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Walnut cookies - "Hup Toh Soh" is a Chinese cookie made of walnut which is crispy & crumbly. Easy walnut cookies recipe, great for Chinese New Year!
I am so glad that my contributor Siew Loon is back from her long hiatus on Rasa Malaysia. Siew Loon is a great friend and she is such a wonderful baker, especially Chinese New Year cookies.
I remember a few years ago, she brought me a bottle of her homemade pineapple tarts when we met up for Chinese New Year.
Anyway, today, she is sharing with us the recipe of Chinese walnut cookies.
Enjoy!
Happy New Year to all Rasa Malaysia readers.
When I was browsing through the various blogs for cookies to bake for the Lunar New Year, this recipe of walnut cookies from Nasi Lemak Lover instantly caught my eyes.
It reminds me of my childhood days where we would go to the market to buy these cookies and eat them with a cup of coffee.
After reading her blog post, I realized that most walnut cookies do not have walnuts in it.
But I have edited the recipe a bit and added ground walnuts and shortening into it as I simply love nuts.
The end result is these absolutely delicious walnut cookies topped with walnut pieces that are buttery, crumbly, and nutty.
They are great for the upcoming Lunar New Year, when friends and family gather together and some cookies to enjoy during the festivities.
They are also very easy to make and you don’t need a mixer because you can mix everything with hands.
To those celebrating Lunar New Year, happy year of horse to you all.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 174 calories per serving.
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Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- 9 oz (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 oz (60g) ground walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 oz (125g) granulated sugar
- 1 oz (30g) butter
- 1/2 teaspoon alkaline water
- 5 oz (150g) peanut oil , or cooking oil
- 2 oz (60g) walnut halves
Egg Wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- Mix the flour, baking powder, ground walnuts, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Rub in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the alkaline water and peanut oil, then mix until the dough forms and becomes soft.
- Divide the dough into 20g (1 oz.) portions and flatten each slightly with a fork. Top each piece with half a walnut and brush the tops with egg wash.
- Bake at 170°C (340°F) for 30 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have loved hup toh soh since I first had them in Penang, so I’m definitely making some for CNY. But what is alkaline water – I’ve never heard of it?
Lye water.
Hi! Thanks for sharing the recipe. What is the purpose for using alkaline water? Is it important or can it be omitted?
It makes it crispy. You can skip.
Hi
Can the shortening be omitted ? Anything else I can substitute shortening?
You can.
Hi if I take out the walnuts will the cookies still taste the same as the traditional Chinese walnut cookies? I saw a bakery in Hong Kong that made these & they didn’t use walnuts, I want to make them the same.
Thank you
I can’t guarantee results if you omit the key ingredient in the recipe.
i am not sure what you mean by 10 gms butter in your recipe.pl let me know how just much butter and how much shortening that i have to use.
thanks
jessie
20g butter total or 10g butter plus 10g shortening.
fyi….28.3 grams in 1 ounce
I think if those who had issues issues with too much oil measured the oil by cups rather than by weight it would fix their problems. I can’t figure out how to use my kitchen scale to properly measure liquids, and it always wants me to add more liquid than I actually need. It might be the case for them as well.
How many cups of wholewheat flour if I’m going to use this kind of flour rather than the all purpose flour…
Can I use kitchenaid mixer to mix the ingredients together, instead of using the technique of rubbing the butter together with flour?
Hi, I’m making my 2nd double batch today because I got requests for more, a friend ate ten at one sitting and only stopped because he had eaten them all. I had no problems with the recipe and the oil amount and shaped them with no problem, though I used a cookie small cookie scoop. I omitted the alkaline water because I didn’t have any but they still tasted great and still had a very unique texture. They looked beautiful, akin to peanut cookies. Thanks so much for all your unique recipes.