Indulge in these traditional Chinese Peanut Cookies, a Chinese New Year favorite. Easy to make, these cookies offer a perfect balance of sweet, peanutty flavor and a melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s simply irresistible.
Chinese Peanut Cookies are enjoyed throughout the year but are especially popular during Chinese New Year. I’ve loved these cookies so much ever since I was a child. During the Chinese New Year season here in Malaysia, you will find street vendors everywhere selling a variety of Chinese cookies and sweets in tall plastic containers. Chinese Peanut Cookies are always the first thing I look for.
Last year, I shared my Pineapple Jam Tart recipe for Chinese New Year. This year, I’ve teamed up with my blogger friends once again for an online virtual Sweet Lunar New Year Party and I’m sharing my Chinese Peanut Cookie recipe. Scroll down to see the rest of the recipes from this virtual party!
These Chinese Peanut Cookies are incredibly peanutty, mildly sweet with just a slight hint of salt to bring out the peanut flavor. I use a combination of coarser granulated sugar along with powdered sugar to give it some contrast in texture. The granulated sugar along with the finely ground peanuts give the cookies a nice sweet crunch, while the powdered sugar allows the cookies to crumble and melt in your mouth.
PS – Click HERE if you are looking for more Chinese New Year Cookie Recipes! If you love peanuts, you might also enjoy my Muah Chee (Chinese Peanut Mochi) recipe!
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grind 1 1/2 cups of unsalted roasted peanuts into a fine powder. I use my Magic Bullet Blender for this task and it works perfectly. You can also use a food processor. Be careful not to blend the peanuts for too long; otherwise you will end up with peanut butter! Blend them in small batches at a time so you have better control of how fine they are ground.
In a mixing bowl, combine the ground peanuts with 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir well to blend these ingredients.
Add 3/4 cup of peanut oil to the mix, then use your fingers to knead the ingredients into a dough.
Test the consistency of the dough by taking 1 teaspoon of it and forming it into a ball by squeezing the dough in your hand first, then gently rolling it in between your palms. If the dough crumbles too easily, add a little bit more oil into the dough. If you can easily roll the dough into balls, the dough is at the right consistency. Keep rolling the rest of the dough into little cookie balls.
Arrange the cookie dough balls about an inch apart on a cookie sheet.
Lightly beat 1 egg yolk, then brush a little bit of the egg yolk on top of each cookie.
Bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they turn a nice golden brown color.
Enjoy!
Sweet Lunar New Year Party
Be sure the check out the other recipes from this Sweet Lunar New Year Party!
Snow Fungus Soup by Vermilion Roots
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Indonesian Honeycomb Cake (Bingka Ambon) by What To Cook Today
Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies by Little Sweet Baker
Coconut Red Bean Pudding by The Missing Lokness
Korean Caramelized Sweet Potatoes (Goguma Mattang) by What Great Grandma Ate
Cashew Nut Cookies by Anncoo Journal
One Bite Pine Nut Cookies by Yummy Workshop
Baked Coconut Walnut Sticky Rice Cake by Jeanette’s Healthy Living
Black Sesame Cream Puffs by Pink Wings
Cashew Nut Cookies by Roti n Rice
Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai) by Malaysian Chinese Kitchen
Thousand Layer Cake (Lapis Legit) by Daily Cooking Quest
Pineapple Cookies (Nastar) by V for Veggy
Three Color Dessert (Che Ba Mau) by The Viet Vegan
Year of the Rooster Mochi by Thirsty for Tea
Korean Tea Cookies (Dasik) by Kimchimari
Sweet Sticky Cakes (Kuih Bakul) by Lisa’s Lemony Kitchen
Sweet Rice Balls with Peanut Butter (Tang Yuan) by Omnivore’s Cookbook
Candied Ginger (Mut Gung) by Plant Crush
Chick Egg Tarts by Dessert Girl
Red Bean Soup by Nut Free Wok
Join our party on social media by using the hashtag #SweetLunarNewYearParty and if you’re making cookies,#ChineseNewYearCookieParty. Tag me (@wokandskillet) so I can see your creations!
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!
Chinese Peanut Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts skinless
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup peanut oil or more
- 1 egg yolk lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Grind the peanuts into a fine powder using a food processor.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground peanuts, flour, powdered sugar, granulated sugar and salt. Mix well.
- Pour peanut oil over the peanut mixture and knead with your fingers until a dough forms.
- Take about 1 teaspoon of the dough and form it into a ball by squeezing the dough in your hand first, then gently rolling it in between your palms. If the dough crumbles too easily, add more oil to the dough.
- Arrange the cookie dough balls about an inch apart on a cookie sheet.
- Brush some egg yolk on the top of each cookie.
- Bake for about 20 minute or until they turn a nice golden brown.
Nutrition
Vin
Wednesday 24th of February 2021
Hi thanks for this recipe. I just wanted to know if I could use store bought peanut powder. And the amount to use 1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts to how much peanut powder?
Char
Wednesday 24th of February 2021
Hi Vin, I haven't used peanut powder in this recipe so I can't advise on that, unfortunately, but I think that as long as there are no added ingredients, it should be okay to use. I imagine that it would be a bit drier as well so you may need to use a bit more oil. Let me know how it goes if you give this a try!
Leigh-Anne
Friday 12th of February 2021
Really great recipe. Easy to prepare and cook. Nice crumbly texture and super delicious. Not too sweet, which is just how I like my cookies. Very forgiving recipe. Thanks for sharing. Made for spring festival!
Char
Saturday 13th of February 2021
Hi Leigh-Anne, thanks for sharing and for taking the time to leave this comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Happy Lunar New Year!
Nicole
Friday 8th of May 2020
Hi. Can the peanut oil be substitute with other oils such as canola oil? Thanks :)
Char
Friday 8th of May 2020
Hi Nicole! Yes, canola oil and vegetable oil are good substitutes. Cheers!
Yin Yee Ping
Thursday 9th of January 2020
Hi what flour do we use? Some recipe calls for all purpose flour. Some cake flour. Urs is written flour so I wonder what flour would that be
Pam
Saturday 6th of February 2021
@Char, I added less oil and still needed to add more flour and ground nuts to get it the right texture... Recipe in weight rather than volume would be more accurate :)
Char
Sunday 31st of January 2021
Oh no! Sorry to hear that! I wonder if there was too much oil or if the peanuts were ground too fine (like peanut butter)? Maybe try adding a bit more flour to see if it will help keep its form.
Yee Ping Yin
Saturday 30th of January 2021
@Char,
I made the cookies and mine flatten in the oven. So I wonder how these peanut cookies stay in shape. Is there a trick to it?
Char
Thursday 9th of January 2020
Hi Yin Yee! Thanks for pointing this out! You can use all purpose flour for this recipe. Hope that helps..happy new year!!
Kut Leow
Sunday 27th of January 2019
Do we need to add baking powder.
Char
Sunday 27th of January 2019
Hi Kut Leow! No, it's not necessary to use baking powder for these cookies. Cheers!