FORTUNE COOKIES Makes about 1 dozen. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from several recipes found on the Internet. These Fortune Cookies are as much fun to make as they are to open for the fortunes. As I live in a mobile home, I tried to write fortunes appropriate for a trailer park. There is a double-wide in your future. Be good to your neighbors. One will soon win the lottery. These cookies take a little practice to get right. Don t be discouraged if a few end up as nibbles for the dog. Ingredients: 2 egg whites ½ teaspoon almond extract or vanilla extract ½ cup (2.5 ounces/71g) all-purpose flour ½ cup (60g) confectioners powdered sugar, packed Directions: Heat the oven to 375 F (191 C). Combine the egg whites and the extract. Whisk until foamy. Sift together the flour and sugar into a separate bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a mixer or a whisk until thoroughly blended. There is more than one way to prepare a baking sheet for baking these cookies. I find a silicone baking mat gives me the best results although it smokes at this baking temperature, even though it is rated to 482 F (250 C). Or you could line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease the baking sheet with butter, non-stick spray, or other fat. Spoon a tablespoon of the batter onto the baking sheet in two places and spread it into a thin circle with a small offset spatula. The circles should be about 3 inches (8cm) in diameter. Larger is better. It s important to spread the batter thinly if you want crisp fortune cookies. I used a plastic stencil I created. (See photos.) The cookies will need to be shaped while still hot. If allowed to cool, they will harden. Therefore, it is usually preferable to bake only 2 or 3 at a time unless others can help shape the cookies quickly. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until there is a lot of browning around the edges. The center will still be a cream color. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and while the cookies are still hot and flexible, place a printed fortune in the middle and fold up the cookie to enclose the fortune. You can shape them over the edge of a bowl, coffee cup, saucepan, whatever works for you. Place in a muffin pan or an egg carton to hold their shape until thoroughly cool. Store in an air-tight container. 1 The Step By Step guide begins on the following page. 20120708
1 STEP-BY-STEP 2 The ingredients for making fortune cookies are simple and inexpensive. You can substitute granulated sugar for the confectioners powdered sugar. The texture of the cookies won t be as smooth. 2 If you have a coffee mill set aside for herbs and spices, you can grind your own sugar. Grind the sugar until reduced to a powder. Sugar can also be ground in a food processor, but over time it will dull the processor s blades. I therefore prefer to use a coffee mill, which has dull blades anyway.
3 3 Combine the egg whites and the extract and whip with a whisk until foamy. It does not need to be whipped to peaks. 4 Sift together the flour and the powdered sugar. This is mostly for the sugar, which tends to form lumps easily. Sifting will eliminate lumps in the cookie batter.
5 4 Combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture until blended and smooth. 6 To obtain the best results, the cookie batter needs to be very thin on the baking sheet. You can use an offset spatula to spread a thin layer of dough. I tried many different procedures for putting a very thin layer of batter on my baking sheet. The best way was to cut a stencil from a piece of thin plastic (about 0.050 inch/1.27mm thick). The plastic shown above was a divider from a three-ring binder. I also experimented with a small piece of Lexan polycarbonate with the same thickness. It worked well, but it needed to be used on a cool baking sheet. If the baking sheet was still hot from the oven the Lexan buckled, making it impossible to lay down a thin layer of batter. I also tried different coatings or linings on the baking sheet. Greasing the sheet was acceptable, but using a silicone baking liner (see above) produced the best results. To use the stencil, spoon about a tablespoon or two of batter along one side of the stencil hole. Using an offset spatula, lightly draw the blade across the stencil, filling the hole with a thin layer of batter. Don t press too hard with the spatula, as this could leave a layer that is too thin.
7 5 There are also several ways to shape the cookies. Most recipes say to use the edge of a bowl or saucepan. I taped a dowel to the handle of a large pot. You also need something to hold the shaped cookies while they cool, otherwise they might unfold. Some recipes recommend using a muffin pan. Others suggest an egg carton. The egg carton worked best for me. 8 Bake the cookies until they begin to brown. Watch them closely, as they will brown quickly. They can be browned fairly well and still fold properly when you shape the cookies.
9 6 I m using a piece of paper here to demonstrate how to fold the fortune cookie. Place the fortune in the middle and bend up two sides toward each other. Although the cookie is hot at this point, I find that holding it by the edges protects my fingers from the hottest part of the cookie. 10 Bring the two sides together, enclosing the fortune.
11 7 Place the bottom fold of the cookie against a narrow edge. It could be the edge of a large bowl or a saucepan. I m using a dowel because my hands are a little large. Having the room makes it easier. 12 Push the cookie downward against the hard edge, bringing the two side points together underneath. Immediately place the cookie in a tight space, such as a cup in an egg carton, to hold this shape as it cools.
13 8 Here are two cookies cooling in an egg carton. 14 This dish holds many of the experiments I did while finding the best way to bake these cookies. Notice the rather ugly cookie toward the right side of the picture. Some of these cookies were baked on parchment paper, others on a greased baking sheet. As mentioned above, the best results were from using the silicone baking liner. Although most recipes say to use the top of the cookie as the outside, I prefer to use the bottom surface, as it has a smooth appearance.
Conclusion These cookies are more challenging than most others. The cookie is thin, hot, and breaks easily if allowed to cool before shaping. Nonetheless, if you don t mind the challenge these can be a fun treat to bring to a picnic or birthday party. Think about the intended audience and write appropriate fortunes. For a birthday party you might want to write: Someone will receive a new IPod very soon. For adults: You will soon buy your marriage mate a new and expensive car. For the elderly: Metamucil is your best friend. Obviously you can have a lot of fun with these cookies. 9