Celebrations for Lunar New Year begin on February 16, 2018. Commonly known as Chinese New Year, this Year of the Dog marks the 4,715th Chinese Year.
I always enjoy the celebrations and festivities surrounding Chinese New Year, and appreciate they go on for a couple of weeks! In addition to family gatherings, there is always a big party in San Francisco where all the stops are pulled, and we celebrate with music, dancing dragons, fortune telling, food and drink. Oh my!
My family commonly share sweet treats during new year celebrations. While almond cookies may be more familiar, walnut cookies are also traditional as walnuts symbolize happiness of the entire family.
For my take on these cookies, I add a bit of orange zest. Oranges symbolize a wish for good fortune and are the dessert of many Chinese celebratory meals. Who can argue with the delicious pairing of walnuts and oranges, happiness and good fortune?!
I won’t lie to you: making these cookies takes some patience. Forming the dough into balls and pressing them into shape is a bit fussy. Make these when you have the leisure to fiddle with the dough. Whilst in the right frame of mind, I enjoy the simple handwork and let myself ponder thoughts large and small.
I promise you will be rewarded with delectably crispy, crunchy cookies for any occasion.
Walnut Cookies
Adapted from The China Cookbook by Kei Lum Chan and Diora Fong Chan
Makes about 30 cookies, 2” rounds
INGREDIENTS
- 1/ 2 cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and very squishy
- 1/ 4 cup (2 oz.) granulated sugar
- 1/ 4 cup (2 oz.) light brown sugar
- 1 egg, beaten and divided for use in the dough and to glaze the tops of the cookies
- Finely grated zest of one large orange, about 1 – 2 teaspoons
- 1 and 7/ 8 cup (8 oz.) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/ 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/ 8 teaspoon salt
- 1/ 2 cup lightly toasted walnuts, finely chopped; plus 30 pieces to decorate
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer and beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and light. Start the mixer on a lower speed, then increase the speed to medium-high to achieve a fluffy texture. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg and mix until fully blended.
- Add half the flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir until mostly combined. Add the remaining half of the flour and combine thoroughly. Stir in the finely chopped walnuts and form into a thick dough. Pat the dough into a 1-inch thick disk, wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap; and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Arrange a baking rack in the middle position of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Divide the dough into about 30 portions. Roll each portion into a ball between your palms and flatten slightly into a small round cookie. Top each cookie with a walnut piece. Space about 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet. These do not spread much during baking.
- Lightly brush a bit of the remaining beaten egg over the top of each cookie, taking care to not let it drip down to the cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350°F. for 18 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and bake an additional 12 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly before cooling completely on a wire rack.
A note about toasting walnuts: I measured out 3/4 cup of walnuts and toasted these in a 350*F oven for about 8 minutes. I chopped them finely after toasting. As the walnuts were fairly large, I sorted pieces about the size of 1/8th of a shelled walnut for decorating the tops of each cookie.
