What temperature do you cook these on? Did I miss it?

Thanks so much for posting these! My daughter is adopted from China and her teacher is letting me do a little Chinese New Year lesson and these are the perfect thing to make for her classmates at preschool. I love that they will work for her Valentines too!
_______
Editor: thanks for the catch. it's 400 degrees F. we just fixed it. ;)

Posted on January 14, 2010 16:52

Aimy said:

Stephanie... Thanks! I'll see what I can come up with. :) They are so darn cute that I may just go all vanilla.

Posted on January 14, 2010 17:38

Stephanie said:

Aimy, let me know what you come up with :) I am going to try experimenting some more!

Posted on January 14, 2010 18:49

Brandy said:

Thank you SO MUCH for this great idea! I am always looking for fun ideas as gifts for teachers/bus drivers for my kids! We did homemade marshmallows for Christmas. I think we'll make these for Valentine's Day. I'll blog about these when we make them and add a link to your blog for sure!

Posted on January 14, 2010 19:56

Carissa said:

HOLY CUTEnes!! FAB idea... :)

Posted on January 14, 2010 21:10

Alexiis said:

This idea is really cute! I think it is so unique and will definitely refer to your blog on my own!

Posted on January 14, 2010 23:06

Jess said:

I have a recipe from Cooking Light magazine for fortune cookies (the recipe and directions you posted seem clearer), and have been meaning to make them. Thanks for the reminder! :o)

Posted on January 15, 2010 10:11

Stephanie said:

I am so glad I found this recipe! I am bookmarking it for sure!

Posted on January 16, 2010 11:16

Kristi @ Pink and Polka Dot said:

i can't wait to make these. these would be so cute to send to school with your kids and put a sweet little note in them...love it!

Posted on January 16, 2010 21:53

Joni said:

omg! Looove it! I can't wait to make these for my kids. I think I may make them when they are not around and slip fortunes that are just for each of them... and then not let them know that I took part in the making. Too funny to see them be shocked at how accurate their fortunes are.

Posted on January 18, 2010 14:03

Julia said:

Thanks for your recipe, i just made my first bunch of fortune cookies =) had to add a little more water, but maybe i just miscalculated when converting to metric units ;) and instead of the almond extract i used vanilla only and it tasted great!

Posted on January 18, 2010 15:46

beth Moore said:

We made them and they turned out great. I blogged about them and my egg drop soup here. http://mamabeefromthehive.blogspot.com/2010/01/fortune-cookies-and-egg-drop-soup.html thanks!

Posted on January 19, 2010 09:54

Jenn said:

Hi. I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your blog and that I mentioned this entry in my recent blog post.Thanks so much for your great ideas and free printables. I hope you will take a look at my blog when you get a chance: http://delicious-ambiguity-nennyk.blogspot.com/

Posted on January 20, 2010 05:42

Sandy said:

Whoa, you made your own fortune cookies? That is amazing! There are endless possibilities for sweet notes that you could put inside, what a great idea!

Posted on January 31, 2010 23:26

Colleen O. said:

I'm going to try making these next week with my sons. Thanks for the awesome idea.

I wonder if I could use a pampered chef baking stone instead of the parchment paper or Silpat mat? Does anyone know?

Thanks for a great new idea!

Posted on February 4, 2010 17:52

c said:

Do the fortune cookies freeze well. We just made them - they are so cute, though a bit difficult to get off the parchment paper. We really need them for something in two weeks and want to know if they would freeze (and defrost) well.

Posted on February 11, 2010 17:28

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This is a year-round Holiday column. Kids love Holidays. As parents we have come to appreciate how Holidays seem to help structure our lives. Plus, any excuse to have fun sounds good to us!

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This column will be a place where you can get inspiration for how to enjoy time with your kids. Crafting projects and ideas will be posted on Thursdays by our brilliant contributors (see below). Other fun ideas will be posted here throughout the week as the inspiration hits us!

About our Craft Contributors

Ellen Baker Bio Ellen Luckett Baker is the author of the long thread, a blog about handmade goods. She has always enjoyed making things, but the flexibility of staying at home with her two daughters along with the creative inspiration they provide has led her to craft on a daily basis. Combining her love of graphic design and sewing, she has created an Etsy shop selling machine embroidery designs and sewing patterns.

Ellen lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young daughters. She holds a B.A. in Art History and a Master's of Public Administration with a focus in Non-Profit Management.

Cindy Hopper BioCindy Hopper was fortunate to be raised in a family who appreciated the arts. This background led to a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. With a keen eye for design and color, Cindy has continued her love of art and is now passing her creative skills on to her three children. Cindy's family and friends are the beneficiaries of her passion for fun and meaningful creative projects. Cindy's personal blog, Skip to My Lou, has taken her love of a project to new levels. Postings keep the family busy -– from testing new recipes for holiday treats to designing and building floats for a neighborhood parade to making fabric rolls to hold crayons to creating themed parties. Cindy seems to have an unending supply of ideas for gifts, parties and rainy days.

Brenda Ponnay Bio Brenda Ponnay is a stealthy secret agent who juggles parenthood to her adorable daughter by day and freelance graphic design by night. Whether it's painting, baking, drawing, making castles out of card board boxes or just doing the laundry with flair, Brenda Ponnay has finally discovered (at the ripe old age of thirty-six) that what really makes her happy is being creative every single day.

Brenda lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, three cats and thirty-seven pet birds. You can read about all her crazy adventures on her personal blog: Secret Agent Josephine.

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