Fortune Cookies
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 20 cookies
Ingredients
90g egg whites (approx. 3), at room temperature
90g caster sugar
60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
½ tsp almond essence or extract
½ tsp vanilla essence or extract
60g water
100g plain flour
½ tsp fine salt
Method
First, make your fortunes. Print and cut out my templates or cut 40 small rectangles of paper (1 x 6 cm). Write individual fortunes on each piece. Set aside until ready to fold cookies.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays (30 x 40 cm) with silicone mats and set aside. Have an empty muffin tray ready too.
Whisk egg whites and sugar until lightly fluffy, not stiff (can also be done in a food processor). Add melted butter, almond essence, vanilla essence and water and combine well. Add flour and salt and combine well.
Spoon a dessert-spoonful of batter onto the first tray and use the back of the spoon to spread it into a circle (approx. 10 cm diameter). Repeat to make two more cookies, leaving a 2 cm gap between each cookie, and making 3 circles per tray. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the very edge of the cookie just starts to turn golden. While the first tray is baking, prepare the second tray with 3 circles of batter.
Remove the tray from the oven and move quickly to shape the cookies before they set. Using a palette knife or similar, gently pick the cookie off the tray and turn it upside down onto a clean surface. Place a fortune paper in the middle and fold the cookie in half.
Pick up the semicircle, place the straight edge over the lip of a cup and gently bend down both sides to form a crescent. Place the fortune cookie into a muffin tray so it holds its shape as it cools. Repeat with the other cookies. Continue with the remaining batter, preparing each tray while the other is cooking, and folding quickly before cookies set, then placing them in muffin trays.
If cooled cookies are not hard, crisp and golden, transfer them to flat baking trays. Turn the oven off. Leave the oven door open for 1 minute to cool down a little, then place formed cookies into the cooling oven, close the door, and leave until cold. This will make them hard, crisp and golden. Eat straight away or allow cookies to cool completely before storing in a sealable container. They will soften unless completely hard and dry before storage.
Tips: Folding the cookies before they harden is much easier on a warm day. They harden fast in a cold kitchen. It’s a good idea to practice this recipe before making it for a special occasion. If you’re finding it hard to fold your fortune cookies before they harden, make just 2 at a time and bake them a little less before removing from the oven. Baking paper can be used instead of a silicone mat but it is harder to work with.
