To celebrate Chinese New Year, a Malaysian friend of mine made me some yummy, melt-in-the-mouth almond cookies, which are dairy-free and vegan too! These Chinese New Year almond cookies are very easy to make, even for children! My friend gave me her family recipe and let me share it with you. So,

You’ll need:

• 100g ground almonds
• 150g plain flour
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 100 ml vegetable oil

How to make the Chinese New Year almond cookies:

1. Turn your oven on and set the temperature to 180°C.
2. Sieve the flour,  sugar, baking powder & baking soda  into a mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds  and stir gently, while you drizzle the oil gradually. Mix until you get a firm dough.
3. Shape  small, about 2.5 cm balls from the dough and place them on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. If you want them crunchy, using a silicon brush brush, lightly glaze the tops of the cookies with beaten egg yolk.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden.
5. Ask and adult to transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Tips:

• My friend tells me that traditional cookies have a piece of slivered almond on the top –  we didn’t have any in our larder, put you can place a small sliver of blanched almond on top of each cookie, if you like.
• Store them in a large glass jar.
• TheseChinese New Year almond cookiesmake excellent gifts too.