Homemade fortune cookies? Seriously. Who in their right mind is ambitious enough to make these? You are, that’s who! And don’t worry, I’ve made it even easier for you. I delved into a morning of fortune cookie making and tried every baking method known to man (these sticky cookies can be a bit temperamental) and said all the bad words necessary to alleviate frustration over the baking methods that do.not.work. Basically, I’ve generally diffused all the challenge out of this project. All this I did for you.
So, see? You have no excuse not to make them. Plus, I’ve included step-by-step photos to help you along.
I, personally, think they are the most adorable little treats and the best thing about them is that they can be personalized with whatever your little heart deems necessary to put on the fortune. I typed up a bunch of Valentine’s Day jokes I found online because my boys love them a good slapstick joke but you can customize and create fortunes to your heart’s content. Here are the jokes I used, just in case anyone else is interested.
I stuffed one cookie with the fortune “You’ll lose all your baby weight in a matter of seconds!” and then made the mistake of forgetting to grab it for myself so I was left with a 4-year old who was thoroughly confused by his fortune and I had to act happy about “What do squirrels give for Valentine’s Day? Forget-me-nuts.” Better luck next time.
Homemade Fortune Cookies
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version
*Note: I tried many different methods for baking these little babies (parchment paper, silpat) and hands-down the most successful method for me was a lightly greased baking sheet. The plain fortune cookies are great on their own but you can also dip a corner or two in candy melts and sprinkles for an even more festive touch.
*Makes 24-30 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
Fortunes for stuffing (I used Valentine’s Day jokes and printed them out at 10pt font with red text)
Candy melts for dipping (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to a liquid measure or other container (or keep in the blender) and refrigerate for an hour.
When ready to start baking cookies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet (I used an 11X17-inch size) with cooking spray and rub with a paper towel to even out the droplets of cooking spray. If possible, try and use a light, aluminum, non-coated sheet pan (not a dark, nonstick pan).
Spoon out four dollops of teaspoon-sized amounts of cookie batter in four quadrants of the baking sheet. Using an offset spatula or other spreading tool (the back of a spoon, flat knife, etc.) spread the batter into thin circles, measuring about 3-inches in diameter. Just eyeball them. They don’t need to be perfect.
Bake the cookies for 4-5 minutes, watching carefully so they don’t overbrown. They should be golden around the edges with maybe a few patches of browner spots throughout the cookie but still fairly pale in color throughout. While the cookies are baking, make sure your fortunes are ready to be stuffed inside the cookies. Also, prepare a mug or bowl next to where you’ll put the hot cookies to help shape the fortune cookies after folding.
Remove the sheet pan from the oven and wait for 5-10 seconds (seriously, not long at all, but if you try too early the cookies may fold up while flipping) before using a flat, metal spatula to quickly flip the cookies upside down. Immediately put a fortune in the middle of the cookie and fold the cookie in half over the fortune so the edges meet, pressing the very top edges together lightly. Gently pull the ends of the cookie over the rim of the bowl/mug you have prepared and let the cookies set until cool (it only takes a few minutes). Repeat this process until all the cookies have been baked and formed. If the cookies become too stiff to fold, return the pan to the oven for a few second (5-10) to soften them up.
Recipe Source: idea and recipe from Cooking Light (experimented with my own method)
*Click HERE for a PDF of the below step-by-step photos.*
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
My son loves fortune cookies and I think I might try my hand at these to surprise him on Valentine’s Day
These are beautiful and I’m sure so tasty. But I’m pretty sure my fortune is that I lack the patience and fortitude required.
These fortune cookies are so cute! Love the Valentine’s day sprinkles.
Wish I had a little more patience to make some ..
I’ve wanted to make fortune cookies for a long time! Thanks for the step-by-step how to!
These cookies look much easier then i thought. Wow, what a good idea.
I’m scared, but willing to try! Your cookies look great – thank you for sharing this recipe and all the pictures! What do you think is the best way to store them?
Thanks so much for sharing this! These would be awesome to make on homemade chinese takeout night!
These are just the treat I need for my 3 boys for Valentine’s Day. Thank you so much for the link to the jokes that are ready to print. How awesome! ( I probably would not attempt this if I had to find my own jokes.) You made this project so easy!
I had no idea you could bake them. I’ve always make them in a skillet, like pancakes. It’s slow, but they come out nice. There is only one to fold over at a time, which makes it easy. After I fold them in two (with the fortune or a peanut M&M inside) I drape them over a wooden spoon.
How cool! I’ve never seen a post or recipe for making your own fortune cookies. Hubby would get a kick out of having homemade fortune cookies next time I do an asian stir-fry. Thank you for doing the research and providing such detailed instructions!!
I might just have to make these for the classroom treat on Monday! these are adorable!
Sarah – I think storing them in a single layer in an airtight container would work fine. You’ll just want to be careful with the edges of the cookies – because the batter is such a simple concoction of ingredients and there is no butter/fat, they can break easily if knocked around.
Amazing!!! You’re such an artist, Mel. I am not sure if I will ever be able to make these as beautiful as you did.
Soooo cute!
Oh, the awesomeness! My kids will love these!
I’ve looked into making fortune cookie several times but never followed through. You just inspired me to get up and try them!
Perfect timing! We had chinese take-out last night, and my younger sons were asking how on earth they got the fortune inside the cookie. I showed them your post and they asked if they could make some. I commented that I would happily bake with any little boy who had a clean room.
They are frantically cleaning their room right now ~hehehehe~
Yummmy!!!! I can’t wait to make these!
This post made me laugh, Mel! I tried to make fortune cookies for my Asian themed party once. That’s right…once. I was so frustrated with them that I gave up. I love your tutorial, and you have given me the courage to try again! It would be so fun to fill them with custom fortunes!
my favorite part of making these would be writing some scandalous and riotous fortunes.
Oh wow, how fun! I love Grace’s idea too… Would be fun to write your own fortunes and shock your friends, haha. Great job on these, Mel.
Wow, I love this idea. Making these in the morning and then dropping them off to my hubby.
Such great instructions! I made these with my kids. We had so much fun! It took a few batches to get the hang of it all but by the end, they actually looked like fortune cookies. LOL. Thanks for the great idea!
So I helped my daughter make these to give to her high school boyrfiend. They were yummy and a very cute idea!
Mel – how did you keep yours from sticking? We tried lowering the temperature (because we’re at higher altitude), tried different baking pans, more cooking spray, less…nothing worked. We couldn’t keep them from sticking to the pan. We might try using parchment paper or a silpat.
Adam B – that’s frustrating! Sorry you are having sticky issues. I tried the parchment paper and nearly died of frustration because I couldn’t get the cookies off the parchment paper without it sliding around and crumpling…but maybe you could try parchment with a light coating of cooking spray. That might work – I also tried the silpats and had sticky issues there, too, but again, I didn’t use the cooking spray on the silpats because I didn’t want to gum them up. Again, it’s probably worth a try. Good luck!
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