Ring in the New Year with good tidings -- homemade cookies filled with fortunes you and the kids dream up yourselves.
Here's how:
Chocolate Fortune Cookies
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
50 paper fortunes
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter; set aside.
Combine the egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, cocoa, and salt, and beat until combined. Add the melted butter, cream, almond extract, and vanilla extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
Drop heaping teaspoons onto a nonstick baking sheet at least 5 inches apart. Using the back of a tablespoon, spread each one into a 4-inch circle. Bake until darken slightly, about 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and, working quickly, slip each cookie with a spatula. Roll each cookie into a loose tube, and insert a paper fortune into the middle so that both the edges extend from the cookie. Using your index finger, make an indentation in the center of the tube, then pinch each end together with your other hand. Repeat the rolling-and-folding process with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.
Makes 50
—Martha Stewart
