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Chocolate and orange fortune cookies
Makes: about 20
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Toby Scott
Chocolate and orange fortune cookies
Recipe by Lisa Tse
Add your own messages to these extra-special chocolate and orange fortune cookies. Follow our step-by-step guide to making these Chinese New Year treats
Makes: about 20
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time:
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
79Kcal
Fat
3gr
Saturates
1gr
Carbs
11gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
0gr
Protein
1gr
Salt
0.01gr
Lisa Tse
CEO of award-winning Manchester restaurant Sweet Mandarin and chief sauce maker of Sweet Mandarin Sauces, Lisa is also a co-author of three Chinese cookbooks with her sister Helen Tse.
See more of Lisa Tse’s recipes
Lisa Tse
CEO of award-winning Manchester restaurant Sweet Mandarin and chief sauce maker of Sweet Mandarin Sauces, Lisa is also a co-author of three Chinese cookbooks with her sister Helen Tse.
See more of Lisa Tse’s recipes
Ingredients
- 100g plain flour
- 15g cornflour
- 50g caster sugar
- 3 large egg whites
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond or lemon extract
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
To decorate
- 100g cook’s Belgian dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted
- candied orange or cut mixed peel, finely diced
Step by step
Get ahead
Prepare to the end of step 4 the day before and store in an airtight container. Once dipped in chocolate, serve within a few hours.
- Write each fortune message on 6cm x 1cm rectangles of white paper (20 in total). Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Have a palette knife, a glass or cup, and a muffin tin at the ready, as you need to work quickly to shape the cookies when they come out of the oven, before they set too hard.
- Sift the flour and cornflour into a bowl then stir in the sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. Lightly beat the egg whites, then add to the flour with the extracts, oil and 2 tablespoons cold water. Beat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, spreadable batter.
- Starting with only 2 cookies for your first batch (as a bit of a practice run, and to check the cooking time in your particular oven), spoon two separate scant tablespoonfuls of batter onto a lined baking tray. Use the back of the spoon to spread out the mixture to a circle, about 10cm in diameter. It should almost be thin enough to see through. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and crisp at the edges, but still quite pale and pliable in the centre – start checking after 5 minutes, they may take up to 10 minutes but ovens do vary so you need to keep an eye on them. After the first batch or two you'll know how long they take. You can prepare another 2-3 cookies on the second baking sheet once the first batch are in.
- As each batch of cookies is ready, remove from the oven and use the palette knife to loosen a cookie and flip it over. Quickly place the fortune message in the centre of the cookie then fold it in half to create a semi-circle. To create the classic fortune cookie shape, hold the cookie at each pointed end and press the folded edge against the rim of a cup so that it bends into shape (it will be quite warm!). Transfer the fortune cookie to the muffin tin to cool and set, while you carry on shaping the reminder. Repeat with the rest of the batter in batches (you can shape a maximum of 4 cookies per batch if you work really quickly once they are out of the oven, but 3 at a time is easier).
- Once the fortune cookies have hardened, partially dip into the melted chocolate and put on a sheet of baking paper. Sprinkle with candied orange and leave to set firm.