Homemade Fortune Cookies
Save RecipeHi Bold Bakers!
I have you covered for Valentine’s Day! Today I’m showing you how to make your own personalized Fortune Cookies. You can make your own creative cookie designs and customize fortunes to show someone you care. I hope you enjoy!
Download the Fortunes Template
- 2 egg whites - at room temp
- 1 tsp pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
- 3 tbsp Vegetable oil (flavorless oil)
- 1/2 Cup (4oz/112g) All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup (4oz/112g) Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Cornstarch/ Cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Water
- pink or red food coloring
- Fortunates Template
- Line your best quality baking sheets with parchment paper. You can also just use Silpat or just a nonstick baking sheet with a little spray.
- In a medium sized bowl, add the egg whites, vanilla, lemon juice, vegetable oil and water.
- Whisk until the eggs are frothy (not stiff) about 20sec.
- Sift in the flour, sugar, cornflour and salt. Whisk in the dry ingredients until all incorporated and you have a smooth batter with no lumps
- Divide the batter in half ( or thirds/ fourths) and dye how you like. I dyed half of mine red
- If you’re going to get fancy with decorating, put into squeeze bottles. These would be just as cute just solid in different colors without the hearts and such.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, however you can make it a few days in advance and it will keep just find. (I said in the video 30 minutes but I would be best to get longer to chill)
- Make your fortunes to fill the cookies.You can print off my template from my Facebook page, add little pictures or stickers, or use colored paper.
- When you batter is chilled: Measure out 1 tbsp batter for each cookie, and with the back of a spoon, spread out thinly to 4 ½ inch diameter both ways. Only work on and bake 2 cookies at a time. The final assembling is time sensitive, don’t overwhelm yourself with more than 2 cookies.
- For hearts-with a contrasting color, squeeze on dots. Take a toothpick and start a little bit above the dot and drag it through the dot to create a tail. Just polka dots are cute too.
- Get creative and make any design or color you want
- Bake at 325oF. Pop the 2 cookies in the oven for ROUGHLY 12 minutes. Keep a close eye in them, every oven is different.
- The cookies are done when the outer edge is golden brown and releases easily from paper or pan.
- This next part is time sensitive…….you need to work very quickly and book it!!
- Pull the cookies out of the oven, release the cookie by running a spatula underneath it. Flip them over and place the fortune in the middles.
- Fold in half. crimp, folded side down, edges up, over a coffee cup.
- Place in a muffin tin while cookies cool so they keep there shape.
- NOTE: If your cookie goes hard while you are moulding the other, don’t worry! Pop it back in the oven for a minute to warm and soften it.
- You can make them up to 3 days in advance, after that the cookies might go a little soft. Remember when making these that they are a labor of love, a little finicky but well worth it. 🙂
Make up to 2 days in advance and store in an air tight container at room temperature.
Meet Gemma
Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I’m passionate about sharing my years of experience to show you how to make game-changing baking recipes with over-the-top results! Join more than 1 Million other Bold Bakers in the community for new video recipes every week!
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My daughter and I made these for Valentine’s Day. We lost almost half of the ones we did on parchment so went to silpat only. Worked great! We also pulled off a gluten free batch that worked. You definitely have to get them to brown on the edges, too soon and they aren’t crispy enough to break but still super yummy and so pretty!
Hi there,
Good for you guys, and well done. This is indeed a tricky thing to make, and time consuming, but really fun too.
Thank you for reviewing this recipe for me, I appreciate it,
Gemma 🙂
Which brand of food coloring do you recommend? I struggle to achieve a big, bold red! Thank you!
Americolor can be found on amazon and that is good.
I don’t recommend my homemade food colors for this because they are not concentrated like store bought so they will change the recipe too much.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma, Thanks a lot for the recipe. I am really excited about this one. I have just made the recipe, but it was failure. The taste was amazing, but they keep breaking as soon as I try to fold them. I,m not giving up! Any ideas?
