Very light, melt-in-the-mouth cookie (a much better version than the one I posted earlier here) usually made for Chinese New Year in Malaysia & Singapore. If not done properly, it is ghastly & sticks in the mouth like plaster. Mine are a little brown cos I like the whiff of toastiness. They are supposed to be pure white - guess have to lower the heat and bake them longer like meringue. (Recipe
adapted from:
http://belachan2.blogspot.com/2006/01/kuih-bangkit.html. I used the same
proportions, but added pandan leaves and did things a
little differently.)
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups tapioca flour/tapioca starch (or use potato flour if tapioca is unavailable)
- 4 pandan leaves, washed, wiped & cut into 1" pieces
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 egg yolk (large)
- 1 cup icing sugar (I think this should reduced slightly)
- 120ml thick coconut milk (I used Kara tetrapak - consistency is very thick)
Method:
1. Place 2 paper towels on a microwave-safe bowl, sift in tapioca flour & add pandan leaves. Microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir lightly & repeat 2-3 times until pandan leaves are brittle & crumble easily. * I used 2 bowls & toggled them cos I noticed water droplets in the bowl below the kitchen paper after each zap. The proper way is to dry fry the flour in a wok - which takes about an hour and leaves the kitchen coated in a fine film of flour.
2. Let it cool - traditionally this takes a few days. After 1 hour, I sifted out the pandan & put the flour in a clean plastic bag & left it alone for 2 days. Seems this will reduce "smell" of the flour. I didn't microwave extra flour for rolling out / kneading as advised.
3. After 2 days, open the bag of flour & sift in icing sugar. Mix melted butter, yolk & coconut milk well in a small bowl before adding to the dry mix. Sqeeeze & press the bag of mix till you get a pliable, non-sticky dough. At first, mixture may seem dry & crumbly, but be patient & keep working at it. Original recipe advised to add more flour if dough is too wet (or coconut milk if too dry), but I didn't have to. Do not add extra liquid too soon - too much will result in a sticky dough & hard cookie.
4. Flatten the dough in the bag, & roll to ~ 3mm thick. Cut away the plastic on top & cut into shapes using small cookie cutters (about 1" or so) - these cookies are usually tiny & dainty. The more traditional way is to press balls on dough into floured wooden molds & knock them out. Arrange on lined (important!) baking tray. No need to space much as they don't expand much sideways but will puff up a little when baked.
5. Bake at 170C for 15 mins. Thicker cookies will take longer, so test one & bake longer if the centre is not totally dried out. To achieve a whiter look, bake longer at a lower temp (160C for 25-30mins. Or even 150C, as recommended by some recipes).
6. Cool and store in air-tight jars. This bit is the trickiest of all ... how on earth do people arrange cookies so neatly in a jar?
Yields: 200+ cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups tapioca flour/tapioca starch (or use potato flour if tapioca is unavailable)
- 4 pandan leaves, washed, wiped & cut into 1" pieces
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 egg yolk (large)
- 1 cup icing sugar (I think this should reduced slightly)
- 120ml thick coconut milk (I used Kara tetrapak - consistency is very thick)
Method:
1. Place 2 paper towels on a microwave-safe bowl, sift in tapioca flour & add pandan leaves. Microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir lightly & repeat 2-3 times until pandan leaves are brittle & crumble easily. * I used 2 bowls & toggled them cos I noticed water droplets in the bowl below the kitchen paper after each zap. The proper way is to dry fry the flour in a wok - which takes about an hour and leaves the kitchen coated in a fine film of flour.
2. Let it cool - traditionally this takes a few days. After 1 hour, I sifted out the pandan & put the flour in a clean plastic bag & left it alone for 2 days. Seems this will reduce "smell" of the flour. I didn't microwave extra flour for rolling out / kneading as advised.
3. After 2 days, open the bag of flour & sift in icing sugar. Mix melted butter, yolk & coconut milk well in a small bowl before adding to the dry mix. Sqeeeze & press the bag of mix till you get a pliable, non-sticky dough. At first, mixture may seem dry & crumbly, but be patient & keep working at it. Original recipe advised to add more flour if dough is too wet (or coconut milk if too dry), but I didn't have to. Do not add extra liquid too soon - too much will result in a sticky dough & hard cookie.
4. Flatten the dough in the bag, & roll to ~ 3mm thick. Cut away the plastic on top & cut into shapes using small cookie cutters (about 1" or so) - these cookies are usually tiny & dainty. The more traditional way is to press balls on dough into floured wooden molds & knock them out. Arrange on lined (important!) baking tray. No need to space much as they don't expand much sideways but will puff up a little when baked.
5. Bake at 170C for 15 mins. Thicker cookies will take longer, so test one & bake longer if the centre is not totally dried out. To achieve a whiter look, bake longer at a lower temp (160C for 25-30mins. Or even 150C, as recommended by some recipes).
6. Cool and store in air-tight jars. This bit is the trickiest of all ... how on earth do people arrange cookies so neatly in a jar?
Yields: 200+ cookies
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