Based on mixed results from readers, we re-tested and updated this Chinese walnut cookies recipe to include more precise measurements including weights in grams!
When you’re young, it can sometimes seem like the world revolves around those sweet treats that are just beyond your reach. Well when my mother was young, these Chinese walnut cookies were one of those sweet treats. She would walk back and forth…back and forth…eyeing those cookies behind the glass case like they were a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Golden yellow and dotted with a perfect crunchy walnut.
Years later during sticky summers in Beijing, me, my mom, and sister would take weekly trips to the Chinese bakery where we would give in to our shameless desire for all things sweet, crunchy, sprinkled with nuts, and covered in chocolate. The bakery in question had a glass window where the cookies were passed to you like life-affirming pills in an old-school apothecary. There were boxes and boxes of cookies, stacked perfectly in plastic bag-lined cardboard boxes–no frills, bells, or whistles, just the most simplistic of utilitarian packaging to ensure that the cookies stayed nice and fresh.
Well, these walnut cookies aren’t behind a glass window or too high up on the shelf. This recipe yields deliciously rotund, just slightly sweet cookies that are positively packed with ground walnuts and topped off with that perfect crunchy walnut in the middle. These Chinese walnut cookies go great with a morning cup of coffee or an evening mug of black tea.
So grab a bag of walnuts, along with a few other things, and head into the kitchen!
Tips for this Chinese walnut cookie recipe:
* Recipes for truly authentic Chinese walnut cookies use lard; we use butter because it’s more widely available.
* Use a kitchen scale for more precise measurements to get the best results
* I like this rounder cookie shape, but you can also press them into a flatter shape before baking.
* After toasting the walnuts, I like to crush them under a rolling pin to get them to the desired texture.
Sift the cake flour, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside. Mix the butter, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl, stir thoroughly until the mixture is creamed. Now add the flour mixture to the butter mixture along with finely chopped walnuts.
Beat the egg, put aside 2 teaspoons of the beaten egg for brushing later, add the rest to the dough mixture. Work the mixture into a dough ball. You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer. Just note that the dough might be lightly crumbly, but it should come together when you take the time and work it into a ball.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a clean surface, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball.
And position them on the baking sheet a couple inches apart. All of the cookies should fit onto one pan.
Take the walnut halves and gently press one into each cookie.
Cover the cookies with a clean kitchen towel, let them rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
While that’s happening, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the dough is done resting, brush each with the beaten egg that you saved.
Bake your walnut cookies for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the cookies sit inside the oven for another 5 minutes before opening the oven door and taking them out.
Let cool and enjoy these Chinese walnut cookies with your morning coffee or afternoon tea!
Chinese Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour (270 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (3 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (2 g)
- 8 tablespoons butter or lard (4 oz or 115g, at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sugar (115 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (1 g)
- 1 egg (beaten and divided; the egg I used weighed about 62 g with shell on)
- 3/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts, plus 12 raw walnut halves (75 g)
Instructions
- Sift the cake flour, baking soda and baking powder together and set aside. Mix the butter, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl, stir thoroughly until the mixture is creamed. Now add the flour mixture to the butter mixture along with the finely chopped walnuts. Beat the egg, put aside 2 teaspoons of the beaten egg and add the rest to the dough mixture. Work the mixture into a dough ball. You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer. Just note that the dough might be lightly crumbly, but it should come together when you take the time and work it into a ball.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a clean surface, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball, position them on the baking sheet a couple inches apart. All of the cookies should fit onto one pan.
- Take the walnut halves and gently press one into each cookie. Let the cookies rest for 15 to 20 minutes while covered with a clean kitchen towel.
- While that’s happening, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the dough is done resting, brush each with the beaten egg that you put aside and then bake for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven and let the cookies sit inside the oven for another 5 minutes before taking them out. Let cool and enjoy!
Tips & Notes:
nutrition facts
These came out so well! Crumbly, soft, delicate texture with a mild walnut flavor. Not too sweet and a wonderful treat!
So glad you enjoyed it, Alice.
These are DELICIOUS! Thank you for the note on “being patient” with the dough and keeping at it until it comes together! We will be making these often!
That’s so lovely, Shewanna, I’m glad you kept at it :-)
Came out delicious! The recipe was perfect! Should I refrigerate the leftover cookies?
I am so glad to hear that, Anniekini, and there is no need to refrigerate the leftover cookies :-)
Do you have any recs for gluten free flour or flour combo? I’ve made these for my family and we love them, but we will have guest for CNY that has celiac
Hi Phyllis, I have not tried it with gluten-free flour :-)
Can’t wait to try this! Have you tried making the dough, shaping and freezing in advance?
No, I have not tried that. But I think it should work.
The dough came out to be way too crumbly. I followed the recipe. Sad
Hi Sabrina, I’ve made this recipe multiple times and re-tested it, so I know it works. Perhaps there were measuring issues?
A follow up post – I guess I’m disappointed… They just came out of the oven. I was hoping these would taste close to the authentic Chinese walnut cookies (having walnuts or not) since the blog post mentioned bakeries in Beijing but they really do not!!! They don’t taste close to Chinese bakeries in China nor Chinese bakeries here. I am in NYC…
Hi Alex, I believe this is the cookie you are familiar with: .
The gram conversion for the cake flour is definitely off. 1 cup cake flour is about 115g (all-purpose 125 g) as a general rule of thumb. For 2 cups, 270 g as called for in the recipe is way too much and as a result, my dough would not come together. I would imagine the author or most who had success in baking these used cup measurement. Please revise your recipe so no one who plans to bake these would waste their time and ingredients. For those who care, the authentic Chinese “walnut “cookies do not contain walnuts. I know it’s hard to believe :)
I agree that 1cup all purpose flour is 125g.
Why not Jury reply for this comments ?
Great recipe! I doubled the ingredients added an egg and it was perfect. Thank you!
Awesome! That’s so great.
I will try this and inform you.
I do appreciate that :-)