How to Make Your Own Special Fortune Cookies

Quick quiz: where are fortune cookies from?

If you answer China – Nope, sorry. You would more often be served a sweet dessert than a fortune cookie in China, or any authentic restaurant among the diaspora in Asia. It’s also not really a staple in the cuisine, even though the cookie’s middle-folded shape resembles the ancient Chinese ingot – once a currency and now a symbol of wealth and fortune.

If you answer the United States – Congrats! You’re half-right. The fortune cookie was largely popularized by American Chinese manufacturers and restaurants. But it was Japanese immigrants who originally brought the fortune cookie to San Francisco around the early 19th Century.

The sweet crunchy treat with a surprise message slip can actually be traced to Omikuji, a local delicacy of Kyoto. This original fortune cookie is made with miso instead of vanilla and butter; and thus has a darker colour and slightly larger shape. You can still get them at Kyoto’s Fushimi Inaritaisha shrine today.

As for the fortune cookie we all know: it’s actually really simple to make! You can swap vanilla for a flavour you’d like to explore, and get creative with the fortune slips in your cookies. Make each one a surprise with insightful quotes, tickle with one-liner jokes, or warm someone’s heart with the best well-wishes. You can serve the cookies like in the films – at the end of a meal gathering. Or gift them to your friends, family and colleagues for any occasion you can think of.

So come add the fortune cookie to your homemade pastry repertoire! Here’s how to make it:

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 190°C. Crack 2 eggs, scope out the yolks, and whisk the whites in a bowl until bubbly. Then add sugar, and continue to beat until it turns fluffy.

Step 2

Add vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, melted butter and water. Whisk to mix them well. Then add sifted flour and corn flour, whisk gently – just enough to combine the flours.

Step 3

Pro-tip: to prevent sticking, line your baking tray with a silicon mat. Spread a tablespoon of the creamy batter into a flat disc of about 8-9cm diameter. Best to only make 2 to 3 for every baking session, as the next steps will need you to be quick. No worries, you only need to bake for 6 to 8 minutes at one go.

Step 4

Wear gloves and prepare a knife spatula. The next bit is hot and fast: Take out the tray. Use the spatula to flip over the discs. Put your special message slip at the centre of each disc and fold in half.

Step 5

Bend the folded cookie on the edge of a mug to form the ingot shape.

Step 6

Let them cool and harden to crispy-sweet. And that’s it! Your fortune cookies are ready to serve. Grab the full recipe here!