Valentine Fortune Cookies

Since Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Year coincide this year, I thought that it would be fun to make Valentine's fortune cookies for party favors.  I made these once before, many years ago.  As I got into the process I recalled, "Oh, right, these were a real pain in the a** to make."  I perservered and came up with a reasonable product.  They are much like pancakes-the further you get into the batch,

the better they seem to get. 

Fortune Cookies

5 T butter, melted

4 egg whites

1 c sugar

1 c flour

3 T cream

1 t almond extract

-combine egg whites and sugar, beat until fluffy

-add flour, butter, cream and almond

-stir until well combined

-spread 1 T of batter into a 5 inch circle on sprayed baking sheet (you can get 2 on a sheet)

-bake at 400 for 8 min

The batter is pretty basic, a bit sticky, a bit thick.

Spreading them onto the baking sheet seems to be the key to getting good results, and I obviously haven't mastered that yet.  Mine tend to be a bit doughy in the middle and crispy on the edges.  Slide a narrow spatula under them when they are fresh out of the oven, then work quickly to shape and fill before they cool too much.  I feel like I could use a little more finesse in the shaping department too.  Perhaps I should stick to pies!

I got my silly verses from an old Valentine book, but you could use poetry lines or pen your own.

The finished product looks pretty good despite all the hassle, and is much tastier than the pre-packaged kind.

I tied mine up in festive bags and sent them home with my guests as party favors.