Monday, March 7, 2011

Fortune Cookies

The most fun part of this recipe is writing your own fortunes!  They can be silly, prophetic, ominous, or even dirty, depending on your crowd!  I've posted some examples of fortunes I've written in the party ideas section of this blog - here's the link: Fun Fortunes

These are easy to make, but require a bit of finesse. This recipe only makes about 10 cookies, so you'll probably want to double it if you are making them for an event.

Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water 

Directions:
Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff. 

Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.
    Note: if you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter. For example, I used 1/2 teaspoon green food coloring to make green fortune cookies.  You can also flavor them with different types of extract (I've used chocolate and raspberry).


    Next, place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter.


    Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes).


    Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

    Tips:  The key to shaping these is working very, very fast, otherwise they become hard before you can even fold them.  It takes a bit of practice but once you have gotten it down, it's pretty simple.  I like to dip one edge of these in either white or regular chocolate, and sometimes add sprinkles to make them a bit fancier.  Enjoy!

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