Years ago my sister in law and I took a Chinese cooking course, taught by Mrs Wong. We had a wonderful time. She taught us how to make many dishes and then we all shared a meal together at each class. That was motivation enough not to miss a class.I am happy that she shared this cookie recipe, they are one of my favorites. They are the 'melt in your mouth' kind. They can of course be baked any time of year but I like to have them on my cookie platters at Christmas.
- 1 cup lard
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- Whole almonds
- Sesame seeds
- 1 egg for egg wash
- Cream lard and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg and almond extract. Mix well.
- Add flour and baking soda. Blend into creamed mixture.
- Roll dough into 1" balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Press cookies with a glass that has been dipped in flour, this prevents the dough from sticking to the glass.
- Beat another egg for egg wash and brush on the cookies. Press an almond in the center of each cookie and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake in a 335ยบ oven for 20 minutes.
- Yield: 34 cookies
I love the sesame seeds on top, nice baking.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the lard that gives us pause on this one. I love the Chinese almond cookies - I had no idea there was lard in them.
ReplyDeleteBetty, have you made them with butter before?
They look delicious!
Oh, I love these cookies. I haven't had a good recipe for them, but I will be trying yours! I have had many foreign exchange students from the orient and they all make these. They are one of the best "cure homesickness" remedies that we have found. I believe the ones I used to make had butter in them. They taste a little different probably, but butter does work.
ReplyDeleteOoooh! Yummy! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteButter would work too I'm sure but the recipe I was given by Mrs Wong stated lard. I think I'll try butter next time.
ReplyDeleteAlmonds and sesames seeds...two of me weaknesses...I"m going to have try this.
ReplyDeleteMmmm. I miss these since my daughter's soy allergy. I might have to try these!
ReplyDelete(BTW-- butter is 80% fat while lard is 100% fat. Shortening is also 100% fat. So shortening and lard can be substituted 1:1 for each other, but butter is different. :) )
Oh what a wonderful recipe - easy and yet elegant enough for an afternoon tea... will definitely make it soon - and then will add it to my Christmas Cookie Tins given as presents.
ReplyDeleteThese look great Betty!
ReplyDeleteI made these for our small group last night. They were a huge hit! I made them with butter and they turned out well.
ReplyDeleteBTW, in your recipe, you call for 2 eggs and an additional egg for washing. But in the instructions, it only calls for 1 egg in the batter and 1 for washing. I followed the instructions rather than the ingredient list. Was that right?
deldobuss.. I have corrected that in the recipe now, 2 eggs in total.
ReplyDeleteBut for anyone having tried this recipe with 2 eggs in the cookie dough and then 1 for the eggwash, that works well too. I have made them both ways.
I remember when you took that cooking class... we had lots of homemade chinese food! Mmmmmmm
ReplyDelete~ Ali
yum, i love almond cookies, thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDelete