What do mothers and fortune cookies have in common? They’re both sweet and filled with wisdom. So with our China-themed after-school group, we decided to dive into a fun baking project for Mothers’ Day! After all, what hard-working Mom wouldn’t want something yummy, homemade and beautifully decorated by her artistic kid(s)?
We got our fortune cookie recipe from allrecipes.com:
INGREDIENTS:
3 egg whites 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract | 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons water |
DIRECTIONS:
| 1. | Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper. Have fortunes ready to go on small strips of paper. |
| 2. | In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites and sugar on high speed of an electric mixer until frothy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and stir in melted butter, vanilla, almond extract, water and flour one at a time, mixing well after each. Consistency should resemble thin pancake batter. Spoon the batter into 3 inch circles on the prepared baking sheets. Leave room between for spreading. |
| 3. | Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. Quickly remove one at a time, place a message in the center, and fold in half. Fold the ends of the half together into a horse shoe shape. If they spring open, place them in a muffin tin to cool until set. |
Then, while the cookies were in the oven, we wrote and decorated little notes that would be the “fortunes” inside the cookies. (Strangely, both Leigh and Shannon collect fortunes from fortune cookies and keep them in their wallets, which served as great inspiration.)
Learn some Chinese:
妈妈
mah-mah (mother)
We also folded little take-out containers out of a paper cup, so you can present your fortune cookie in style! Here’s how:
- Trim off the white lip on the top of your cup.
- Cut slits a few centimeters apart, all the way around the top of the cup. The slits only need to be about an inch deep.
- Fold the slits down so they become tabs and form a cover to the cup. Fold them one over the next as you work your way around the circle.
- (This is the tricky part!) Tuck the last tab in your circle underneath the first one. If you folded tightly, your container should stay shut.
- Decorate! Don’t forget to add a handle out of wire or pipe-cleaners.
- Once you’ve slipped your fortune inside your cookie, you can place the cookie inside your homemade container, and present it to a very happy mama. She deserves it!
