Fortune Cookies Step by Step
Did you know there are 4 million fortune cookies made every single day? That’s a lot of fortunes! Fortune cookies are crispy, hollow treats with a written fortune on a small piece of paper. Today, I’ll show how to make these famous horseshoe-shaped cookies with custom messages inside.
updated from 2011
HOW TO MAKE FORTUNE COOKIES WITH CUSTOM MESSAGES
Shatteringly crisp, sweet little cookies are perfect for weddings, birthdays, Christmas, pregnancy announcements, Valentine’s day, and virtually any occasion. When making them yourself, you can include your messages, sayings, or even quotes from movies. That’s what makes them so special.
WHAT ARE FORTUNE COOKIES MADE OF
- Egg whites
- Sugar
- Melted Butter
- Water or Milk
- Extracts: Vanilla, Almond(optional) or use other flavors
- Flour
- Pinch of salt
TOOLS
A flat spatula comes in handy when handling hot cookie rounds.
- To shape thin hot cookie rounds, you’ll need something with an edge – a glass or mug with a wide mouth works excellently.
- And a muffin pan is great for keeping a shaped fortune cookie in shape as they cool.
Make a guide – I used a 3.5-inch round cutter to trace circles onto a piece of paper.
COOKIE SAYINGS AND QUOTES
The best part of a fortune cookie is its message; nibbling on a sweet cookie is a bonus.
When you make your fortune cookies, you can also include custom messages: make them funny and wise, use movie quotes, personal notes, lyrics, and wishes. If you’re stuck, try ChatGPT.
COOKIE BATTER
Cookie batter for fortune cookies is super easy to make. Into a bowl, pour in egg whites, sugar, salt, extracts, butter, and water, and beat for 3-4 minutes, until well combined, smooth, and off-white. Then add flour and beat until combined with no flour streaks in the batter. The cookie batter should be medium, not too thick or runny. If it appears too thick, add a little more water or milk.
BAKE FORTUNE COOKIES
Place the template underneath of silicone baking mat or parchment. Use the back of the measuring spoon to shape a generous teaspoon of cookie batter into a thin round. Repeat (steps 1-3).
Bake cookies in the preheated oven at 350F (180C) for about 6-8 minutes, until amber golden brown around the edges.
HOW TO SHAPE A FORTUNE COOKIE
Immediately shape cookies. Don’t wait for cookies to cool. They can only be shaped while hot.
Place the message in the middle of the cookie, and using a flat spatula, fold one half of the cookie over. Press gently around the edge (steps 1-4). Pick up a crescent-shaped cookie while it’s still hot, place the middle on the rim of the glass, and gently push the two ends down (steps 5-8).
Transfer the shaped cookies into a muffin pan. It will ensure they will stay in shape as they cool.
I love how these bare cookies look.
DECORATE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
Making decorated Valentine’s Day fortune cookies requires some chocolate and festive sprinkles.
You can use easy-to-use melt-and-dip confectionery chocolate disks or compound chocolate, or chop a dark chocolate bar and temper it before dipping cookies.
Try dipping the end of the cookie, too.
Let the dark chocolate layer set before adding a white chocolate drizzle and sprinkles. Allow to fully set before packaging.
HOW TO STORE COOKIES
Shaped cookies will last up to a month, stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If they lose some of their crispiness, you can crisp them up again, in the oven at 300F for a couple of minutes.
FORTUNE COOKIES SUCCESS TIPS
- To shape these cookies successfully, they need to be hot, so it’s crucial to have everything ready. The very first thing is mise en place, have everything in place, ready to go: teaspoon measure, glass, muffin pan, flat spatula, cut-up messages
- It takes about 7- 8 minutes to bake these cookies. Please don’t leave them unattended. They can burn quickly.
- Cookies have to be hot to shape them. It’s best to work with 2-3 cookies at a time.
- If the cookie cools before shaping, heat it in the oven for a minute or two and then shape it.
- As the cookies are baking, prepare another sheet and spread a thin layer of cookie batter onto the silicone mat or parchment – this helps to speed up the process.
- For a uniform shape, use a template underneath the baking mat.
- Use a flat spatula to fold one-half of the cookie over.
- Use a muffin pan as a cooling rack.
- Don’t press the cookie flat when folding half of the cookie over (step 4)- it causes a lack of hollow space in the cookie after shaping (steps 5-6).
FOLDING MISTAKE TO AVOID
When folding one half of the cookie over the bottom half, avoid pressing it flat (step 4). Pressing removes the hollow center and causes the cookie to lose its shape during the rim-shaping steps (steps 5–6).
- Image 1 (failed) I pressed one half of the cookie onto the bottom half and shaped it over the rim of a glass, but the cookies didn’t have a hollow center.
- Image 2 (success!) The cookie was made by gently folding the top half over the bottom and pressing the edges first, and then shaping the crescent shape over the rim – the cookie has a hollow inside. Perfect!
