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Peanut cookies (hua sheng bing)
花生饼 hua sheng bing: melt-in-the-mouth Cantonese New Year peanut cookies
Lift the lid on a Chinese New Year snack tray in Guangdong, Penang or Singapore and there will be these pale golden domes, so short they crumble the moment they touch your tongue. They are nothing but roasted peanuts ground fine, flour, icing sugar and oil, and this version skips the usual egg wash, so they are vegan. The mistake is over-grinding the peanuts into a paste, which makes the dough greasy and the cookies flat; stop while it is still a fine powder. Chef's tip: let them cool fully on the tray before moving them, because they are fragile until set.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
- 7 oz roasted unsalted peanutsskins removed
- 5 ½ oz plain flour
- 3 ⅛ oz icing sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup neutral oilpeanut oil is best
- 30 peanut halves (optional)for the tops
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (300°F fan) and line two trays with baking paper.
Step 2: Blitz 7 oz roasted unsalted peanuts in short bursts until they look like fine sand. Don't let them clump into butter.
Step 3: Toast 5 ½ oz plain flour in a dry pan over a low heat, stirring, until it smells nutty and turns ivory, about 5 minutes. Cool.
5 minStep 4: Mix the ground peanuts, flour, 3 ⅛ oz icing sugar and ¼ tsp salt. Add ¼ cup neutral oil a little at a time, rubbing it in, until the dough just holds together when squeezed.
Step 5: Roll into 3 cm balls, set them on the trays and press 30 peanut halves on top.
Step 6: Bake for 15–18 minutes, until pale golden at the base. Cool completely on the trays, then store in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks.
18 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 120 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 10 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does peanut cookies (hua sheng bing) take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of icing sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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