Chinese New Year is coming up, and with that comes the inevitable hoarding that goes on in our household. Last weekend we made a trip to the Chinese grocery store (which, incidentally, has a solid cafe next door churning out Chinese home cooking that we always stop at to refuel before heading back home). I needed all the supplies for our Chinese New Year celebration — ingredients for hot pot, cookies, supplies for dumplings … and the list goes on and on.
To get ahead of the food that I’ll be preparing, last week I made gluten free Chinese almond cookies. I’ve been messing around a bit with gluten free ingredients ever since we did our Whole30 a couple of years ago, and ever since one of my sisters adopted a gluten free diet to deal with her allergies.
Chinese almond cookies are a staple around the New Year. If you’ve ever been to a Chinese auntie’s house or a atmosphere-less, sticky Chinese restaurant, you’re almost certain to get a few of these shortbread-like cookies with a single almond pressed in the middle.
For this recipe, I used Doves Farm gluten free self-rising flour, which is a product available here in the UK. In the U.S., I’d try Bob’s Mill gluten free flour (substitute 1 cup of self-rising flour with 1 cup of Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder plus a 1/2 teaspoon of salt). The cookies turned out a little sandier than the regular version, but they still had the almond flavor and crunch that I associate with the regular almond cookies.
This post is part of a Chinese New Year Cookie Party!
There are more Chinese New Year cookies you can check out with a virtual #ChineseNewYearCookieParty some other food bloggers and I are having! This festive list of cookies created by these talented folks is really impressive. We’re inviting you to get to know these special cookies and try these recipes at home. You’ll find my recipe for Gluten Free Chinese Almond Cookies at the bottom of this post.
- Snow Fungus Soup by Vermillion Roots
- Bingka Ambon (Indonesian Honey Comb Cake) by What to Cook Today
- Chinese Peanut Cookies by Wok & Skillet
- Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cake by A Taste of Joy and Love
- Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies by Little Sweet Baker
- Ice Cream Mooncakes by Brunch-and-Bite
- Coconut Red Bean Pudding by The Missing Lokness
- Korean Caramelized Sweet Potatoes by What Great Grandma Ate
- Cashew Nut Cookies by Anncoo Journal
- One Bite Pinenut 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 by Malaysian Chinese Kitchen
- Thousand Layer Cake by Daily Cooking Quest
- Pineapple Cookies by V for Veggy
- Almond Orange Spiral Cookies by Butter and Type
- Three Colour Dessert by The Viet Vegan
- Year of the Rooster Mochi by Thirsty for Tea
- Korean Tea Cookies by Kimchimari
- Sticky Sweet Cakes by Lisa’s Lemony Kitchen
- Sweet Rice Balls with Peanut Butter by Omnivore’s Cookbook
- Candied Ginger by Plant Crush
- Chick Egg Tarts by Dessert First
- Red Bean Soup with Black Glutinous Rice by Nut Free Wok
- Orange Scented Sweet Red Bean by Lime and Cilantro
Join the party on social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) with the hashtag #SweetLunarNewYear and #ChineseNewYearCookieParty to share your cookie creations with us. Tag me @gritsandchopsticks so I can see. Happy baking! May the year of the Rooster be prosperous, fruitful and delicious for you!
gluten free chinese almond cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups gluten free self-rising flour (or use substitution in blog post)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs (divided)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- almonds (for decorating)
Instructions
- Sift together flour and sugar into a large bowl.
- Add butter and whisk until creamed together.
- Lightly whisk one egg in a small bowl, saving the other egg for now. Add the egg to the butter, sugar and flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Add almond extract and mix again.
- Gather together the dough into a loose ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Open your oven and situate the racks in your oven to the top third and bottom third of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Remove dough from fridge and form into 1-inch balls. Flatten each ball slightly as you place it onto the baking sheet. Continue forming balls and placing them on the baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
- Whisk the remaining egg and add about a tablespoon of water to thin it slightly. Press an almond into the center of each ball. Using a pastry brush, glaze each cookie with the egg wash.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans on the oven racks halfway through. Remove the cookies from the oven when they’re golden brown and transfer to a wire rack for cooling.
I love eating Chinese ALmond cookies. Your gluten-free version intrigued me to try too. I’m definitely pinning this
Thanks so much, Marvellina! Your blog is gorgeous!
Thanks for bringing this recipe to the #SweetLunarNewYear party. Love that it’s gluten free!
Thanks for organizing Christine!
Thank YOU for organizing, Christine!
Hi Ann, These almond cookies look yummy and it’s gluten free 😀 Wish I can have some for my breakfast now (I’m from Singapore)!
Thank you sharing and wishing you and your family a Very Happy Chinese Luna Year!
Happy new year to you too!
Ann, gong xi fa cai! Your almond cookies look amazing, and they are so simple to make. I think I still have the time to make this before CNY 🙂
Anita, thank you!
Happy New Year! These look just like the almond cookies my mom used to make when I was growing up.
Happy new year to you, too! I love these cookies and have a lot of nostalgic memories about them, too! 🙂
I love the cookies and that this is gluten free! My belly is not too happy with gluten…love your photos too!
Thanks, Jin! Happy new year!
Beautiful golden bakes. Love almond cookies, Pinning it to my gluten-free Pinterest board 😀
Thanks so much, Lisa! Happy New Year!
We always have almond cookies around Tet (New Year in Vietnamese) at the table with tea. I love your version because it’s gluten free! 🙂
What a nice memory. Thanks so much, Amy!
I’m so impressed that these are gluten free. They look absolutely no different from regular ones! Love it! 🙂
Thanks Lokness!
Looks delicious and so easy to make – my kind of recipe! Happy Chinese New Year to you and yours:)
Happy Chinese New Year to you, too!
Happy new year! I love that you made a gluten free version of a classic recipe! I am sure your sister appreciates you for being so considerate!
Thank you, Sharon! Happy new year to you too!