Chinese Almond Shortbread Cookies

This Father's Day I wanted to bake something for my dad, but he doesn't often eat sweets and I was low on time, so I looked for quick recipes that would be suitable. I remembered the crumbly, nutty cookies my parents used to buy from the supermarket and thought about trying to replicate those. Luckily, I stumbled upon this recipe from Fuss Free Cooking that looked like just what I wanted, and it was simple, too! I decided to go with almond meal as my nut flour of choice.

For the sake of saving time, I rolled the dough into balls with my hand instead of molding them. (My dough was quite dry - something I would guess is the function of different oil contents within varying nut flours - so I added just a bit more oil to hold the mixture together. Water could also work, I think.) I also used less sugar than the recipe called for to cut down a bit on sweetness, and decided to brush them with an egg wash instead of milk.

Ingredients

150g (about 5.3 oz) self-raising flour

80g (2.8 oz) icing/powdered sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

110g (3.9 oz) corn oil

80g (2.8 oz) ground almonds/almond flour (any nut meal should work)

Egg or milk wash (I just lightly beat one egg)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 170C (338F.) Line your baking tray.

2. Sift together flour, icing sugar, salt and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.

3. Stir nut meal into the flour mixture.

4. Stir in the oil and vanilla extract until mixture forms a soft ball of dough. (In my case, my dough was quite crumbly, so I added a little more liquid.)

5. Pinch off portions of the dough and roll them into small balls, then flatten them a bit on the baking sheet. (Because of my crumbly dough, this process involved compressing each portion in a scrunching motion until the dough stayed together.) 

6. Brush the cookies with egg or milk wash.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the top of the cookies have dried out (as seen in a crackling pattern) and the bottoms are golden brown.

To help with conversions for those who don't have a kitchen scale: this site is great!

Also, as I never have self-rising flour on hand, this recipe was helpful.

Although these cookies are very different from typical American dessert cookies, they have a really nutty yet mild flavor and a fun, crumbly bite to them. My parents definitely seemed to enjoy them. Just be careful not to make a mess when you're eating!