These Chinese Almond Cookies are one of the easiest cookie recipes I’ve tried. All you need is simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl, roll into small balls, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The cookies are crisp, buttery, and full of almond flavor!
Chinese Almond Cookies for the Lunar New Year!
In Japan, we celebrate the New Year on January 1st (read more). As I married a Taiwanese American husband, I started to celebrate Lunar New Year as well. Since the holiday is a regular day here in the U.S., we typically go out to eat at Chinese restaurants to celebrate with his family and friends instead of cooking up a storm like most families do in Asia.
One exception is I make these almond cookies. I learned from my Chinese blogger friends in Asia that these traditional Chinese almond cookies are enjoyed during the Lunar New Year. Almond cookies symbolize coins so people make or buy these cookies to bring good fortune.
Almond cookies have a crisp bite and sandy crumbly texture. When you bite, almond meal/flour and almonds on top give really nice almond flavor in your mouth. And these cookies are delightful with a cup of tea or coffee.
Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour
You can use either almond meal or almond flour in today’s recipe. But what is the difference?
Almond meal and almond flour both consist of ground almonds, but here is the difference.
- Almond meal is coarsely ground and made from almonds with their skins.
- Almond flour is finely ground and made from blanched almonds without skins. Other names for almond flour are powdered almonds and almond powder.
The obvious difference is in how they look. Almond meal is speckled with bits of almond skin while the blanched almond flour is creamy tan.
The almond meal that I use for today’s recipe is from Trader Joe’s (you see the bits of dark almond skin), but Bob’s Red Mill has both types (Natural Almond Meal vs Almond Meal/Flour).
If you’re wondering if you can skip the all-purpose flour and use 100% almond meal or almond flour for these Chinese almond cookies, I would not recommend so. You have to include the all-purpose flour to make these almond cookies. You could add a few drops of the almond extract for even more intense almond taste.
Serve these cookies for the upcoming Chinese New Year and if you celebrate this holiday. I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your family and friends.
新年快乐 (Xin Nian Kuai Le)!
Happy New Year!
恭喜發財 (Gong Xi Fa Cai)!
Wishing you a prosperous new year!
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Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal/flour (if you use almond meal (ground almonds with skin), you may need to add more oil, so adjust the amount as you mix the dough)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (weigh your flour; for weights, click the Metric button; or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 120 g sugar (½ cup + 2 Tbsp)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup neutral oil (or more, as needed, to form the dough into balls)
- roasted unsalted almonds (optional; for decoration)
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
- Before You Start: I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. For weights, click the Metric button above. If you‘re using a cup measure, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more than you need.
- Gather all the ingredients. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
To Make the Dough
- Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer: 1 cup almond meal/flour, 1½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 120 g sugar (½ cup + 2 Tbsp), ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp baking soda. Fit your mixer with a beater attachment and mix on low-medium speed.
- Slowly add ½ cup neutral oil and mix until a cohesive dough forms.
- The dough should be just moist enough to hold its shape when you roll it into a ball. If it looks too crumbly, add 2–3 tsp (10–15 ml) neutral oil at a time until it‘s the right consistency.
To Shape the Cookies
- Weigh and divide the dough into 0.4 oz, 10 g pieces for 1-inch (2.5-cm) cookies or 0.7 oz, 20 g pieces for 1½-inch (3.8-cm) cookies. After weighing the pieces, roll each into a ball with your palms. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat until you‘ve rolled all the dough. Tip: You can make a 10-gram ball using a teaspoon measuring spoon.
- If you want to put roasted unsalted almonds on the cookies (optional), hold a cookie ball in your palm and gently press one almond into the dough.
- Beat 1 large egg yolk in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of the cookie balls with the egg yolk.
To Bake
- Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 15–20 minutes, or until the cookies become slightly golden. Let them cool on a wire rack before serving. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store on the countertop for 4–5 days or in the freezer for a month.
Notes
- Fluff up the flour several times with a spoon.
- Using the spoon, sprinkle the flour into your dry-cup measure.
- Scrape off the excess with a knife.
Nutrition
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 10, 2013. The content has been updated with more information in January 2017.
