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!
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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
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 10, 2013. The content has been updated with more information in January 2017.
Hi Naomi, I have been using your recipe every year for the past few years. This recipe is a keeper. Can ou please clarify whether the nutrition value is for the whole recipe or for 1 biscuit (out of 54)? Cheers
Hi Siow! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Yes! The nutrition value is approximately one cookie (1/54).
We hope this helps!
They turned out great
Hi Joanne! We are glad to hear it tuned out great!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi! I made these for Chinese New Year (yes, I know that was a while back, and I’m finally getting to this review). It was very well-received by my Chinese family with ridiculously high standards. I had a lot of fun making this with my husband. He also enjoyed eating them too, even though he hates almonds!! Definitely will make them again for CNY coming year.
Hi Jessica! Awesome! We are glad to hear you and your family enjoyed these Chinese Almond Cookies!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi!
Can you please upload a recipe for some sort of Chinese Tea, like you uploaded the one on how to prepare Matcha? Would really appriciate it!
Also, what site would you recommend for recipes from India?
Hi PenguinReader, We currently don’t have the recipe on the site. We’ll make sure to add the recipe to Nami’s list. Thanks for your request!
For the Indian recipes, Here is Nami’s blogger friend’s website. https://www.playfulcooking.com/ Hope her blog will inspire you!
Made this recipe recently, love it, will make again!
Also, thank you for the link, will see what recipes she has for sure.
Hi PenguinReader, Great! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
I made these for CNY this year and you are absolutely right, these cookies are easy to make and taste delicious! Everyone enjoyed them. I will definitely make them again, and perhaps I will use hazelnut meal or ground peanuts for a slightly different flavour. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi SHL, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! We are glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this cookie. Happy New Year!
Excellent 😉 Delicate yet so moreish…
Hi Eileen, Thank you very much for your kind feedback!😊
Hi, has anyone ever tried with only all purpose flour and more almond extract ? I don’t have almond flour, nor almond meals. I do have almond extract. Thank you.
Hi M, We haven’t heard anyone tried with only all-purpose flour with almost extract. Isn’t it will be more like a sugar cookie? How about adding the crushed sliced almond in it? We hope this helps!
It worked brilliantly! Easy, tasty and nice looking 🙂
Hi Violeta, We are glad to hear you enjoyed them! Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
Amazing recipe! Made this recipe today for Chinese New year 2021. All of my family and friends loved the cookies. Highly highly highly recommend, and I will definitely be making this again in the near future.
Hi Sharon! Happy New Year! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! We are glad to hear you enjoyed this cookie.😊
Wow!! I was not a fan of Almond Cookies….until now! I wanted to make a few cookies for lunar new year so tried this recipe. Wow, wow, wow! So easy to make resulting in such a delicate & flakey cookie. The cookie literally shatters when bitten. Love this. Thank you!
Hi Selina, Yay! We are glad to hear you enjoyed this cookie! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. Happy New Year!🎉
Is it possible to provide gram measurements? That’ll make everything so much easier 😅
Hi Faith, Yes! At the bottom of the ingredients list in the recipe card, if you click “US Customary – Metric”, it will give you the gram measurements.
We hope this helps!😊
I used to eat chinese almond cookies from the neighborhood chinese bakery in Hawaii as a kid and loved their crispy texture. They were more like bonafide cookies with a great almond flavor. These are delicious but in their own way: crisp yes, but more dense like a refrigerator cookie. More crumbly, a fine crumble (I used Red Hill almond flour), and delicious flavor!!! Great for nibbling with afternoon tea. Different from my childhood but lovely. Thank you Nami.
Hi Jill, Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
Why not post the Japanese recipe. We bought almond cookies at 168 Mkt & they were very thin filled with sesame seeds. They were held together with a sugar substance. Very crisp. Lats, but not least they were very very good. I’m guessing they were a Japanese recipe.
Hi Tom, Thanks for your request! We’ll make sure to add the recipe to Nami’s list. 🙂
These are absolutely Delicious!! Initially I wasn’t sure if it’s right because they needed much more oil than stated. Also because I used almond meal, but I’m glad I didn’t give up. They’re so nostalgic! ❤️
Hi Jackie, We are glad to hear your cookies came out well at the end! Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
Cookies were easy to make and so tasty.I will definately make these again and include them in my cookie exchange at Christmas..
Hi Lori, Yay! We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this cookie! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.