I was trying to decide what to post for Valentine’s Day this year when I found myself immersed one Saturday afternoon in a Lindsay Lohan marathon on ABC Family. (Don’t mock, you know you love Mean Girls). As soon as the magic fortune cookie scene hit in Freaky Friday I knew that was it. I love making fortune cookies for all sorts of occasions, but the thought of tucking little love notes inside and sprinkling them with tiny hearts just made me giddy.
Now, you can always count on me to be realistic. So I won’t lie, this is one of those things that might take a little practice for some of you, but give it a shot. I’ve listed several different baking methods below because it seems that one always works better than another for most people. I have no idea why! You just have to find your magic method. For most of you I think you’ll be surprised at just how easy it is.
There are lots of fortune cookie recipes out there and this one is a little different because it’s lighter. No oil or butter and not too much sugar. It results in a light, airy cookie that actually tastes good! But I’ll admit it also makes a batter that can be slightly temperamental. Don’t worry though, with a little practice you’ll be churning these out in no time. Let’s cook!
The batter couldn’t be simpler. Just throw all of the ingredients (egg whites, sugar, flour, and vanilla) into a food processor and blend it up. You could also probably do it in a blender, or whisk it very well. You want zero lumps.
Pop that mix in the fridge for an hour and while it’s chilling you can prep the rest of the ingredients. First, you’ll need fortunes! Since I’m making Valentine cookies today, I filled them with little love notes. I’ve made these for baby and wedding showers with the appropriate info inside, or birthday parties, etc. Be creative!
You’ll also need to prepare your pan. There’s a few ways you can do these.
Method 1: Parchment: Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a sheet pan. On one side of the parchment trace 3-4, 3 inch circles. I just trace a cookie cutter. Flip the parchment over so the pencil side is underneath. Now, unlike most fortune cookies, these have no butter or oil so they can stick like glue if you’re not careful. I have found that it is sometimes helpful to spray the parchment lightly with cooking spray and then rub it around smooth with a paper towel so it’s a super thin layer. But try it first without spraying and then spray if you need to.
When your batter is chilled, place 1 teaspoon on each circle and spread it out with a small spoon to fill the circle.
Method 2: Silpat. You can also use a silicone baking sheet, like a silpat. Again, it helps to even spray the silpat with a bit of cooking spray and rub it around. You’ll have to just eyeball the circles.
Method 3: Baking Sheet. Someone mentioned in the comments that a plain baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray did the trick for her. Of course I had to try it, and yes! It worked quite well. You do need to be careful however since you’re just eyeballing your circles. Don’t spread your batter too thick or your cookies will be chewy.
Baking: Pop the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes. This is totally a learning process, after you make a few you’ll get a feel for exactly what they need to look like to be done. They should be brown around the edges and a little toward the center. If you underbake them they will be chewy instead of crunchy. Mine take about 6 minutes.
This is the part that is a little tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it fast. If you try to take the cookie off the pan too quickly it will mush up like this:
but if you leave it on too long (and I’m talking seconds here), it will firm up so much that you can’t shape it. So the trick is to find that perfect time. I find that it only takes about 15-30 seconds after they come out of the oven before I can get them off the pan. Use a spatula like you see in my pictures with a nice sharp edge. I thick plastic one won’t work very well.
Remove the cookie from the pan with the spatula and flip it over. Quickly tuck your fortune in the middle and then fold the cookie in half. Bend the cookie over the edge of a bowl to set the shape.
Okay, and also, check out this fortune! I just folded it to fit inside the cookie and when I set it down it turned into a heart. Cuteness.
Anyway, the whole stuffing, folding, and shaping process done in about 10 seconds! If you find the last cookie too hard to shape, just pop it back in the oven for about 15 seconds and it should be fine again.
You can also leave the fortune longer so it hangs out like this
They only take a minute to cool and you can pack them right up.
Since it’s V-day soon I decided to pretty mine up with some holiday lovlies. You can use chocolate (any type), almond bark, candy melts, etc. and then sprinkle on any toppings you want. My favorite combo is chocolate with toffee bits sprinkled on. They taste a lot like one of my favorite cookies.
And can I just say that one of my favorite things about holidays are the fun sprinkle jars? Seriously, I am easily pleased. This one is from Target and it has some mini-hearts that make mine melt!
From here, just dip and sprinkle. You can dip half the cookie, or the outer edge, or drizzle, or whatever.
Packaging: You can find cute little take-out boxes at any craft store. They make them in a zillion different colors, sizes, and patterns. Target usually has holiday themed ones all the time. I always have a stash of plain ones because they’re so easy to dress up. The tiny ones hold a few cookies and make fabulous party favors.
Kiddos: How about tucking a few love-note cookies in your kids school lunches? Ya know, if they’re at that magic age where they think it’s cool and they won’t get beat up for it. My toddler gets SO excited about the little papers inside and he can’t even read. I just put his name in a bunch of them because he can recognize that and he’s completely floored that the cookie knew his name.
