Chinese Almond Cookies are simple, crisp, buttery, and full of almond flavor. This recipe is a perfect treat to make for Lunar New Year!
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!
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
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
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 10, 2013. The content has been updated with more information in January 2017.
One of my favorite recipes to make during Lunar New Year! So easy, no hours-long prep work, and make a bunch! Always a favorite at parties, even among the aunties!
Hello Michelle! Aww. We are so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback! 🥰
I’ve made these for the last couple of years- they come out great. I’ve used almond flour with and without skins, today I ground my own. The only advice I’d give is to grind your nuts as fine as you can without it turning into almond butter.
Susan
Hi Susan! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and sharing your experience with us!🥰
I used Bob’s Red Mill Extra fine ground almonds, needed to add an extra 2 TBSPs of oil and still could not roll but squished together 20 g balls, added whole Almond and brushed with yolk, then baked for the longer time. The slightly over browned cookies (tasted toasted) held together better, the lightly browned were “crumbly” or “melt in your mouth” depending on your point of view. If I made them again, I’d try butter instead of oil because more butter tastes like butter and more oil tastes like oil, my preference being the former. They taste good and I will serve them to my friends for a New Year treat but next time I might look for another recipe. Thanks for posting this one!
Hi Ingrid! Thank you for trying this recipe and for sharing your result!
There are much better almond cookies out there. Unlike some of the other comments they held together fine though cracked a little, they have a very short texture but just aren’t that tasty! I guess I’m used to richer cookies with butter or more almond flavour? First recipe from this website to disappoint!
Hello Emma, Thank you for trying this recipe! Although you may expect a typical cookie texture, these cookies are more like Singaporean or Malaysian-style treats. Nami adapted the recipe from her blogger friend back in 2013, as mentioned in the recipe card notes. The texture is crisper and harder, which is quite different from Japanese or Western-style cookies.
Hi Nami, do you think if we added one egg or one egg yolk to the batter it might have the same taste but hold together better and be less crumbly? Excellent taste and i loved this variation of the traditional almond cookie!
Hello, Dawn! Thank you for testing Nami’s recipe.
Extra egg yolk makes this cookie more crumbly and moist when baked, whereas egg white adds moisture to the mixture but makes the cookies drier. We believe the results of this cookie dough vary depending on the brand of almond flour used, hence Nami recommends adding oil to her recipe as needed. We hope this helps, and that you like the various textures of the cookies. 🙂
Awesome, so good
Hi Lilly! Aww. We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Nami’s recipe!
Thank you for your kind feedback. 🤗🫶🏻
Same as others have said—they are super dry, crumbly, and don’t hold together. I added more oil, which didn’t help and made them taste like oil.
Hello, Jill. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
We’re sorry the cookie didn’t turn out well for you.
If you did not weigh the flour, we recommend using a scale to ensure accuracy. It makes a difference when it comes to baking recipes.
We sincerely hope this helps!
Absolutely use a scale, I used one and they came out excellent
Made these cookies, two batches. I used a scale for the measurements and both times the dough came out the same, like sand that would not stick together. I added in some extra oil as directed and still very dry and crumbly. I was able to mash together to form a ball and baked I added in a few drop of almond extract as well. The flavor is great but they literally disintegrate when you try to hold them. Would not make these again
Hello Janet! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
Depending on the type of flour you use, you may need to adjust the amount of oil as Nami suggested on the recipe card. We are sorry to hear that the cookie did not turn out as expected.
These cookies are amazing!!! I made these cookies twice using almonds I ground up and toasted in skillet, both times I halved the recipe, used Avacado oil, and added 1 tsp of almond extract. First experience the cookies disintegrated easily, second time was perfect. What I did differently in the second try was using sliced almond pieces, grinding them finely, weighing by metrics, and giving a good squeeze in my palm each dough piece before rolling it.
Hi Constance! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed the almond cookies!
Happy Baking!
I have salted, roasted whole almonds in my cupboard. Do you think it’ll be ok to use them in the center of the cookie? Also, can I use regular table salt or is buying flakey salt necessary?
Hi KK, Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe.
Salted almonds may be too salty for these cookies, but could you wash and dry the exterior nuts?
You may use table salt; however, we recommend halving the amount because it is saltier.
We hope this helps!
I tried it again. This time with more oil till everything came together in the mixer. And it was perfect! Added a few drops of almond essence and everyone loved it
Hi Ern! Awesome! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience!
Hi, this is a great recipe and I’ve made it afew times! I’m just wondering if icing sugar can be used and at the same measurements ?
Hi Ally! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
The Icing sugar (powdered sugar/confectioners’ sugar) should be okay, but the cookie texture might be moister.
The amount will be 1 3/4 cup icing sugar for each cup of sugar.
We hope this helps!
The cookies crumbled really easily. Did I add too little oil? Was a pity cos they tasted so good. And I love that it has no butter cos mom is allergic.
Hi Ern! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are glad to hear this recipe worked well for your mom.☺️
If you use almond meal (ground almond with skin), you may need to add more oil. So please adjust the oil amount as you combine the dough.
We hope this helps with your next try.