Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (2024)

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by Joanne January 25, 2019 (updated March 12, 2021)

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Fill these Homemade Fortune Cookies with your own personal fortunes for a fun and delicious crafty treat!

I love when food crosses into the craft category and these cookies certainly do.

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (1)

That’s what makes fortune cookies so fun to do yourself, even though they are a bit tedious to make.

You can put your own notes inside the fortune cookies, and gift them to friends, family, co-workers, and so on, and also customize them for different events.

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (2)

As I mentioned briefly above, a fortune cookie is not as easy to make as say, a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies.

These are made and folded individually, and because they have to be crimped while they’re hot, you can only do a few at a time.

My recommendation is to get a few helpers and have fun making them together. It goes a lot quicker that way!

How to Make Fortune Cookies:

Start by whipping egg whites, melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract until frothy:

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (3)

Add flour, and whip until the flour *just* disappears:

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (4)

Shape the batter into small circles on a silicone mat, and notice how thin they are:

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (5)

Bake until the circles are slightly golden on the edges, then quickly fold the circles in half with the fortune inside, and bring the ends down over the lip of a cup (this is an old picture, but I have a fortune cookie tutorial video below where I show you exactly how to do this).

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (6)

Once the fortune cookie is crimped, place it into a muffin tin to hold its shape, and let the cookies cool while you repeat with the remaining batter.

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (7)

Here’s the step-by-step video tutorial, and the recipe is below. Enjoy!

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (8)

Homemade Fortune Cookies

Servings: 36

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Fill these Homemade Fortune Cookies with your own personal fortunes for a fun and delicious crafty treat!

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Ingredients

  • 3 large egg whites
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter melted
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (5 oz by weight)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and have your fortune strips ready to go.

  • In a stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer), whip the egg whites and sugar on high speed for about 2 minutes, until frothy. Whip in the melted butter, vanilla, almond extract, and water until incorporated. Add the flour and mix until the flour *just* disappears.

  • With a tablespoon measure, spoon the batter onto the parchment paper and spread it out into an even 3 inch circle. I recommend not doing any more than 2-3 at a time, since they set very quickly and you will not be able to fold more than that.

  • Bake the fortune cookies for 7-8 minutes, until the edges brown slightly. If you let them brown too much, they will snap when you shape them. Conversely, if they don’t brown a little bit, they will also break (but tear, rather than snapping).

  • When each batch of fortune cookies finishes baking, remove them from the oven and quickly flip the circle over, and fold your fortune cookie in half, into a semicircle. This is when you slip your note into the cookie (quickly) because if you slip it in right at the beginning, the cookie will be too hot and your paper will stick to the cookie. Place your semicircle onto the edge of a cup, and quickly fold the ends down, to crimp into a fortune cookie shape (see above tutorial video if needed).

  • Place the cookie in a muffin tin to let it cool and hold its shape.

  • Repeat with the remaining batter and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 52kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 26mg, Potassium: 7mg, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 80IU, Calcium: 1mg, Iron: 0.2mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Chinese

Author: Fifteen Spatulas

Post updated in January 2019. Originally posted January 2014.

posted in: All Recent Posts, Asian Dishes, Cookies, Dessert 133 comments

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    133 Comments on “Homemade Fortune Cookies”

  1. Jade Reply

    Amazing & great fun to make with my daughter. Surprisingly easy. We didn’t have almond essence so used caramel flavouring, which worked very well.

  2. Stephanie Reply

    Do you think these would work with almond/coconut flour blend??

  3. Laura M Reply

    I have a question: when I made these, the baked cookies came out with a granular, or slightly gritty texture. When they cooled off, the external surface of the cookies was as if they were candied. So, the sugar called for didn’t dissolve in mixing or baking. Could that be because I needed to cook at a lower temp (therefore cooking them longer), or should I allow the batter to stand long enough to dissolve the sugar? Thanks for your suggestions (in advance).

Fortune Cookie Recipe - How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies! (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a fortune cookie fortune? ›

Answer. The cookies are baked as flat circles. After they are removed from the oven, slips of paper are folded inside while the cookies are still warm and flexible. As the fortune cookies cool, they harden into shape.

What are the luckiest numbers in fortune cookies? ›

The "luckiest" numbers generating the most winners were 4, 14, 15, 22, 26 and 28. Winners were spread across 40 states, with South Carolina (15 players), Pennsylvania (13 players) and Tennessee (12 players) producing the highest number of winning tickets from fortune cookie use.

How long can you store homemade fortune cookies? ›

Take care, as the cookies must be shaped when hot. Never ask what's for dinner again. Get one quick recipe in your inbox Monday through Thursday to inspire delicious meals. Recipe note: The baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks or frozen for several months.

How many fortune cookies are made? ›

Each year, 3 billion fortune cookies are made. The largest manufacturer is located in NYC by Wonton Food Inc who produce around 4.5 million cookies per day. They start as round cookies and are folded round the paper fortune whilst they are still soft.

What gives fortune cookies their taste? ›

In many ways, Chinese restaurants are like pizzerias: you have an expectation of what you'll be getting, and most of the time you get exactly that. The “tea cake” name further reinforces its Japanese roots. There's a unique flavor in fortune cookies, and it's from a combination of vanilla and sesame oil.

What are the rules of fortune cookies? ›

THE instructions on the red wrapper are very explicit: (1) Open the packaging. (2) Use both hands to break open the fortune cookie. (3) Retrieve and read the fortune. (4) Eat the cookie.

What does the color red mean to Chinese people? ›

In China, red is auspicious—associated with life-generating energy (the sun, blood, and fire)—and is the color of celebrations and prosperity. Like many ancient legends, “Writing a Poem on a Crimson Leaf” has several versions, each with minor differences in detail.

What country did fortune cookies originate from? ›

Fortune cookies, Yasuko Nakamachi says, are almost certainly originally from Japan. Her prime pieces of evidence are the centuries-old small family bakeries making obscure fortune cookie-shaped crackers by hand near a temple outside Kyoto.

How rare is a blank fortune cookie? ›

Therefore, in my experience, the probability is less than 1 in 8640 of a cookie with no fortune.

What does it mean if you have no paper in your fortune cookie? ›

If there is no fortune in a fortune cookie it means you are being invited to script your life as you'd LIKE it to unfold. There is a clean slate allowing you to CREATE your life starting now. You have the innate power and potential.

Why does my fortune cookie have no fortune? ›

What does it mean when there is no fortune in a fortune cookie? If there is no fortune in a fortune cookie it means you are being invited to script your life as you'd LIKE it to unfold. There is a clean slate allowing you to CREATE your life starting now.

Who makes the fortunes in fortune cookies? ›

Donald Lau has worked for Wonton Foods since the 1980s, when it was just a small noodle company in Chinatown; as the organization grew and production increased, he took over writing the fortunes for the cookies.

What does it mean if my fortune cookie has no fortune in it? ›

You are in control of your own future and are able to take the reins and make what you want to happen, happen. You have everything you need to move forward and bring in good energy. Although it may be a little less fun, no fortune is nothing to worry about. It doesn't mean that you have no future or luck.

Can you make custom fortune cookies? ›

We offer up to 5 custom messages for orders of 100 cookies or more. Additional fortune messages can be added at extra cost by clicking on this link. For multiple fortunes: Add each fortune message as a separate set of cookies.

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