So to start things off for the new year of 2013 I thought I'd start easy. Especially with Chinese New Year coming up soon, a return to my Chinese roots is a must.
Chinese Walnut Cookies are one of my favourite biccies of all time. It is crunchy, not too sweet but hits all the right spots. Every time my B and I venture into London (which is very rarely actually) we bring home souvenirs from Chinatown of walnut cookies to share with our family.
I always thought that they would be very difficult to make, but my friend-turned-Aunty told me otherwise. She's been saying she'd teach me to make them but still have not got round to it after so many years. So I have taken upon myself to discover this "easy" recipe of making these delectable cookies.
Actually they could not be any easier to make, it needed very little ingredients, and I think all in all it took me under 30 minutes including baking time to make 20 golden walnut cookies.
To my surprise so-called "walnut cookies" do not contain walnuts. However I rectified this by decorating it with pieces of walnut. I think it must be one of those recipes that are called something but has nothing to do with the making, i.e. pineapple bun that does not contain pineapple. Either way, they are still as yummy as I remember them to be.
I would probably not be nibbling on these too often as they are made using lard, albeit not a large quantity, the damage will be detrimental to my pre-wedding weight loss programme. So these will only be the "very occasional" treats.
Chinese Walnut Cookies
- 150g plain flour
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 80g soft brown sugar
- 70g lard
- walnut pieces (to decorate)
- 1 egg yolk (lightly beaten for egg wash)
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Cover a baking sheet with greaseproof baking paper.
Sift together the plain flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Add the beaten egg, lard and soft brown sugar into the well of the flour.
Knead to a smooth dough, making sure not to over knead.
Divide the mixture into equal 20 small balls or 10-15 large balls.
Roll and press each piece of dough into a rough disc shape.
Add a piece of walnut on top of each dough disc and egg wash with the beaten yolk.
Bake for 15 minutes for the small cookies and 20 minutes for larger cookies until golden brown.
Remove and cool on a wire rack. The cookies will be soft when warm so allow it to be cooled to become more crispy.
Enjoy.
