These homemade fortune cookies are decorated for Valentine’s Day with a dip in white chocolate followed by sprinkles. Write your own fortunes or love notes to make them even more special. Staff photo by Jennifer Greenwell
The perfect Valentine’s Day gift conveys a smile-worthy message and something sweet. Fortune cookies are fun and easy to make but, best of all, contain personal messages of love and kindness.
The cookies represent luck and wisdom. The accuracy of the fortune, of course, is decidedly up to whoever cracks open the cookie.
Despite its strong association with Chinese food, fortune cookies did not originate in China but in Kyoto, Japan, in the 1800s. They arrived along with Japanese immigrants to San Francisco in the early 1900s.
Americans consume most of the world’s fortune cookies, which are not served at all in China.
Authentic Japanese fortune cookies, called tjsujiura senbei (su-jurah sen-bay), or fortune crackers, are larger and darker than those familiar to Americans dining in a typical Chinese restaurant. Also, original recipes used miso and sesame, not vanilla or butter.
The original Japanese cookies contained lines of poetry. Early Western adaptations had words of wisdom from ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius.
In recent times, it seems anything goes. Crack one open to find horoscope-like predictions, lucky numbers, humor, sweet phrases, or even a marriage proposal. Should your cookie be missing a fortune, which sometimes happens, don’t fret. An empty fortune cookie means something good is coming your way. No fortune is also considered a reminder that you are in control of your future.
Whip up your own batch of fortune and fun this Valentine’s Day. Pack a few in a paper to-go carton for extra charm. Writing the fortunes is part of the fun, but if you have a hard time coming up with your own, check out our ideas below.
Here is a simple fortune cookie recipe even a novice can conquer.
Fortune Cookie Recipe
(Makes about 10 servings)
Nutritional information per serving (1 cookie): Calories 71, Fat 1g, Carbs 12g, Fiber 0g, Sugar 7g, Protein 2g
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons water
Tips before baking
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, use a natural stone-type sheet, or grease a baking sheet. If you grease a baking sheet, you will need to re-grease it after each batch.
- Have your fortune slips written, cut, and ready to go.Only make two or three cookies at once as you have a very brief time to fold each one before it hardens.Wear gloves when folding the hot cookies.
- If a cookie hardens before it has been shaped, pop it back into oven for a few seconds to soften it.
- Use a muffin tin, small cup, or egg carton to help cookies hold their shape while cooling.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix the egg whites and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Whisk for about one minute or until frothy.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt in another bowl. Gently combine the dry mixture into the wet mixture until it becomes paste-like.
- Add water one tablespoon at a time until the batter becomes smooth.
- Place 1 tablespoon of batter onto the baking sheet, spreading it with the back of a spoon in a 3-inch-diameter circle. Repeat this step for each cookie.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until edges turn slightly brown. You might have to tweak the baking time as oven temperatures vary.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
- Using a spatula, flip the cookies over.
- Place the fortune paper in the middle of a cookie, fold the two opposite edges up like a taco shell, and pinch together the top edges. Quickly place the middle of the cookie on the edge of the pan and bend it into a fortune cookie shape.
- Set the shaped cookie in a muffin tin, egg carton, or small cup/bowl to help it hold its shape while it cools.
Decorate, if desired:
- Let the cookies cool completely before decorating and use:
- ¼ cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips or ¼ cup melted candy melts in the color of your choice
- sprinkles, chopped nuts, coconut, etc., to sprinkle on dipped cookies (if desired)
Fortune ideas
CUTE/SWEET
- If two people love each other, nothing is impossible — except deciding where to eat.
- You are my person.
- You are the fortune to my cookie.
- I love you 5-ever because it’s more than 4-ever.
- True love is giving the first lick of ice cream and the last piece of candy.
FUNNY
- No matter where you go, there you are.
- The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
- I see money in your future. It is not yours though.
- Always give 100%. Unless you’re donating blood.
- Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.
WISDOM
- Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
- Sometimes it’s better to be kind than right.
- Do what is right, not what is easy.
- Learn something new every day.
- Learn to rest, not to quit.
jennifer@thepicayune.com
