Nutty cookies are one of the easiest to make. Traditionally the Chinese use peanuts but I chose to use cashew nuts simply because the long forgotten packet of peanuts had turned soggy sitting in the cupboard. Cashews are what we still freshly left. On our daily routine, we use a lot of cashews in stir-frying dishes and as casual afternoon snacks but very rarely in baking. So this is absolutely my first baking attempt using cashew nuts and I hope they would turn out well.
This packet of salted cashew nuts is a typical Woolworth brand you can easily find in the supermarket. It is a home brand but still expensive to pay. When I bought them, they were already oily and salty so I did not need to use much oil and salt in my recipe. The recipe is by far, as tested before in the peanut version, still fairly simple but great. The only difference I imagine between the two is the end results, i.e. the fragrance, the taste and the texture!
Bear in mind that because cashew nut is double the size of a peanut, the crushing, pounding or grinding job, whichever way it is, should require double the effort. I tried to grind it as fine as I could using the orthodox method, mortar and pestle, but still yielding coarse pieces everywhere. I did not mind a bitey texture at all, I am just surprised to see how challenging it is to make them into a smooth and super fine mixture like what I achieved with the peanuts.
The cookies did not turn out smooth but slightly crumbles. I reviewed my steps and nothing suspicious rang the bell. In fact, like I mentioned before, it could be the cashew nuts had not been ground to perfect. Nevertheless, the end result was still marvelous! The cookies still turned out fine. They still had the crunch on the outside, soft and delicate on the inside. Most importantly, the roasted nutty smell was so fragrant that it still lingered around the kitchen! I was quite excited then I gave Alex a call at work. He (and I) certainly wish the time could fly quicker so we both can enjoy the yummy cookies together.
Despite all the troubles, I still enjoy spending an innovative afternoon to experiment on a new ingredient with an old recipe. I hope Alex will enjoy them when he comes back from work this evening.
Cashew nut cookies
Makes 15
Apparatus:
Mortar and pestle
Baking tray
Ingredients:
3/4 cup salted cashew nuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
Handful of salted cashew nuts, halved
Methods:
1 Preheat oven to 200C and prepare a well greased and lined baking tray.
2 Grind the salted cashew nuts until fine and place them in a large mixing bowl.
3 Sift in the flour and sugar. Mix them together until well combined.
4 Add a little grapeseed oil into the nut mixture at a time. Knead the mixture with your finger tips until well combined. Gradually add in more oil as needed until you can roll up the mixture into a small ball.
5 Place a half tablespoonful of mixture on your palm at a time and roll them into small balls before placing them on the baking tray.
6 With a chopstick end, press gently on the top of the balls to make a round indents.
7 Place the halved cashew nuts in the middle of indents and bake for 15-20 minutes.
This packet of salted cashew nuts is a typical Woolworth brand you can easily find in the supermarket. It is a home brand but still expensive to pay. When I bought them, they were already oily and salty so I did not need to use much oil and salt in my recipe. The recipe is by far, as tested before in the peanut version, still fairly simple but great. The only difference I imagine between the two is the end results, i.e. the fragrance, the taste and the texture!
Bear in mind that because cashew nut is double the size of a peanut, the crushing, pounding or grinding job, whichever way it is, should require double the effort. I tried to grind it as fine as I could using the orthodox method, mortar and pestle, but still yielding coarse pieces everywhere. I did not mind a bitey texture at all, I am just surprised to see how challenging it is to make them into a smooth and super fine mixture like what I achieved with the peanuts.
The cookies did not turn out smooth but slightly crumbles. I reviewed my steps and nothing suspicious rang the bell. In fact, like I mentioned before, it could be the cashew nuts had not been ground to perfect. Nevertheless, the end result was still marvelous! The cookies still turned out fine. They still had the crunch on the outside, soft and delicate on the inside. Most importantly, the roasted nutty smell was so fragrant that it still lingered around the kitchen! I was quite excited then I gave Alex a call at work. He (and I) certainly wish the time could fly quicker so we both can enjoy the yummy cookies together.
Despite all the troubles, I still enjoy spending an innovative afternoon to experiment on a new ingredient with an old recipe. I hope Alex will enjoy them when he comes back from work this evening.
Cashew nut cookies
Makes 15
Apparatus:
Mortar and pestle
Baking tray
Ingredients:
3/4 cup salted cashew nuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
Handful of salted cashew nuts, halved
Methods:
1 Preheat oven to 200C and prepare a well greased and lined baking tray.
2 Grind the salted cashew nuts until fine and place them in a large mixing bowl.
3 Sift in the flour and sugar. Mix them together until well combined.
4 Add a little grapeseed oil into the nut mixture at a time. Knead the mixture with your finger tips until well combined. Gradually add in more oil as needed until you can roll up the mixture into a small ball.
5 Place a half tablespoonful of mixture on your palm at a time and roll them into small balls before placing them on the baking tray.
6 With a chopstick end, press gently on the top of the balls to make a round indents.
7 Place the halved cashew nuts in the middle of indents and bake for 15-20 minutes.
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