Accordingly to Chinese Astrology, the lucky colors for people born in the year of Sheep/Goat for this coming Lunar New Year are GREEN, RED and PURPLE. Hmm, it’s kind of tricky for me to carry off any green outfit, unless I’m competing for a Grinch look-alike contest. If I can’t wear ‘em, I might as well eat ‘em! Haha, does that make any sense at all???
I would usually travel across the causeway to buy my stash of Mama Liu’s green pea cookies, along with other CNY goodies. They are absolutely my favorite. Since I was not able to do that this year, I had to roll up my sleeves and make some.
Surprisingly, these green pea cookies are so super easy to make. The only time consuming part is rolling them into balls. At that moment, I really wished I could hire some kitchen elves to help me.
These cookies have a cross between melt-in-your-mouth and crunchy texture. Hubby prefers them this way. After making 5 batches of these highly addictive, sweet and savory treat, and sampled at least a dozen of them in the process, I’m happy to announce I won’t be missing Mama Liu’s version for a while and I’ve enough green (in my belly) to keep me lucky!
Ingredients:
150 g roasted green peas – grind into fine powder
180 g self-raising flour (plain flour works too)
100 g confectioners’ (icing) sugar (reduce to 90 g if you prefer less sweet)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract
110 ml vegetable / corn oil
Makes about 40 cookies
Recipe source: My Kitchen (with slight modifications)
The line up.
Preheat oven to 170°C/340°F. Using a food processor, grind the green peas into powdery fine bits.
Let the machine run for about 3 – 4 mins.
Pour the green pea powder through a sieve – there will still be some rough bits of peas. Process them further or discard if the quantity is not too much.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar and salt together.
Add in the green pea powder and mix well.
Add in the oil slowly and mix with your hand, until a dough is formed and no longer sticks to your hand. It should feel slightly tacky.
Cover and let it rest for 15 mins.
Take the dough out and press it out about 1 cm thickness. Using a small round cookie cutter, cut out the dough and use your hands to roll into balls approximately 1 cm diameter.
This size is perfect for popping them into your mouth.
Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 – 17 mins.
Optional – you could use a chopstick to make small indentations on the dough. Even without doing so, it won’t affect the taste or texture of the cookies.
Take out the tray of cookies and let it rest on the tray for 15 mins before transferring to a cooling tray. Let them cool completely before storing in air tight containers.
Don’t worry about the cracks, it is perfectly normal.
Full Instructions:
Preheat oven to 170°C/340°F. Using a food processor, grind the green peas into powdery fine bits. Sift the green tea powder and discard rough bits.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar and salt together. Add in the green pea powder and mix well. Add in the oil slowly and mix with your hand, until a dough is formed and no longer sticks to your hand. It should feel slightly tacky. Cover and let it rest for 15 mins at room temperature.
Take the dough out and press it out about 1 cm thickness. Using a small round cookie cutter, cut out the dough and use your hands to roll into balls approximately 1 cm diameter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 – 17 mins. Take out the tray of cookies and let it rest on the tray for 15 mins before transferring to a cooling tray. Let them cool completely before storing in air tight containers.
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