These Chinese Almond Cookies are a delicious way to end an Asian meal.
I used to wonder if my disinclination to play Lego with my son for more than 5 minutes made me a bad mother. I’m sure it must be fun as a child to build tall Lego towers, knock them down, and start over again. And again. And again.
But any feelings of guilt dissipate when I am doing something together with my son which we both enjoy, which gives weight to the argument that life is too short to feign interest when you could actually be doing something meaningful.
As I am often in the kitchen preparing one meal or another, sometimes the only way to entertain my toddler is to let him help out, and baking with my son is one of those activities where I don’t find myself wishing I was doing something else.
These Chinese Almond Cookies are great to make with kids. The dough is soft and pliable, and my son loves to roll out balls of dough, flattening them with his little chubby hands, and then decorating each one with an almond in the centre.
And like a painter focused on a work of art, my little one loves to brush each cookie with egg-wash, a task which he performs with far more concentration (and more egg-wash) than I would tend to give.
But these cookies are very forgiving, both to little budding pastry chefs and the grown-ups who end up eating them.
This recipe makes very simple butter cookies which are lovely with a strong cup of coffee, but they lend themselves well to many variations. You could easily add some chocolate chips or sultanas to the dough, or the finely grated zest of a lemon or small orange.
This recipe comes from Adam’s Big Pot by Adam Liaw, and he also suggests rolling out the dough and cutting out shapes with cookie cutters.
I think these cookies taste best when they are fresh from the oven, but they keep well for several days in an airtight container.
Chinese Almond Cookies
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These Chinese Almond Cookies are a delicious way to end an Asian meal.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: About 40 cookies
Ingredients
- 75 g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 300 g (2 cups) plain flour
- 200 g (1 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk for egg-wash
- Whole blanched almonds for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, baking powder and flour. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand or breadcrumbs. I prefer to do this in my KitchenAid stand-mixer with the flat paddle attachment.
- Add the 2 eggs and mix until you have a soft dough.
- Shape the dough into a long sausage, about 3 cm (roughly 1 inch) in diameter. Cover the dough with cling film, and leave it to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the cling film, and slice small rounds from the dough, about 2 cm thick. You could use the rounds as they are or, alternatively, roll them into balls to create more rounded cookies.
- Place the rounds on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, flatten each round slightly, and press a whole almond in the centre of each round.
- Lightly whisk the remaining egg yolk in a small bowl, and brush the top of each cookie with this egg-wash.
- Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before removing.
Kitchen Notes
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Nutritional info per cookie
- Calories: 97
- Sugar: 2.1g
- Sodium: 21.4mg
- Fat: 6.4g
- Carbohydrates: 8.4g
- Fiber: 0.6g
- Protein: 2.1g
- Cholesterol: 24.7mg
Thanh, I’m in the same boat as you – I always feel like a terrible aunt because I hate playing with children (yikes, maybe I shouldn’t admit that in a public forum!). But you’re a fabulous mom for making these Chinese almond butter cookies with your son. These are one of my FAVOURITE things to eat, especially when they’re freshly made. Yours look absolutely perfect, like they came right out of a Chinese bakery. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Oh I don’t think I’m very good at playing with kids … I’m very good at tickling but I’m pretty sure there’s an age limit to that!! Otherwise, I’m much better at delegating tasks in the kitchen and making the kids feel empowered because they have contributed to a dish 😉 I also delegate the goofing around to my husband who seems to be a natural around kids 🙂
they look lovely 🙂
Thank you!
I have to make them. They look delicious!
Thanks, Ivette! I hope you will enjoy the recipe.
I’d completely forgotten about these cookies – my mother used to make them when she went through her Chinese cooking phase! I can just taste them. And a far as legos, I had two daughters, and so far have a grand baby girl! phew!
That’s funny that your mother went through a Chinese cooking phase! I tend to cook new recipes in phases too, or one cookbook at a time. We have a friend who’s 6 year old son is now building amazing and elaborate structures with his Lego pieces, carefully following the instructions in the guide. That certainly looks more interesting to me, although I appreciate that they have to start somewhere!
Just lovely, I’m not surprised your son loves making these, Thanh. I used to love baking with my grandmother when I was little, I would eat handfuls of mixture when her back was turned! I am guessing that you could also add a little almond essence and perhaps a splash of Amaretto for a grown up version? 😉 Lou x
Now that you mention it, I think most versions of this Chinese cookie have almond essence in the mixture. But I love the sound of adding Amaretto!! 🙂
We love these cookies! Always a fan of Adam Liaw’s recipes.
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This CHINESE ALMOND COOKIES looks so cute! You make it sound so easy! Can’t wait to try this one!
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Hello, I made these today BUT from Adam Liaw’s cook book, wasn’t impressed, not much flavour and seemed to be too much butter, on looking on line I found your recipe and you said 2 egg yolks, I used 2 whole eggs as was stated in Adams recipe.My husband thought there wasn’t enough sugar, I made half the recipe with jam in the centre and I thought they were better, bit disappointed. Would using 2 whole eggs make so much difference? Thanks for your help
Hi Kay,
So sorry to hear that you were a bit disappointed with these cookies. My recipe should have also stated 2 whole eggs (not 2 egg yolks), so I have corrected that. I agree that these cookies are not very sweet, but Asian cookies (which are not very common) tend to not be sweet. That is probably why you felt these cookies tasted better with some jam!
I don’t think Adam Liaw’s recipe is a traditional recipe for Chinese butter cookies – I would describe them more as western butter cookies with a Chinese twist, i.e. the almonds are a reminder of the traditional Chinese version, plus they are easier to make than traditional Chinese cookies. The latter also typically uses ground almonds and/or almond essence for more almond flavour.
I hope this helps 🙂
Thank you, will try these again.