Holiday Fortune Cookies

The Speckled Palatereally thin cake batterAnd voila: the cookies get crunchy almost immediately with that ever-so-fun crack-able texture. really wet structural protein egg whites denature and spread out cookies harden like crazy as they cool and the egg sets in structure
  • Preheat oven to 400⁰F. Find something that’s going to be as wide as you want your cookies to be. A 4 inch-wide circle will make a cookie that’s standard size (e.g. the lid of a Quaker oats container). A 5 inch-wide circle will make a cookie that’s more giant (the mouth of a smallish bowl perhaps).
  • In an electric mixer bowl, fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites and sugar for 30 seconds on medium speed. Add the flour and salt, beat until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat for approximately 30 seconds.
  • I think this next bit works best with individual sheets of parchment paper, so ignore the first shot of the batter circle. That was before I was a master! HA. Trace a couple of circles on parchment with pencil and cut them out, leaving at least 3 inches around it. Essentially roughly cut a square around the circle out. Don’t do more than 2 of these at a time, so just prepare 2 and work from there. (I would actually suggest doing one for the first couple of times to get the hang of it)
  • Fill the circles with batter (about 3/4 tablespoon, so 1 tablespoon that’s not scraped out) so that it’s pretty thin, but not so thin that it’s difficult to spread. You don’t have to worry about super-even batter coverage because it will even out in the oven. I think a small rubber spatula works best here, but if you have a small offset spatula, that would probably be perfect.
  • Bake the rounds of batter on a cookie sheet in the preheated oven for approximately 6 minutes (5 inch ones) or 5 minutes (4 inch ones). You’re looking for the cookies to turn a shade darker than golden brown on the outside. You can actually watch them turn color before your eyes which makes it easy to tell.
  • While you’re waiting for them to bake, put the knit gloves on followed by the latex/vinyl gloves. These will make it exponentially easier to form them.
  • Once done, work quickly and take the cookie sheet out of the oven. Drop the fortune on top of the cookie in the middle. Use either an offset spatula or a pie/cake server to slide the soft cookie off of the parchment paper. Pinch the ends of the cookie together at the top of the circle forming of a half circle around the fortune.
  • On the edge of a large bowl, bend the cookie in the middle of the circle half so that the edges form down around the edge of the bowl. Forming a fortune cookie shape. Put the cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that the shape is supported and cookie doesn’t unfold.
  • Repeat with the other still-warm cookie.
  • Use the rest of the batter until all of it is gone and the cookies are formed. Do not re-use the parchment paper pieces once grease starts to accumulate and crumbs start to stick. (Usually, you’re good for using them 3 times)
  • To decorate: dip the ends of the cookies (the butts) into melted chocolate. Shake off excess. Cover in sprinkles and let dry in a cool dry place. I always thought it would be better to dip the tips of the cookies in chocolate to keep the butt extra crunchy, but I’ve been told that it makes your fingers chocolatey. You decide!
  • These babies will keep for a couple of days in a sealed container, but they’re best within a day.
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