Chinese Walnut Cookies / Hup Toh Sow (合桃酥)

CNY is round the corner and that means I have to start thinking of what to bake besides cleaning up and decorating the house.

Last year I tasted some good Chinese Walnut Cookies from Australia Cake House in Seapark, so I've decided to bake some this year. If I couldn't get any good recipe of it, I will just have to buy from them.

After searching on the WWW,  I came across this simple recipe and decided to try it out. It took me 2 rounds of testing & tweaking before I finally get the aromatic taste and "loose" and crunchy texture that I wanted.

So, here's the recipe.

Chinese Walnut Cookies (合桃酥)

Chinese Walnut Cookies (合桃酥)

adapted from My Kitchen Snippets and No-Frills Recipes

What You'll Need:

(edited 28 Jan 13)

140 gm butter (salted, room temperature)
2 tsp peanut oil
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
250 gm self-raising flour
80 gm caster sugar
75 gm coarsely chopped roasted walnuts
1 egg beaten + a pinch of salt, for glazing

How?

1. Sift the self-raising flour into a mixing bowl.

2. Cut in the butter; add in the sugar, peanut oil, vanilla essence and the chopped walnuts.

3. Mix thoroughly till the dough does not stick onto the hands.

4. Pinch off some dough and lightly form into a ball, make a small dent in the centre. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet, leaving some room between each biscuit.

5. Brush them with beaten egg wash.

6. Bake in preheated oven 190 degree C or 350 degree F for about 30 to 35 minutes or till golden brown.(Mine was in bite size, so I baked for about 15 minutes to reach golden brown)

7. Cool completely before storing in cookie jar.