today is May 29, 2023
It is a tradition in our family that every year for Chinese New Years we will have multiple cookies and even cakes prepared for relatives and friends to enjoy during house visits.
Our typical cookie list looks something like this: peanut cookies, nastar (pineapple tart cookies), almond cookies, hup toh soh (walnut cookies), kue bangkit, kastangel (cheese cookies), kue semprong (egg roll cookies), lidah kucing (langues de chat), and believe it or not, danish butter cookies (the one that comes in blue tin, LOL, never home made for this one).
As for cakes, the most common and must have would be lapis legit (thousand layers spice cake), accompanied by either a lapis surabaya or bika ambon, and something really out of place like a black forest cake or a tiramisu, yeah, we are weird.
Out of all the cookies listed, I think peanut cookies are the most traditional and old fashioned of the bunch. But it is also one of the easiest to make :) If I am not mistaken, most families will have this recipe pat down to using a cup to measure the ingredients.
Mine looks something like a 3:3:1:1, that is 3 cups roasted peanuts, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup lard, and 1 cup powdered sugar.
I actually cheated a bit, and tweaked the recipe to use butter instead. I found that if I use butter, I need 3 sticks of butter (1 1⁄2 cup) instead of just 1 cup of lard to get the same texture in the cookie dough.
I would say that both versions are delicious, but the lard version is definitely the taste I grow up with. There is a slight difference in taste, but I cannot put my finger on it. One thing for sure though, if you are a peanut butter lover, this cookie is definitely for you!
As part of Chinese New Year celebration, me and a bunch of other food bloggers are working together to create a list of cookies recipe for the coming celebration. This year’s Chinese New Year Cookie Party is organized by Christine Leong of Vermilion Roots. Here are the recipes beside the one from yours truly:
And with that, I am wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year :)