Cornflake Cookies recipe

These cookies are quite nice, buttery rich, not too sweet and full of addictive crunch. I adapted the recipe I found here. It’s also a very easy recipe that kids can help out with too.

The recipe instructed using an ice-cream scoop to make balls of dough to be rolled in crushed cornflakes, but I’m thinking: this lady probably had a teeny-weeny ice-cream scoop. I used my smallest 1-inch scoop and these cookies still turned out huge. I could probably have gotten 50-60 bite-sized cookies out of one recipe if I had used the good ol’ teaspoon. Instead, I got 40 pretty large cookies.

Why the obsession with size? Chinese New Year cookies are usually bite-sized. I have a theory: when you serve them to guests or are served these at gatherings, the cookie gets popped into the mouth in one dainty bite, maximum two. This prevents unsightly crumbs from falling onto the host’s floor. Remember, the Chinese regard sweeping the floor on the first day of Chinese New Year as extremely inauspicious. Hence, if I’m going to be serving these on the first day of the New Year, I should have my vacuum cleaner on standby.

Ingredients:

• 200g French butter, unsalted
• 150g fine granulated sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 300g all-purpose flour
• 30g cornflour
• 60g cornflakes, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celcius.

2. Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt until well-combined. I used my stand mixer with the beater attachment.

3. Fold in the flours by hand until just combined.

4. Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop balls of cookie dough and roll them in crushed cornflakes, pressing with your hands to really coat well.

5. Place an inch apart (these don’t spread much) on baking trays. My half-sheet trays are always parchment-lined, but it’s not necessary.

6. Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack until golden brown. Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.