Cherry Blossom Cookies
An ideal treat to usher in the Chinese New Year, or a nice break to take you away from the day, these Cherry Blossom Cookies is a must during Lunar New Year.
It’s almost time to say farewell to the Year of the Goat and to welcome the Year of the Monkey. Yes, next Monday, February 8th, marks the beginning of a 16-day celebration for the Chinese New Year. Unlike Western calendar, the Chinese calendar is not predictable and kinda screwy. So, Chinese New Year never fall on the same day each year, as it depends on the moon cycles, although it never stray from January-February.
Chinese New Year is the time when families get together to enjoy dinner. So, most Chinese restaurants are fully booked on that day; however that should not be an issue for us since we (read: Mom) always celebrate the New Year at home. Our family has been discussing of what to cook and bring to our New Year celebration. Normally, we will have eight certain dishes during the Chinese New Year. Why eight? Eight (in Chinese: “ba”) is a lucky number in Chinese culture, a homophone for various other words with positive connotations. After all, it’s a good food-centric holiday, where family, friends and relatives get together to feast and spread goodwill for the year to come.
I may not have recipes for classic Lunar New Year dishes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t at least give a nod to tradition. A bunch of friends and I are here for a Chinese New Year Cookie Party and you are invited. Thanks to Christine of Vermillion Roots for organizing this virtual party. Chinese New Year is my favorite holiday that I looked forward to during my childhood, although mostly it’s because of the red envelopes. But as I got married and I could no longer receive red envelopes (and have to give them instead), Chinese New Year have become something more than just being together. It’s a sweet celebration with people who cares for you the most, and for me – that’s my family.
Ingredients
- 150 gr unsalted butter room temperature
- 50 gr icing sugar
- 2 extra large egg yolks
- 150 gr a.p. flour
- 50 gr almond flour
- 20 gr cornstarch
- Pink food coloring
- Green candied cherries cut in tiny cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- In a bowl, sift a.p. flour, almond flour, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- In a mixer, combine butter and icing sugar until light and pale.
- Add egg yolks and mix well.
- Add flour mixture and combine until there's no lump. The batter can be very sticky, depending on your eggs temperature. Add few drops of milk and stir. Be careful not to add too much liquid.
- Take 1/4 of cookie dough and add couple drops of pink food coloring. Fold the dough until you get pink dough. Add to your piping bag and flatten it a bit.
- Add the rest of the dough to another piping bag.
- Snip of a little bit of the end, then place both bags into the third piping bag with a large coupler and a star tip. Pipe some out onto a napkin until you get both colors, and then pipe onto the parchment paper.
- Add candied cherries in the center and bake for 10-12 minutes.
In case you missed it, there are giveaways happening on the blog and hope you’re one of the winners. And oh, no matter how you’re celebrating the Lunar New Year, I invite you to join our party on social media channels (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) with the hashtag #ChineseNewYearCookieParty and show us your cookie creations.
- Browned Butter Chinese Walnut Cookies – Yummy Workshop
- Cherry Blossom Cookies – Brunch-n-Bites
- Chinese Peanut Cookies – Daily Cooking Quest
- Chocolate Almond Cookies – Curious Nut
- Fried Red Bean Puffs – The Missing Lokness
- Honey Almond Cookies – Hapa Nom Nom
- Macau Almond Cookies – Thirsty for Tea
- Melt-in-the-Mouth Chinese Gluten-Free Peanut Cookies – Foodie Baker
- Mochi Stuffed Almond Cookies – Miss Hangrypants
- Pineapple Jam Tarts – Wok & Skillet
- Quinoa Sesame Brittle – Omnivore’s Cookbook
- Red Bean & Strawberry Pinwheel Cookies – Butter & Type
- Sesame Spiral Pie Cookies – Bams Kitchen
- Tapioca cookies (kue bangkit) – What To Cook Today
- Vegan Cornflake Cereal Cookies – Vermilion Roots
They look like little flowers! Sho cute! Happy cny!
Thank you. Happy belated Chinese New Year, Mabel!
Linda, these cookies are so gorgeous and inviting. They just scream Chinese New Year, and “eat me”! 🙂
Thank you, Christine 😀
Lol. Screwy Chinese calendar. :p What beautiful cookies. So brilliant that you used pipping bags for these. Nice!
I’ve never seen Cherry Blossom Cookies before, So I really couldn’t wait to see them when I saw your title 🙂 They are so cute and really welcomes the up-coming Spring 😉 Happy CNY my friend !
LOL not predictable and kinda screwy! How do people know things and when to do things? Lovely little sweet cookies Linda! 😀
These cookies are beautiful, Linda! I’m loving the hint of pink! Chinese New Year is the holiday that I look forward to most. Even though my families are at the other side of the world, I still try to decorate the house a little and make turnip cake. That way, I feel like I am closer to home. These buttery cookies sure reminds me of home. 😉
Cherry blossoms remind me of spring, which is perfect for celebrating Chinese new year! They look so lovely too!
These are so sweet and dainty, Linda! Love the blossom shape. 😉
Hi Linda, these cherry blossom cookies look so adorable, I think I’ll finish one whole jar by myself :p
Your cherry blossom cookies are so pretty. I am sure your family will enjoy these over the holiday season. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday.
These look soooooo pretty!!!! And delicious! I love the color! Fantastic job on this post!
I love the idea of using some food coloring in the cookie dough! The cookies are beautiful and look like real cherry blossoms 🙂
Happy Chinese New Year Linda!
These look gorgeous, especially since CNY is associated with spring time 🙂 And how true that the best thing about CNY is spending the time with family. This is one thing I miss living far away from home.
What a fun and tasty cookie! This is just how I’d want to celebrate the Chinese New Year!
Oh what a great idea for a cookie party for Chinese New Year! Love these blossom cookies 🙂
What a fun cookie! The cherries on top are so fun!
These cookies are so pretty! Love how you decorated them with the cherry and pink – perfect for Chinese New Year! Hope you have a great one!! 🙂
What beautiful cookies! The perfect way to usher in a new year!
What cute little cookies! I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s a pretty unique recipe! They look mouthwatering!
Dear Linda, These cookies are so pretty! I absolutely love it! xo, Catherine
What a fun event, Linda! I am all about cookie parties…plus, we’re just far enough away from Christmas cookies now that we clearly need a Chinese New Year Cookie Party! And I love these cherry blossom cookies. Two thumbs up on these for sure! 🙂