This easy Chinese almond cookie recipe will bring you good fortune, and extreme satisfaction with these rich, buttery, almond-flavored cookies. These almond cookies are as addicting as they are lucky.
Lunar New Year is a time of celebration! It is my favorite time of the year. The new year is a time when my family gets together, eats an unhealthy amount of food, passes around red envelopes, wishes each other happiness and good fortune, and then gamble it all away.
For most families who celebrate Lunar New Year, there is always a feast with a spread of all the lucky food to eat for the new year. In the center of that massive table spread you might spot these buttery and crispy Chinese almond cookies. Chinese almond cookies symbolize gold coins and wealth.
This newly updated easy Chinese almond cookie recipe is as satisfying as receiving all the luck and prosperity in the new year. These almond cookies are crispy yet buttery and crumbly and filled with rich almond flavor.
If you are looking for other Lunar New Year dishes to celebrate the new year, make sure to check out my Banh Chung (Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake), Thit Kho (Vietnamese Caramelized Braised Pork Ribs and Eggs), and my Pineapple Tarts.
Table of Contents
🍽 Kitchen Equipment
- Kitchen Scale: a kitchen scale is absolutely NECESSARY if you want to have foolproof bakes. This will ensure you have the exact measurements for each ingredient. My little pink kitchen scale is both aesthetic and precise.
- Glass Mixing Bowls: This is one of my main kitchen essentials for almost all of my recipes. They allow me to keep an organized kitchen where everything is measured out and in its own little home. These duralex glass nesting bowls are really sturdy and dishwasher-safe!
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer: you can use either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to cream the butter together with the ingredients. It may need a lot of elbow power if you decide to do this by hand.
- 1.5 tablespoon Cookie Scoop: using a cookie scoop will ensure that you have evenly sized cookies.
- Silpat: silpat is seriously the best invention for baking that ever existed. It will 100% guarantee the cookies easily slip off the tray.
- Pastry brush: you will need a pastry brush to brush on the egg yolk so that the cookies will have that beautiful golden sheen on them.
- Half-Sheet Aluminum Baking Tray: I have been using my Nordicware Aluminum half-sheet baking trays for years and it has never let me down.
🛒 Ingredients
The ingredients for this easy Chinese almond cookie recipe are all easily accessible and can be found at your local grocery store.
- All-purpose flour: creates the base for these cookies. The all-purpose flour is strong enough to hold the cookie together yet creates a moist and soft crumb.
- Baking soda: the baking soda acts as a raising agent and gives an airy rise to the almond cookie.
- Salt: salt balances out the sweetness from the almond extract and the sugar.
- Unsalted butter: the butter binds the cookie together while also giving it a soft moist crumb. The butter needs to be at room temperature for even mixing.
- Granulated Sugar and brown sugar: what is a cookie without sugar? The combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar gives the cookie its sweetness and adds a little depth.
- Large Eggs: you will need large eggs to bind the cookie together.
- Almond Extract: the almond extract is what gives this cookie its rich almond flavor. Make sure to use a high-quality pure almond extract for the best results.
- Egg Yolk and Sliced Almonds: you will use one egg yolk for an egg wash and sliced almonds for garnish.
📝 How To Make This Recipe
This easy Chinese almond cookie recipe only requires a few simple steps which will yield the most addicting cookies you can enjoy for the Lunar New Year.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix wet ingredients. In another mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar with your stand mixer, and hand mixer on low for about 2 minutes. Then add the eggs and almond extract and continue mixing for another minute or until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for even mixing.
- Combine. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients and continue mixing until combined and you no longer see any streaks of flour.
- Chill. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and position your oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or slipmats.
- Assemble. Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough into balls and place on the prepared sheet about 2 inches away from each other.
- Add on egg wash and an almond. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and lightly brush the tops of the cookies. Place a sliced almond in the center of the cookie.
- Chill. Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for an additional 15 minutes.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp around the edges. Top with flaky salt and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
⭐️Tips For The Best Chinese Almond Cookies
- Measure your dry ingredients with a scale. I will say this for every bake. The most accurate method of measuring ingredients is with a scale. That will yield the exact flavor that I have envisioned. If you don't have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon, carefully drop it into your measuring cup and level it off. Do NOT pack the flour into the measuring cup.
- Use room-temperature butter. This will make your life so much easier when you are attempting to cream the butter. The soft butter will cream much easier and quicker with the sugar.
- Make sure to chill the dough! This dough will be on the softer side and pretty sticky when first mixed. Chilling the dough allows the butter to solidify making the dough easier to scoop out. Also, the second chill time is to ensure the cookies don't spread too quickly when they are baking.
- Use a cookie cutter to make perfectly round cookies. When you remove the cookies if they are not perfectly round, grab a round cookie cutter that is larger than the cookie and place it above the cookie and swirl the cookie around inside the cookie cutter until they are round. This "scooting" method will only work if they are still hot!
💬 Frequently Asked Q's & A’s
Chilling the cookie dough before baking amplifies the flavors, hardens the butter which will prevent overspreading, and allow the cookies to hold their shape in the oven.
Yes! You can make the dough and store it wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking. Alternatively, the dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
🥡 Storage Instructions
You can store these easy Chinese almond cookies in an airtight container on the counter at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Alternatively, you can freeze these almond cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Did you make these Chinese Almond Cookies?
This recipe was adapted from Christy Denny, Serene Herrera, and Kristina Cho's cookbook Mooncakes and Milk bread.
If you made this dish and loved it, please leave a review and comment below. We would greatly appreciate it!
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👩🏻🍳 Recipe
Easy Chinese Almond Cookie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup (280 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar packed
- 2 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon water
Garnish
- Sliced almonds
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt.
- Mix wet ingredients. In another mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars with your stand mixer, hand mixer on low for about 2 minutes. Then add the eggs and almond extract and continue mixing for another minute or until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for even mixing.
- Combine. Add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredients and continue mixing until combined and you no longer see any streaks of flour.
- Chill. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and position your oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or slipmats.
- Assemble. Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough into balls, shape them with your hands and place on the prepared sheet about 2 inches away from each other. If the dough is sticking to your hands, lightly wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Egg wash and garnish. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water. Then lightly brush the tops of the cookies. Place a sliced almond in the center of the cookie.
- Chill. Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for an additional 15 minutes.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp around the edges. Top with flaky salt and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Measure your dry ingredients with a scale. I will say this for every bake. The most accurate method of measuring ingredients is with a scale. That will yield the exact flavor that I have envisioned. If you don't have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon, carefully drop it into your measuring cup and level it off. Do NOT pack the flour into the measuring cup.
- Use room temperature butter. This will make your life so much easier when you are attempting to cream the butter. The soft butter will cream much easier and quicker with the sugar.
- Make sure to chill the dough! This dough will be on the softer side and pretty sticky when first mixed. Chilling the dough allows the butter to solidify making the dough easier to scoop out.
- Use a cookie cutter to make perfectly round cookies. If the cookies are not perfectly round, immediately when you pull them out of the oven grab a round cookie cutter that is larger than the cookie. Then place it above the cookie, swirl the cookie around the cookie-cutter until they are perfectly round. This will only work if they are still hot!
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