- Image 1 (failed) A cookie that is too cool will crack during shaping (step 1).
- Image 2 (failed) And a cookie that is either too thick or not baked enough will remain soft in the middle after cooling (step 2). Bake-shaped cookie again for a couple of minutes to make it crispy.
Fortune cookies are fun to give and receive.
MORE UNIQUE COOKIE RECIPES
- Heart S’mores Cookies
- Rainbow Meringue Pretzel Sticks
- American Flag Cookies
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies via A Cookie Named Desire
- Crunchy Walnut Egg White Cookies
- Hydrangea Meringue Cookies
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TO MAKE HOMEMADE FORTUNE COOKIES YOU NEED
- Flat Spatula
- Silicone Baking Mats
- Baking Cookie Sheet
- Ghirardelli Dipping Chocolate or chopped dark chocolate (will need to be tempered to dip cookies)
- Mini Heart Sprinkles
Fortune Cookies
Equipment
- 1 handheld mixer
- mixing bowls
- flat cookie spatula
- baking sheet
- silicone baking mat
- muffing pan
Ingredients
FORTUNE COOKIES
Cookie Batter
- 2 egg whites (60 grams)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Almond Extract (optional)
- 3 tbsp melted butter (42-45 grams)
- 2 to 2½ tbsp water or milk (30 to 37ml)
- 2/3 cup flour (95grams)
- pinch of salt
Chocolate for Dipping
- 4oz melting wafers/dipping chocolate (113grams)
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Into a mixing bowl, pour egg whites (2 egg whites, 60grams), granulated sugar (1/2 cup, 100 grams), Vanilla Extract (1/2 teaspoon), Almond Extract (1/4 teaspoon), melted butter (3 tablespoons, 42- 45grams), water or milk (2 to 2½ tablespoons). Beat at medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until smooth, doubled in volume, and light in color.
- Reduce speed to low. Add flour (2/3 cup, 95 grams) and a pinch of salt, and continue mixing until all is well combined and no streaks of flour are visible. The batter should be medium consistency; if it appears too thick, add a teaspoon of water.
Spread Cookie Dough into Rounds
- Drop 1 heaping tsp of batter onto a baking mat or parchment. Use the back of the measuring spoon to spread the batter into about 3.5-4-inch round. Bake 2 cookies per baking sheet. As you get faster at shaping cookies, you can try and bake 3-4 cookies at a time.
Bake Cookies
- Bake cookies in the preheated oven at 350°F (180℃) for 7-8 minutes, until the edges are amber brown.
Shape Fortune Cookies
- Carefully run the spatula under half of the cookie to release it. Place the fortune message in the middle of the cookie. Fold half of the cookie over and gently press the edges. Arrange the middle of the crescent shape, with the sealed edge facing up, on the rim of a glass, and slowly bring down both ends of the crescent.Place a shaped fortune cookie into a prepared muffin pan to cool.
Dipping in Chocolate
- Melt chocolate( 4oz, 113 grams), dip cooled cookies in chocolate, and decorate with sprinkles.
Notes
- Mistakes to Avoid
- When folding one half of the cookie over the bottom half, avoid pressing it flat. Pressing flat removes the hollow center, causing the cookie to lose its shape during the rim-shaping steps.
- Shape cookies while they’re hot, once they cool, they are hard to shape and will crack during shaping.
- Do not spread the batter too thick. Thick or underbaked cookies may remain soft after cooling. Return them to the oven briefly to crisp.
- How to Store Fortune Cookies? – Shaped cookies will last up to a month, stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If they lose some of their crispiness you can crispy them up again, in the oven at 300F for a couple of minutes.
This post was originally published on January 15th, 2011. On February 13th, 2023 I updated this post with step-by-step photo and written instructions.
Now i want to try this too! Not for Valentine but for Chinese New Year! 😀 Thanks for sharing! Ok..i want to use princess emulsion too..sounds so princessy..and i like!
Chocolate dipped PINK fortune cookies — I LOVE THEM!
Thank you so much everyone for your wonderful comments.
Sue, sure you can, you can use any flavoring you'd like.
You can't go wrong with good vanilla.
So fun to make custom love notes for your own fortune cookies! I printed out the recipe; thanks! Do I just use vanilla instead of the princess emulsion?
These are super-cute! What a fun idea to make. You executed them perfectly!!!! What a creative mind 🙂
You're amazing! Such a cute idea.
Great idea! This could be loads of fun.
Wonderful idea! These are beautiful!
Landa, of course not. Please try them, they are fun to make.:-)
Maybe you can decorate them with royal icing for a little extra decorative touch, I can see these to be really personalized with a written message on them..like For my Valentine or something like that. That would be fun too.
I wish I used my disco dust, it looks so pretty on chocolate.
Oh how cute, Hani. Do you mind if I try this out???