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Nian Gao Cookies (年糕曲奇餅)

by: Amy on: Jan 20, 2023

These nian gao-stuffed cookies are chewy, tender, and crisp! I used white sugar nian gao for these cookies but feel free to use any type of nian gao for the centre. I think brown sugar or coconut-flavoured nian gao would be just as good in these cookies. Any nian gao from your new year's day celebrations will do!

Review  or  Print Recipe

Happy almost Lunar New Year to all of you who celebrate it! Like many Chinese holidays, Lunar New Year is celebrated with a lot of food. Most of the food eaten during this time is symbolic of things you would like to have more of in the new year, whether the symbolism is conveyed through the name of the dish of the shape of the food item. On Lunar New Year’s Eve, my family gathers around the table to feast on fish (the word fish means that there will be a surplus for next year, whether it is a surplus of wealth, luck, or anything positive), oysters with fat choy (a vegetable whose name sounds like ‘fortune’), noodles (for longevity), and tang yuan (circular rice balls, whose shape represents family connection, togetherness and reunion). The next morning on New Year’s Day, my parents would start frying up new year cake (nian gao) early in the morning. The characters nian gao 年糕 translates to ‘year higher,’ meaning that those who eat the cake will have a year better than the last. Nian gao has always been the highlight for me. Traditionally it is made with glutinous rice flour, sugar, water, and flavouring of choice, though in more recent years there have been more creative version of this traditional sweet treat. I like the classic brown sugar or white sugar nian gao the best, especially when my parents dip slices of the cake in an egg batter before pan frying it. I think it is the texture of nian gao that makes me love it so much — it is pretty identical to eating mochi, but with a crisp exterior.

I shared a nian gao sugar cookie a few years back but after making it a few more times and continuing to tweak the recipe from year to year, I’ve arrived at this recipe just in time for Lunar New Year celebrations. This cookie dough is quite like a classic chocolate chip cookie dough (minus the chocolate)! and I prefer this over the previous version with a rainbow-specked sugar cookie dough because this dough creates a crisper cookie, which provides such nice contrast to the soft and tender nian gao centre. I used white sugar nian gao for these cookies but feel free to use any type of nian gao for the centre. I think brown sugar or coconut-flavoured nian gao would be just as good in these cookies. Any nian gao from you new year’s day celebrations will do!

Nian Gao Cookies (年糕曲奇餅)

These nian gao-stuffed cookies are chewy, tender, and crisp! I used white sugar nian gao for these cookies but feel free to use any type of nian gao for the centre. I think brown sugar or coconut-flavoured nian gao would be just as good in these cookies. Any nian gao from your new year's day celebrations will do!
Makes 8 large cookies
By Amy

Ingredients

  • 140 g (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 126 g (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp) brown sugar
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 220 g (1 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 8 pieces nian gao, cut into (1-inch cubes, 1/2-inch thick)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until they are smooth, about 1 minute.
  • Add the vanilla and egg to the butter mixture and mix on medium speed until they are fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches to the butter mixture, and mix until the ingredients are just combined, about 1 minute.
  • Divide the dough into 8 balls of dough.
  • Using you thumb, create an indent at the centre of the ball of dough. Place a piece of nian gao and the centre, and lightly pinch the dough to cover up the nian gao.
  • Place filled dough balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Top each dough ball with flaky salt
  • Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are caramelized along the edges and the centres are just set. If you would like your cookies to have the crinkled edges, give the pan a few taps on the oven rack before you take them out of the oven.
  • Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Cookies are best served the day they are baked. You can reheat the cookie (to soften the nian gao) the next day in the microwave for 10 – 15 second after the first day.

more like this:

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Crispy Pumpkin Mochi Cakes (3-Ingredients)

Pumpkin Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

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a sweet hello.

Welcome to Constellation Inspiration, a buttercream-coated journal of recipes, stories, and love letters that are sweet to read, and even sweeter to eat. These love letters are dedicated to you.

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tanghulu is sometimes called bingtanghulu, with the word ‘bing’ meaning ‘ice’ and describing the candy coating of this treat

16 strawberries
250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
125 g (1/2 cup) water
red food colouring, optional

wash strawberries and dry them completely. moisture will prevent the sugar coating from fully adhering. once dried, skewer strawberries on bamboo or lollipop sticks

line a large plate or baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside

in a small pot over medium heat, combine sugar and water. allow the sugar to melt without stirring the mixture

as the syrup boils and it starts to turn a very light golden colour (it should read 150c on a candy thermometer, about 8 – 10 min over medium heat), turn off the heat. if you are not using a candy thermometer, please use the ‘cold water test.’ when you drizzle some of the hot sugar into a bowl of cold water, the sugar should harden into sugar ribbons that you can break with a ‘snap.’ if the sugar in the cold water is still flexible or does not create the ‘snap,’ the sugar is not ready yet

stir in a few drops of red food colouring now if using

tilt the pot slightly, so more syrup pools on one side of the pot. dip a strawberry into the syrup and turn the stick gently to cover the strawberry completely. allow excess syrup to drip off and place sugared strawberry on the baking sheet

allow the sugar coating to harden completely before removing from the baking sheet, about 10 min. serve immediately

#tanghulu #strawberries #bakefromscratch #thebakefeed #bombesquad
lunar new year is my favourite time of year to vis lunar new year is my favourite time of year to visit chinatown because of all the festive decor and treats. whenever i visit chinatown, i never leave empty-handed (or with an empty stomach) because there are so many chinese bakeries to choose from

if you aren’t too familiar with chinese bakeries, especially the ones in vancouver’s chinatown, i have a short and sweet guide on the blog to help you savour and enjoy all the treats chinatown has to offer. i ate many coconut cream buns and egg tarts in one day for *scientific purposes* and i cant think of a better way to spend a weekend

📍 treats from all the bakeries below
📍 sun fresh bakery (245 keefer st)
📍 new town bakery & restaurant (148 e pender st.)
📍 zhao mah bakery (280 e pender st.)
📍 maxim’s bakery & restaurant (256 keefer st.)
📍 the boss bakery (532 main st.)

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Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic ca Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic cantonese style dessert and I grew up eating this dessert after large family dinners at chinese restaurants. The literal meaning of its chinese name is “ginger juice bumping into milk,” which describes the entire process of making the custard. The silky dessert only requires 3 ingredients: milk, ginger, and sugar. Because the ingredient list is so short, you can really taste each component. For my ginger milk custard, I’m using Dairyland Microfiltered Milk, which is a 100% canadian milk. (PS. Microfiltered Milk stays fresher longer than regular milk!)

Here is how you make it:
1 tbsp fresh ginger juice (from ~30g grated ginger) 200 ml dairyland microfiltered milk
2 tsp granulated sugar

Using the back of a spoon, peel ginger root. Then grate the ginger using a microplane or grater.
Extract the juice from the grated ginger by pressing it against a fine-mesh sieve. Transferthe juice to a bowl.

In a small pot over medium, heat up milk to 70c. It is important that the milk reaches 70c because this will cause the milk and ginger juice to congeal to form the pudding. Add sugar and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.

When the milk is warm enough, pour the milk into the bowl with ginger juice. Do not stir it and let it set for at least 15 min.

Put a small spoon on top of the pudding — if the spoon is able to rest on top of the pudding, the ginger milk curd is successful and ready to be enjoyed.

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