What’s Cooking? Create Your Own Fabulous Fortune Cookies!!!

By Molly J. Anderson-Childers

Today, we’re going to make fortune cookies just like the ones they serve at your favorite Chinese restaurant. We’ll also be cooking up some fabulous fortunes to slip inside! Follow me…

Our first step is to create some fortunes for your cookies, so they’ll be ready to go when the cookies come out of the oven. You’ll need a dozen slips of paper, about half and inch long and three inches wide. (White paper is best.) You’ll also want to find a few colorful pens with non-toxic ink. You can practice writing a few test fortunes on scrap paper, until you find some you like. Ask a friend or two to help — this is a great hit at parties! Don’t stop with “You will soon journey over the water to meet your destiny,” — get creative! Traditional fortunes can be fun, but what about haikus, rebuses, and doodles? Short poems, secret messages, and simple drawings can make your fortunes even more fabulous! [For some fun ideas, check out Chris Dunmire's Fake Fortune Generator.]

Here are a few samples I created, to get you started:

Now that your fortunes are ready, it’s time to bake those cookies! I love my young readers, and want them to be safe in the kitchen, so let’s go over a few safety tips first. Using the oven and other kitchen appliances is safer with a grown-up around — please ask an adult to help. Always use pot-holders or oven mitts to transfer hot pans from the oven, and put one underneath the pans once they’re on the counter. Never use a dish-towel! They are too thin, and can scorch. Always be careful in the kitchen!

Ingredients for Fortune Cookies:

1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar

Special Equipment:
Egg separator, whisk or electric mixer, two cookie sheets, sifter, spatula, wooden cutting board, pot-holders, measuring cups or mugs, muffin tin or empty egg carton.

Cookie Making Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two cookie sheets. Separate the egg white from the yolk, and discard yolk. Using a whisk or electric mixer, mix egg white and vanilla until foamy. Don’t mix it too long, or it will become stiff and hard to work with! Sift the flour, salt and sugar together, then blend it into the egg white mixture.

Place small spoonfuls of the batter at least 4 inches apart on cookie sheets. If necessary, tilt the cookie sheet to move the batter into round shapes about three inches in diameter. Make the batter as round and even as possible before baking. Do not make too many — cookies must be warm to form them. When they cool, it is too late. Start with 2 or 3 on each sheet until you build up some speed.

Bake each pan of cookies for about 5 minutes… the cookies should turn a golden color around the edges when they are ready. The center will remain pale. Remove from oven, and quickly flip the hot cookies upside down onto a wooden cutting board with a wide spatula.

Place the fortune on the cookie, close to the center. Fold the cookie in half, then place the folded edge across the rim of a measuring cup or mug. Pull the pointed edges down gently, one inside the cup and one outside. Place folded cookies into the cups of a muffin tin or empty egg carton so they will hold their shape. Let the cookies rest — they’ve worked hard! — until firm and crispy, then serve!

While the cookies are cooling, you may want to clean up the kitchen. Wash the dishes, and put away any ingredients left out on the counter. This will show your parents you’re responsible enough to do this again. Just remember, a clean, safe kitchen is one surefire recipe for a happy mom! •

© 2006 Molly J. Anderson-Childers. All rights reserved.

Please respect the creator's copyright by not duplicating this material on your Web site, blog, or print publication without the author's permission.

About the Author | More by Molly Anderson-Childers
Molly J. Anderson-Childers is a wildly creative soul living in Durango, CO. She is a writer, artist, and creative arts instructor. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fort Lewis College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and successfully completed their Elementary Teacher Education Program. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The Durango Telegraph, Southwest Colorado Arts Perspective, Images, Voice Be Heard, The Four Corners Business Journal and On the Wings of Poetry. To contact Ms. Childers, please email her at: stealingplums[at]yahoo.com or send a snail mail to P.O. Box 4281, Durango, CO 81302-4281.

7/26/06