How to Make Chinese Peanut Cookies and Lose Weight
Chinese cuisine is outstanding in the world, but when come to dessert, European countries stand out much. When I was in university, many foreign teachers told me that it was really hard to live a foreign country, especially when you two countries have much difference in culture and food. I did not believe it until I tried beef steak. I thought it was easy to use knife and fork. Trust me, it was difficult. However, there are common in the world. Taking peanut cookies as an example, there are variety peanut cookies in different countries, they taste differently.
Chinese peanut cookies are one of my favorites, and it helps lot in losing weight. It is obvious that cooking methods are different for different cultures and history. The Chinese peanut cookies are easy to make, and the following are materials: 2 cups peanuts, 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup sugar (optional), 1 cup corn oil, 1 pinch of salt, and 1 egg:
1. Dry fry the peanuts in a wide non-stick pan (over medium heat), until they start to become fragrant and lightly browned. Take care to make sure you do not burn the peanuts.
2. Pulse the peanuts in a food processor, until it becomes a fine powder.
3. Heat the oven to 180′C.
4. Place the ground peanuts, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer, and mix until well combined.
5. With the stand mixer on (medium speed), slowly trickle the corn oil into the bowl containing the peanut/flour/sugar mixture. Mix until it forms cohesive dough. You may need more or less oil depending on the weather/humidity. A good guide is to try forming a ball from the dough – it should not crumble.
6. Form the dough into 2cm balls, and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Press down lightly with a chopstick (alternatively, use a straw or a clean pen cover), this forms the typical indentation you see in the cookie.
7. Glaze lightly with the beaten egg.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they turn a lovely shade of golden brown.
