Chinese Almond Cookies are simple, crisp, buttery, and full of almond flavor. It’s a perfect treat to make for Chinese New Year!
These Chinese Almond Cookies are one of the easiest cookie recipes I’ve tried. All you need is simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl, roll into small balls, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The cookies are crisp, buttery, and full of almond flavor!
Chinese Almond Cookies for Lunar New Year!
In Japan, we celebrate the New Year on January 1st (read more). As I married a Taiwanese American husband, I started to celebrate Lunar New Year as well. Since the holiday is a regular day here in the U.S., we typically go out to eat at Chinese restaurants to celebrate with his family and friends instead of cooking up a storm like most families do in Asia.
One exception is I make these almond cookies. I learned from my Chinese blogger friends in Asia that these traditional Chinese almond cookies are enjoyed during the Lunar New Year. Almond cookies symbolize coins so people make or buy these cookies to bring good fortune.
Almond cookies have a crisp bite and sandy crumbly texture. When you bite, almond meal/flour and almonds on top give really nice almond flavor in your mouth. And these cookies are delightful with a cup of tea or coffee.
Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour
You can use either almond meal or almond flour in today’s recipe. But what is the difference?
Almond meal and almond flour both consist of ground almonds, but here is the difference.
- Almond meal is coarsely ground and made from almonds with their skins.
- Almond flour is finely ground and made from blanched almonds without skins. Other names for almond flour are powdered almonds and almond powder.
The obvious difference is in how they look. Almond meal is speckled with bits of almond skin while the blanched almond flour is creamy tan.
The almond meal that I use for today’s recipe is from Trader Joe’s (you see the bits of dark almond skin), but Bob’s Red Mill has both types (Natural Almond Meal vs Almond Meal/Flour).
If you’re wondering if you can skip the all-purpose flour and use 100% almond meal or almond flour for these Chinese almond cookies, I would not recommend so. You have to include the all-purpose flour to make these almond cookies. You could add a few drops of the almond extract for even more intense almond taste.
Serve these cookies for the upcoming Chinese New Year and if you celebrate this holiday. I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your family and friends.
新年快乐 (Xin Nian Kuai Le)!
Happy New Year!
恭喜發財 (Gong Xi Fa Cai)!
Wishing you a prosperous new year!
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Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal/flour (If you use almond meal (ground almond with skin), you may need to add more oil. Adjust the oil amount as you combine the dough. You should be able to make the dough into balls.)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 120 g sugar (½ cup + 2 Tbsp)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup neutral oil (may need more oil)
- roasted unsalted almonds (optional; for decoration)
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
- Before You Start: I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.
- Gather all the ingredients. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a stand mixer: 1 cup almond meal/flour, 1½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 120 g sugar (½ cup + 2 Tbsp), ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp baking soda. With your mixer on low medium speed (with the beater attachment), mix all together.
- Slowly add ½ cup neutral oil and mix until a cohesive dough forms.
- The dough should be just enough to hold its shape when you try to roll it into a ball. If they look more like crumbs, add 2–3 tsp (10–15 ml) neutral oil at a time.
- Weigh the dough to make 1-inch (2.5 cm) cookies (0.4 oz, 10 g each) or 1½-inch (3.8 cm) cookies (0.7 oz, 20 g each). Roll each weighed dough piece into a ball with your palms. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat until all the dough is used up. Tip: You can make a 10-gram ball using a teaspoon measuring spoon.
- If you want to put roasted unsalted almonds on the cookies (optional), hold a cookie ball on your palm and gently press one almond into the dough.
- Beat 1 large egg yolk in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, lightly glaze the top of the cookie balls with the egg yolk.
- Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 15–20 minutes, or until the cookies become slightly golden. Let them cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store on the countertop for 4–5 days or in the freezer for a month.
Notes
- Fluff up the flour several times with a spoon.
- Using the spoon, sprinkle the flour into your dry-cup measure.
- Scrape off the excess with a knife.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on February 10, 2013. The content has been updated with more information in January 2017.
I tried it again. This time with more oil till everything came together in the mixer. And it was perfect! Added a few drops of almond essence and everyone loved it
Hi Ern! Awesome! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience!
Hi, this is a great recipe and I’ve made it afew times! I’m just wondering if icing sugar can be used and at the same measurements ?
Hi Ally! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
The Icing sugar (powdered sugar/confectioners’ sugar) should be okay, but the cookie texture might be moister.
The amount will be 1 3/4 cup icing sugar for each cup of sugar.
We hope this helps!
The cookies crumbled really easily. Did I add too little oil? Was a pity cos they tasted so good. And I love that it has no butter cos mom is allergic.
Hi Ern! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are glad to hear this recipe worked well for your mom.☺️
If you use almond meal (ground almond with skin), you may need to add more oil. So please adjust the oil amount as you combine the dough.
We hope this helps with your next try.