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Traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies [Gluten-Free; Chinese New Year Goodie]

Step-by-Step Photos Recipe Comment
Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

Here is another Chinese Peanut Cookies recipe (I can never get sick of peanut cookies because they are so addictive!) Instead of using the shortcut method of peanut butter, these are made with ground peanuts, which I roasted, peeled and roasted again before they are ground into a fine powder/paste. It’s a lot more work involved but because of a secret ingredient used, it makes the cookies a lot more melt-in-the-mouth than the Peanut Butter Cookies I blogged about last week!

Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

And the secret ingredient is… rice flour! I tested this recipe once with plain flour and once with rice flour. The cookies from the plain flour recipe tasted just like my Peanut Butter Cookies but the cookies from the rice flour recipe is totally out-of-the-world-amazing. The cookies won’t crumble when you pick it up but just put one in your mouth and you will definitely go “woah” as the cookie disintegrates and release all the peanut-y goodness.

CNY Cookie Party

This Peanut Cookies recipe is also part of the Chinese New Year Cookie Party that I’m hosting with 15 other amazing bloggers! Join us in the Cookie Party by hash-tagging your creations with the hashtag #ChineseNewYearCookieParty on your social media channels (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)! (Do also tag me on Instagram and Facebook so that I can go over and see your creations!) Here are what the other bloggers are bringing to this party (do check them out!):

Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies

One more photo of these cookies before I hand it over to the step-by-step photos!

Step-by-Step Photos
roastdry
1) Place the peanuts in a large frying pan and roast over medium heat.2) Until the peanut skins have dried out.
skinagain
3) Rub the peanuts against each other in a tea towel to remove the skins.4) Transfer the peanuts back into the frying pan.
brownsift
5) Roast until they are golden brown. Let cool then process them into a fine powder.6) Sift the rice flour, icing sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
nutsrub
7) Add the powdered peanuts into your large mixing bowl.8) Rub with your finger tips until the peanut and flour mixture is well-mixed together.
oildough
9) Add in oil and mix to form a dough.10) Here's the dough - not too dry and not too wet!
rollbrush
11) Divide dough into 8 to 10-gram pieces and roll into balls.12) Brush the top of the cookie dough lightly with egg wash.
bake
13) Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes until the top is golden-brown and the cookies crack a little.

Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies Let’s see how long can these cookies last! And if you ever need more cookies:


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Traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies [Gluten-Free]

These melt-in-the-mouth traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies are must-haves during Chinese New Year. With the use of rice flour, these cookies are also gluten-free.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 60 cookies

INGREDIENTS
 

  • 200 grams peanuts, see Note 1
  • 100 grams rice flour, see Note 2
  • 80 grams icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 80 grams peanut oil, and an extra 20 grams as buffer

Egg Wash

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Place peanuts in a large frying pan in a single layer. Heat over medium heat, tossing frequently, until the skin has dried out. Transfer the peanuts onto a tea towel and rub the tea towel (with the peanuts inside) between both hands until the peanut skins fall off. Remove all the peanut skins completely and transfer the peanuts back into the frying pan. Turn on the heat to medium and roast until the peanuts are golden-brown, tossing frequently. Remove from heat and let the peanuts cool completely.
  • While the peanuts are cooling, preheat the oven to 180°C / 355°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Sift the rice flour, icing sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
  • Transfer the peanuts into a food processor and process into a very fine powder. Add into the mixing bowl of flour mixture and rub with your finger tips until the peanut and flour mixture is well-mixed together.
  • Measure 80 grams of oil in a small bowl. Add the oil gradually into the mixing bowl, mixing the mixture with your hand until a dough is formed. If the dough is too dry and crumbles when handled, add in more oil spoonful by spoonful, incorporating it well before adding anymore oil.
  • Divide dough into 8 to 10-gram pieces and roll into a ball. Place the dough on the baking sheet, spacing them at least 1-inch apart from each other.
  • Combine the Egg Wash ingredients together in a small bowl and brush the top of the cookie dough lightly with the Egg Wash, ensuring the Egg Wash do not touch the base of the cookies otherwise the bottom of the cookie may be burnt during baking.
  • Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes until the top is golden-brown and the cookies crack a little. Transfer the baking sheet onto a wire rack and let the cookies cooled completely before storing in an airtight container.

NOTES

  1. To make life easier, try to get peanuts with the skin already removed or just use ground peanuts (do still give them a toast before using to enhance the peanut-y flavour!)
  2. The rice flour used are made from finely milled rice. It is not mochiko (sweet rice flour) or glutinous rice flour. Please use the correct flour!
  3. Adapted from Malaysian Chinese Kitchen
Tried this recipe?Mention @foodiebaker or tag #foodiebaker!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Keira says

    Greetings from Australia! I just made these today while in lock down and they are fabulous! My aunt has secretly guarded her famous recipe for decades and these are almost as good with great melt in the mouth feel. I think I just need to roast the nuts a bit longer and they will be perfect! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  3. lmz says

    Chinese new year is going to happen next month. I shall use your recipe to make. But i have a few questions. I read that if i use rice flour + icing sugar i will get melt in mouth kind of cookies right? But if i want to get more crusty crispy feel. I should change my rice flour to plain flour? Do I need change to fine caster sugar? Have you try before?

    Reply

    • Jasline N. says

      Hi Ivy, sorry I’ve not tried with using rice flour for cashew cookies so I’m not sure. What I would do is make a small batch of the recipe (like 1/2 the recipe) and swap out 50% of the flour with rice flour and see how it goes. If you managed to experiment with rice flour, let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  7. Monica says

    Clearly, all the extra effort you put into perfecting these cookies paid off! They look festive and sound delicious. The secret of the rice flour is fascinating! Love learning new things. : )

    Reply

  8. Mir says

    I’ve never had a peanut cookie like this, but of course, I would love it! I love anything peanut. I’m sure these are so addictive!

    Reply

  11. Lokness says

    Jasline, love your stunning looking cookies! I’m surprise how rice flour makes a big difference. I’m totally loving that beautiful gloss on the cookies. No way I can stop eating after just one. 😉

    Reply

  14. Bonnie Eng says

    Hey Jasline! These look beautifully golden and perfect, just like the cookies at my local Chinese bakery! Will have to try this recipe soon…I’m really curious to taste what the rice flour does! Thanks for sharing. 😉

    Reply

  16. HapaNomNom says

    I have baked breads with rice flour, but I’ve never tried using it in cookies – very, very interesting. I have to give this a try! And I’m with you on peanut cookies, I can’t get enough of them either!

    Reply

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