Today’s recipe is a twist on Chinese almond cookies. How these cookies came to be called “Chinese” is beyond me, considering that cookies in general and butter in particular aren’t conventionally found in Chinese cuisine. Nonetheless, they’re quite popular in Canton, Hong Kong, and Macau, all places that fittingly have experienced significant Western influence. Even across the globe in the US of A, these cookies are popular enough to have a day of the year dedicated to them, April 9^th to be exact.

The “twist” in this recipe makes these cookies a bit more “Chinese” if you will. It involves a time-honored ingredient not only heavily used in Chinese cooking but also in traditional Chinese medicine, ginger. Although the concentration in these ginger almond cookies won’t be enough to treat a cough or cure a cold, your taste buds and tummy are sure to be joyful after their consumption. Thankfully, making these cookies is extremely easy; you won’t even need an electric mixer. After minimal effort, you can reap the reward of fluffy cookies with a moist crumb and harmonious balance of flavors. Feel free to scale up this recipe, but be forewarned; once they’re made, you won’t be able to stop eating them! They’re that good!

Chinese Ginger Almond Cookies

Makes 8 cookies

Ingredients

• 60g all-purpose flour
• 30g almond flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg (½ for the batter, ½ for brushing)
• 40g sugar
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, super finely minced
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• 8 Sliced almonds

 Directions

1. Combine all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with chopsticks or a fork and remove half to be used later. (A kitchen scale is handy for this step.) Continue mixing in sugar, melted butter, minced ginger, and almond extract until well combined.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold them together using a rubber spatula until just combined.
4. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20 min. (The dough will be runny before this step, but no worries, it will firm up in the fridge.)
5. Scoop 1 tbsp of chilled dough at a time and roll into balls. Gently press a sliced almond into the center. Brush the tops with egg wash (egg + splash of milk) made with the reserved egg. Bake at 325°F for 14 min. Cool before enjoying!