Chinese New Year's Cookies

Chinese New Year's Cookies: cashew nut cookies for the Year of the Pig

Dec 15, 2006 June Chua

While the world rings in 2007 on Dec. 31, I am looking ahead to Chinese New Year's on Feb. 18.

You can try out this recipe ahead of time for your Chinese New Year's celebration. I thought I'd bring a taste of the East into 2007. I'll introduce some recipes for the February fete ahead of my explanation about the Year of the Pig (it already sounds good to me!).

The Chinese often make cookies using nuts such as peanuts, cashews, almonds and even pine nuts.

This recipe comes way of my Singaporean friend who let me borrow her Delicious Nyonya Kueh & Desserts book by Patricia Lee. In case you didn't know, the Nyonya or Nonya, are the Chinese who settled around the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia area) and created their own culture.

Meanwhile, you can also check out my other holiday recipes.

CASHEW NUT COOKIES

1 cup butter
¾ cup icing sugger
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
180 g cashew nuts, ground
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
100 g whole cashew nuts

Egg Wash: 1 egg yolk mixed with a drop of yellow food colouring

METHOD

Sift flour and baking powder together.
Cream butter and icing sugar. Add egg yolk and vanilla.
Fold in the flour and ground nuts. Mix until it forms a dough.
Roll dough to about ¼ inch thick and cut with cookie cutters.
Brush with egg wash and decorate with whole cashews.
Bake 300 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Return to this site next week as I continue my festive recipes crusade. Suite 101's food writers have also collected a compendium of Christmas treats.

The copyright of the article Chinese New Year's Cookies in Asian Cuisine is owned by June Chua. Permission to republish Chinese New Year's Cookies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.