Related Recipes
Click here for more Valentine’s Day Recipes.
Tutorial: Cookie Decorating with Glace Icing
Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
PrintFortune Cookies
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
Description
These cute little cookies are especially fun for Valentine’s Day with a little love note tucked inside!
Ingredients
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend to combine. Place in a container and chill 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper (see notes). Draw 3-4 (3-inch) circles on paper. Turn paper over. Spoon 1 teaspoon batter into center of each of the drawn circles; spread evenly to fill circle. Bake at 400° for 5-6 minutes or until the cookies are brown just around the edges and a little toward the centers. Remove from the oven. Let sit for a few seconds before removing from pan. Working quickly, loosen edges of cookies with a spatula, and turn over.
Place fortune along the center of 1 cookie. Fold cookie over so the edges meet ; press edges together. Gently pull the ends of the cookie down over the rim of a small bowl (or jar); hold for a few seconds or until set. Repeat procedure with remaining cookies.
Makes about 24 cookies.
Notes
Make sure to note alternate baking methods described in the post above. You might find that one of those works better for you.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Questions & Reviews
Hi Sara! Have to tried them with rice flour? Could that help with the crunchiness? And also it would make them gluten free 🙂 I haven’t yet, but I might! I tried another recipe and the yo turn out too soft in the middle, maybe I spread the batter too thick! I’ll try your recipe 🙂
I used this recipe to make 10 fortune cookies, and it went so so beautifully well I was shocked! I thought I would at least mess the first one up but no, it went smoothly from start to finish. I used grease proofed paper, with a touch of oil wiped in the circles and as long as i was careful not to rush in and scrape em off for shaping, they didnt stick at all and came off easy 🙂
Thankyou so much!
Does anyone have a recipe that doesn’t have egg or egg whites in it ? My grandson can not have any dairy or nuts . I would love to make some of these for him.
How long will these last? These would be cute for my wedding, but I don’t want to be making them the day before! Would they stay fresh for a week or two in sealed containers?
For something as important as a wedding, I would do a test batch and see!
I own a cafe on the lake in Malawi in a dive centre, and I was sat bored stiff on Saturday..so I decided to fill my time by baking these fprtune cookies… at first I was regretting it.. but on my second lot, I decided (since I had no baking paper – v.difficult to get things here) that I would use the bottom of my silicon muffin pan… they turned out awesome, though you have to work quick so they dont go crisp… and the divers have been loving a free novel fortune cookie during their surface interval.. Love this website! xx
Thank you for the great idea! Big hit! Everyone loved them.
The first batch I made ended with maybe 10 ok cookies. Second batch I asked a friend for help, made 6 at a time and they all came out perfect!
I have to make something for a New Year’ss Eve party, which is a potluck, and I think these will be so fun to bring along. I may have to make more plus another dish though^~^
These were so fun to make. Baking directly on the cookie sheet was a big fail for me – but the parchment paper worked great. I lifted the paper from the cookies without any trouble. We are having a book club discussion tonight about “The Painted Veil” – so inside the cookies I put some book questions, some questions about the circumstances of meeting and falling in love with their own spouses, and some Mad Gab papers thrown in as well – that were relevant to the book.
I made these and they are amazing!!!!!! They taste better than the ones you get at a Chinese restaurant! Here is a fun suggestion! I didn’t want to put fortunes in the ones for my kids (seemed pointless as they are too young to read) so I put a jelly bean in them instead! It was so fun! They even make noise when you shake them. I just did one and it stayed in half of the cookie. I’m going to try putting two in next time!
ok…i must be getting better because my last few batches had little or no cracking 🙂 thanks for the awesome tutorial! i am not very talented in the kitchen department (yet) and i was able to do these!!
they might be a bit overcooked? Sorry, I'm not sure without seeing them!
hi there…thanks for the great recipe! i'm having just a bit of trouble…mine are "cracking" at the bottom. any suggestions? thanks!
Thanks for sharing awesome recipes and pretty pictures.
I baked and photographed my own and posted it here http://shopbonnenouvelle.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day-dessert-2.html
They turned out pretty well!
I was nervous about trying this recipe but it turned out extremely easy! I was pleased with the outcome! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Laura- have you just tried them once or do you have the same problem every time? If just once, then it might have just been a glitch or a mis-measurement. Sorry!
I am a little frustrated with this recipe. This is the first ourbestbites recipe that has ever failed me! My cousin told me it was surprisingly easy–not so! When I do the parchment method, I spread them out really thin in a nice circle and they creep in while baking until they are all jagged, not at all circular, and way too thick. When I finally got annoyed and just lightly misted the sheet directly, they were so stuck that I had to throw away the whole pan. Grr. Any tips?
Thrutheglassdarkly- the shape should happen naturally if you follow the instructions about folding over the edge of a bowl, etc. So if you're having that problem *and* the other problem, then I would guess there might be an error somewhere, either when you mixed up the ingredients or with the measurements, etc.