Chinese Cashew Cookies (No Mixer)

Close-up of a Chinese New Year cashew cookie with more in the background.

5 from 5 votes

Chinese Cashew Cookies (No Mixer)

Made with only 4 or 5 ingredients and mixable by hand, these easy Chinese Cashew Cookies are the perfect treat for Lunar New Year! Quick and easy, they're ready in under 30 minutes (if you're not making your own cashew flour.)

Servings: cookies

Calories: 83kcal

Author: Zen

Ingredients

4.4 oz whole cashews Substitute: equal amount of cashew flour (125g) + 14 more if you want to decorate your cookies
2.8 oz icing sugar (80g) Substitute: caster sugar, but you will need less oil
2.2 oz all purpose flour (62.5g)
¼-½ teaspoon salt Optional. Some don't like saltiness in their desserts but I find it enhances the flavor. Omit if using salted cashews to start with.
4.5 oz vegetable oil (130g- this is a guideline, as it will change depending on the age of your ingredients and the humidity.) Substitute: lard. Use a neutral oil, not somethign like olive.
½ egg For egg wash. Use a small egg

Instructions

Making Cashew Flour

Dry fry the cashews on low heat (or bake them) till fragrant and golden. Allow to cool then process into flour.

Baking Cashew Cookies

Pre-heat the oven at 350F/ 170C/ 150C fan.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk well. (If you used salted cashews to make cashew flour, omit the salt.)
Add in half the oil or melted lard, then mix well. Keep adding the oil, tablespoon by tablespoon, and mixing till you get a pliable dough, as shown above.
Note: If you use too much oil, the cookie will be fragile.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop out approximately equal amounts of dough onto parchment paper or Silpat.
After you've scooped all the dough, roll between your palms to get smooth balls. You can either press down with your finger OR press a half-cashew on top of each ball.
Egg wash before you bake- it will make the cookies look MUCH better so don't omit this step! (See Expert Tips for substitutions if you're out of eggs.)
Insert the tray in the middle rack. (You'll only need 1 tray.) Bake at 350F/ 170C/ 150C fan till golden brown (around 15 minutes.)

Notes

Substitute for egg wash: You can use ½ tablespoon of milk mixed with ¼ teaspoon of honey or sugar syrup.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.

Nutrition