Saturday, January 28, 2017

"Faux-Tune" Cookies

Happy Chinese New Year!

The fortune cookie is the quintessential cap-off to any Chinese-American meal. Crunchy and sweet, they are vaguely tuile-like in both taste and texture... yet unlike the French cookie, they're relatively thick and hard rather than light and lacy-crisp. I personally avoid eating them - packaged in cellophane to be eaten after a relatively oily, heavy meal, they taste bland and not much more than "sweet-ish". However, I still tear open my packet to break open the cookie and find out what my future holds.

"Faux-Tune" Cookies

With Chinese New Year upon us, I wanted to bring some fun to my Home Ec classes and have the kids make their own fortune cookies. However, the manufacture of the batter-based ones is a little beyond our scope, equipment and skill wise. Then I stumbled onto a great idea on Mantitlement and had to try it out - taco-size tortillas! Not only are flour tortillas perfectly malleable, they're bland enough to take any flavouring presented. Rather than simply use sugar to make them the run-of-the-mill "sweet", I added cinnamon and Chinese 5 spice too. The combination made for an interesting, sweet-spicy crisp treat that held a handwritten fortune. It was a perfect afternoon snack for the kids too, since it wasn't too sugary but they felt like they were getting a huge cookie - they turn out to be about 3x the size of the standard ones!

"Faux-Tune" Cookies
Makes 4
4 (7") whole grain flour torillas
4 tsp melted, salted butter
1 tbsp superfine sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch Chinese 5-Spice (optional)
Fortunes written on strips of parchment
  1. Soak 4 toothpicks in water for at least 1 hour. Drain and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment.
  3. Place a strip of parchment with your fortune on it in the centre of one tortilla.
  4. Fold the tortillas in half, then take your other hand and push down the middle of the flat side of the tortilla to meet the middle of the curved edge. Fold the corners towards each other into a “crescent” like shape and secure with a toothpick to keep the ends together.
  5. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
  6. Brush the tortillas all over with melted butter.
  7. Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and 5 spice.
  8. Sprinkle sugar mixture generously over the buttered tortillas.
  9. Bake for 8 minutes, until beginning to crisp and brown. Cool completely on the sheets.
  10. Remove toothpicks once cooled.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 175.2
Total Fat: 6.7 g
Cholesterol: 10.1 mg
Sodium: 306.6 mg
Total Carbs: 25.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.0 g
Protein: 4.0 g

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