Peanut Cookie (花生酥)

I am not those that believe very much in good feng shui or auspicious stuff, thus you won't find me dolling my house with pussy willow or red banner of good wishes during Lunar New Year.

When I baked goodies for Lunar New Year, it is based on good taste and good bites rather than auspicious meaning. 

Among the different types of nuts, peanut is my least favourite.  Whereas hubby is always the one craving for peanut which I know is extremely unhealthy especially when there is heart problem in his family's genes.   Thus, I hardly stock up peanut in the house unless he goes supermarket with me.

Then again, with an event like Lunar New Year which is once in a year, this is the moment where I feel a little indulge on him is okay.

I have chosen this 花生酥 from my favourite blogger, Do What I Like.  

What you need:

Yield: 89 pcs

200g ground peanut powder
200g flour
½ tsp baking powder
100g icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
100g - 150g coarsely chopped peanut bits (or more)
110g peanut oil or more/corn oil (pour a little by little to assess softness of dough)

Egg wash:

1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 tsp water

Method:

Put 200g peanuts in a wok and dry fry over low heat till crunchy. Remove the thin membrane and put it into a blender and blend till powder form.

Mix flour, baking powder, ground peanut powder, icing sugar and salt in a big mixing bowl till well combined. Toss in the chopped peanut bits and mix well.

Add in 100g peanut oil or more and mix till a pliable dough is formed.

Shape as you wish. For me, I use a Watson distilled water bottle cap.

Apply egg wash.

Bake on a lined tray at 165ºC for 20 minutes or till golden brown.

Notes:

Don't add in all the oil in one go. If the dough is too dry, you can add more oil. If the dough is too wet, you can add more flour.

For the shaping, you can do it in the round balls style but I don't like it, so I used a bottle cap instead. Put a piece of glad wrap over the bottle cap and press in enough dough - about 9g for this Watson's cap. Lift up the glad wrap and release the shaped cookie onto the baking tray.

Use corn oil if you are a "waist-watcher".

Use icing sugar instead of castor sugar to get a finer textured cookie.