sweet and salty walnut cookies
2 min readIf you have ever been inside Chinese supermarket Chinese New Year, you may have noticed the red-lidded containers stacked to the brim with little golden-brown cookies. Hup toh soh, or walnut cookies, are frequently gifted around this time. Walnuts are thought to sym-bolise the happiness of the entire family and their physical resemblance to a brain is supposed to boost mental prowess. Using lard makes for a supremely crumbly texture, but they are still delicious if you wish to use vegetable shortening instead.
Makes 1900g plain flour 65g cornflour 14 tsp salt tsp bicarbonate of soda 75g unsalted butter, softened 75g lard or vegetable shortening (see tip), softened 110g granulated sugar 12 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg,beaten 10 walnut halves, finely chopped 1 Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/ Gas mark 31/2 and line a baking sheet with non-stick paper. Mix the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl. Sift twice between two different bowls in order to fully incorporate the flours. In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat the butter and lard together until they are thoroughly combined. Beat in the sugar, vanilla and 2 tea-spoons of the beaten egg. Sift the flour mixture into the wet ingredients along with the walnuts, then fold and mix until it is a smooth ball of dough 2 Roll 1/2 tablespoons of the cookie dough into compact balls and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet, making sure that there is at least 3cm of space between each cookie. Use a small bottle cap to slightly flatten each ball. You should be able to see an impression of a circle on the surface. Brush the remaining beaten egg over the tops and sides of the cookies and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cookies are golden brown.
3 Leave the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before serving with a cup of tea or crumbling over vanilla ice cream. Store in an airtight container where it will keep for up to one week.
If using vegetable shortening instead of lard, switch off the oven after baking but leave the cookies inside for a further 2-3 minutes so they have a chance to dry out-this will give you an airier texture.
