fortune cookie favors
I needed a favor for my friend Emily's baby shower recently, and decided to make some personalized fortune cookies. I'm not a fan of the crunchy stale fortune cookies you usually get after a meal in a chinese restaurant, but these homemade fortune cookies not only look cute, they actually taste pretty delicious!
I came up with as many fortunes as I could for this new baby girl, things like "Baby Wight will never cry" or "Baby Wight will grow up to be a famous trapeze artist" or my favorite, "Baby Wight will be a boy! Surprise!". The fortunes were printed and cut into strips, mine are about 1/2" high and 7" or so wide.
The recipe I used is a traditional tuile batter, which you drop by spoonful onto a Silpat. Then using the back of your spoon, you push the batter into a 4" circle, keeping it as thin and even as you can. The cookies bake quickly, you want to watch them carefully and pull them out when the edges are just barely golden.
Once the cookies come out of the oven, you need to work quickly to add the paper fortunes and form the cookies. If the cookies cool, they will harden and be too brittle to twist and shape. Small batches work best, I started doing 4 at a time, and got up to 6 (but you've really got to work fast to get all 6 twisted and folded before they are too brittle).
It takes a few batches to get all this figured out. Just a few extra seconds in the oven can change the color of your cookie pretty quickly. The cookie at top was pulled out a bit early, the middle cookie is just right, and the bottom cookie stayed in the oven a little too long.
I packaged the cookies in little white takeout boxes, filled with some pink and white dotted glassine, and I packed a few larger boxes with some extra cookies for Emily and her family.. full of wishes and good fortunes for their new little baby.
Welcome little one.
05.6.2009
Reader Comments (70)
I once tried to make fortune cookies as a child.
They were a flop.
But you've inspired me to try them again!
Thanks!
oh my, that looks like a fair amount of work. They turned out beautiful though. I like how the fortune peeks out.
I love using fortune cookies!
My fiance and I used fortune cookies to announce our engagement to our parents. (some fortunes said "we're getting married" and other said "she said yes!") We passed around the cookies and as everyone broke them open to read their 'fortunes' little pops of excitement broke out throughout the room. It was a great surprise.
I love you packaging!
Wow! This is definitely one of the coolest ideas I've ever seen. :) I will have to try it soon.
do you know if you can dye the silpat? if so, do you think reg food coloring will work? just curious. i'm thinking i'd like to do these for a baby shower in the next few months.
also, how long do they stay good for? how long in advance can i make them?
you're a brilliantly, crafty gal! thanks for the wonderful ideas and inspiration!
Hi Natalie,
I think you probably could dye the batter, don't see why not. MS also has a recipe for a chocolate version which is pretty much the same batter with some cocoa powder added. You can make them up to a week in advance, just store them in an airtight container.
very nice and cute. so inspiring.
Love love love this!!! What a great idea! I always get the stale ones from our local Asian grocer cause I think it's fun to see kids and their reactions to these but this is way better! Where did you get the boxes? I'm having a hard time finding some of those that don't cost an arm and a leg! And the paper!! sources please!!!
Fun! I have made fortune cookies before, and it really helps to have a muffin pan close by to lay the cooling cookies in, it helps them keep their shape. Now I am hungry for cookies!
aww, what a great idea. so sweet and clever. i love how they turned out.
This is truly brilliant. I love the idea and putting the cookies in a takeout box just takes this to a whole new level of awesomeness.
What a great idea! I'm so glad I came across your post b/c I was thinking that personalized fortune cookies would be a good party idea but had NO clue on how to go about making them. I'll have to file this, and pull it back out when I write my Chinese New Year blog post.
Lovely!
I tried making fortune cookies once (well, about 5 times, but all on the same day or two), but they must have been too buttery because they left oil stains all over my fortunes. I'll have to try his recipe and see if it works better! Or did you use a special type of paper?
What a sweet thing to do for your friend!
You are truly amazing. I just had to tell you that. I'm dying to make these homemade fortune cookies.
p.s. when I type in my blog name, it says the url is invalid. Any idea why?
(www.stephmodo.com)
where do you get the boxes???
My friend Wendy picked up the boxes at Smart and Final, where they were super cheap. I've seen them at our local craft supply store, but they were much pricier.
What an amazing amount of work with a beautiful outcome! Your friend Emily is one lucky lady!
What a lovely idea! I wish they had shown how to fold the cookie over the paper...
BRILLIANT IDEA! My eldest son is going to be 18 next May and will be going off to University soon after that....may bake him some inspirational fortune cookies!