Hi Ana,
Don’t give up, there’s a simple trick to do. Only bake 3-4 at a time. Keep them on the warm tray while you are shaping one so they don’t cool down. And lastly work fast! If they harden on you pop them bake into the oven to soften up for a minute. And then try again.
Once you get the hang of it it’s really easy 🙂
Gemma.
Hi! I’m getting ready to make these this week. Do you think I could vacuum seal them so they could last longer? Or do they freeze well? I’m giving a batch as a gift, with inspirational quotes and game like challenges- meant to eaten over time.
Hi Nicole,
Honestly I am not sure. This is a delicate pastry, normally made and eaten within a few days. They would need to be stored in an airtight container to stay fresh.
These are a tricky thing to make, and fragile, I am not sure that vacuum sealing will work, it may break them. Freezing I think would not be great for these either, I am sorry, not much help,
Gemma 🙂
Can we replace egg in this recipe
Hi there,
not that I know of, you may find a different egg free recipe online, sorry,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma,
Thanks for the recipe. But I have tried with many batches, I failed. My cookies are either too thin to roll or too thick that it does not turn crisp from the centre. Please help.
Thanks
Hi Ashita,
so all you need is practice. Practice spreading them out. I suggest working fast and with a batter that is cold so it is easier to spread. If it is warm it will be runny and will spread everywhere.
Hope this helps,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma,
Can you teach us how to make cornstarch? Can I not use cornstarch? Are there any substitutes for cornstarch?
Hi there, it depends on where you live! this is also called cornflour, and it is used as a thickener in all sorts of dishes, its’ benefit is that it is clear and light and tasteless too. 1 tablespoon cornstarch = 2/3 tablespoon arrowroot OR 2 tablespoons all purpose flour OR 1 tablespoon potato starch OR 2 tablespoons quick-cooking (instant) tapioca. Flour needs to be cooked longer, and will not be clear. you will need to experiment with this 🙂
Thanks a lot! So if I use flour, do I just add extra flour and bake it for a longer amount of time?
Hi there, yes, this should do it!
Gemma 🙂
I tried this but I halved it and it was delicious my batter was much thicker than your though so i added more water & oil and it turned out great, they taste just like fortune cookies (which I was unsure if they would) I got 6 from the recipe and only 2 I actually got into a fortune cookie shape because they stuck to the baking paper. Also I forgot to chill it but great anyway. So if anyone wants to make this
1. MAKE THEM, THEIR AMAZING!
2. grease baking paper well so they don’t stick
3. I don’t really think you need to use gloves I just used my bare hands and was fine (surprisingly)
4. they are a very fun way to spend and our (or half an hour or somethin’)
Thank you for this lovely description of your fortune cookie baking! I am happy you enjoyed making these, you did a great job adjusting the recipe, which sometimes needs to be done according to the flour. Non-stick baking paper should work for you, and chilling before baking is an important step. Well done you,
Gemma 🙂
I made 60 and it took me 9 hrs.
What? wow, that is a long time, dedicated baker, well done you,
Gemma 🙂
Hello, Gemma. If I remove cornstarch from the recipe, will it come out as fine as yours?
Hi Hieu,
I think it will affect the texture, will not be so crisp and dry,
Gemma 🙂
why is it necessary to use flavorless oil?
Hi there,
In order that you do not taste it in the result,
Gemma 🙂
Hey Gemma,
Thanks for the recipe. My boyfriend’s birthday is coming up and I have some big bold plans with these cookies. There’s over a month left, so I plan to do some test baking before that to make sure I get the batter and oven temperature correct.
Thanks for the recipe!! Gave me a great idea 😀
Thank you so much for visiting my website. I would love to see pictures of your creation 🙂
Hi gemme!!! You know what, I think my fortune is to be a bold baker like you!!!:)
It sounds like you’re already a Bold Baker! 🙂