Fortune Cookies are a classic Chinese takeout treat that you can make yourself, and add your own fortunes to the center.

This fortune cookie recipe makes a perfect treat for a special event or to serve after your favorite Chinese Food Dinners. Try Baked Orange Chicken or Chinese Lemon Chicken, to finish the savory meal with these iconic cookies.

My favorite thing about making my own Fortune Cookies is the opportunity to make distinct messages. They are excellent for a special occasion like a birthday party or holiday. If you’re serving these cookies along with your favorite Chinese dinner, be sure to try more homemade Chinese favorites to complete the dinner. Crab Rangoon, Egg Rolls, and Potstickers are all great recipes that will give your homemade dinner the feeling of a Chinese restaurant. I’ve listed variations as well as a tip to ensure your cookies finish up crunchy below.

Recipe

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Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silpat.
Also set aside a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a large mixing bowl add sugar, flour and salt, whisking to combine.
Add in egg whites and almond extract and whisk well for 2 minutes until smooth.
Add 2 teaspoons of mixture to silpat in a 3″ circle.
Note: You will be making these in batches, best to stick to 3 cookies per batch or they will cool before you can fold them.
Bake for 5-6 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown.
Using an offset spatula flip the cookie dough into your hand.
Caution: The cookies will be very hot.
Add one fortune across the middle of the cookie.
Fold the circle in half gently.
Bring the two edges of the circle together gently until they’re touching.
Place into the muffin tin.
Repeat with remaining two fortune cookies quickly but carefully.
Repeat with baking and forming three more times.

Nutrition

Chef’s Note

Fortune Cookies should have a delightful, crisp texture. When you first take them out of the oven, they’ll still be soft and pliable but should harden as they cool. If they aren’t hardening, it could be that you’ve added too much liquid to the batter. Be sure to only use the egg whites and leave out all the egg yolk. The egg yolk makes the recipe chewy and soft.

How to Store

Serve: Wait for the Fortune Cookies to cool completely before serving them. The cookies need that cooling time to harden.
Store: Once the cookies have cooled, you can put them in a ziplock bag or another airtight container to keep them fresh. They’ll stay good at room temperature for up to 3 months. For best results, keep them in a dry, cool area, like your pantry.

Variations

Almonds: I used almond extract in the cookie dough for a warm, comforting flavor. If you want to enhance that almond flavor, you can add actual almonds to the dough. For this version, mix ¼ cup of toasted and crushed almonds into the cookie dough. Because this will make a thicker, dryer dough, you’ll also need to add ½ tablespoon almond butter to bring some more moisture to the batter. Mix the almonds into the dough, then shape the almond cookies and bake as usual.
More flavorings: For other ways to alter the cookie taste, you can swap out the almond extract for other flavor ingredients. Vanilla extract, lemon juice, or orange juice all make delicious additions.
Chocolate Dipped: Fortune Cookies aren’t as sweet as most dessert menu items. If you want to make them sweeter, you can dip them in chocolate. Melt a cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Add a tablespoon of shortening to the melted chocolate, and mix it in. This will make it into a smoother chocolate coating. Then dip half of the cookie into the melted chocolate. Place the chocolate cookies on a wire rack to dry. You can also add sea salt, large grain sanding sugar, or sprinkles over the melted chocolate before it has a chance to dry.
Coloring: Try adding gel food coloring to the dough. You can also divide the dough into a few bowls and add different colors to each one.