Dragon cookies (过年饼 ‘loong peng’ in Cantonese). In Chinese culture, dragons are auspicious, representing good luck, strength, health and also the male element of the “yang” energy. In olden China, they connote imperial power and authority. Dragon cookies are all the rage during Lunar New Year, but since I missed having them during the festival this year, I decided to make them now. They taste just like regular butter cookies, crisp on the edges but soft inside. They’re fun to make and you only need simple kitchen gadgets. But the challenge lies in getting the right dough consistency so that it’s not too hard (which will be tricky to pipe out) nor too fluid and soft that it looses its shape and melts in the oven, or too starchy/custard-y. The end result should be a soft, pliable dough that is easy to pipe out with just a little bit of resistance.
You should also develop some arm muscles because it takes a fair bit of thumb coordination to get the dough out of the nozzle!
These cookies are a perfect accompaniment to my warm matcha latte.
Crisp and Buttery Dragon Cookies 过年饼
Equipment
- Electric cake mixer
- Hand whisk
- Baking sheets/parchment paper
- Baking tray
- Rubber spatula
- Digital kitchen scale
- Oven (with top and bottom heating function)
- Wilton 1M piping nozzle and thick, durable piping bag (avoid disposable bags)
- Toothpicks
- A cooling rack
Ingredients
- 150 g salted butter brought to room temperature about 30 minutes, then cut to smaller pieces and mashed
- 100 g icing sugar sifted
- 2 egg yolks 18g each, brought to room temperature, egg whites separated from the yolk. How to identify eggs: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/whats-the-deal-with-grades-of-eggs/
- 60 g milk room temperature
- 250 g corn flour sifted (I used unbleached organic corn flour, which is slightly yellower in colour)
- 50 g cake flour sifted
- 30 g milk powder sifted
- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence optional
- red gel food colouring
Instructions
- Cream butter for 3 minutes at medium high speed until creamy. Add icing sugar and increase to high speed. Mix well until light and creamy and icing sugar is no longer visible. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl from time to time.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, then beat well until just combined. I recommend you to weigh the egg yolks beforehand as this will determine the consistency of the cookie dough.
- Add in milk, a little at a time, as you continue to beat everything together on high speed for 3 minutes. Whip until the texture becomes fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl.
- Fold in milk powder, corn flour and cake flour. Using a baking spatula, gently fold in all the ingredients together, stirring firmly until well combined to form a soft, pliable dough.
- You can use a 1.5cm piping tip (those ideal for making churros), but I prefer the Wilton 1M nozzle to achieve a thinner, more organic shape. Fit your nozzle to your piping bag then transfer the dough to the bag. Do not overfill. Kitchn has some great tips on how to use a piping bag for beginners (link below).
- With a firm hand, gently press down the tip of your nozzle to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Pipe out ’S’ patterns, using your thumb to press them out of the nozzle. Try to keep to an S shape as much as possible and don’t pipe too long, otherwise it may end up looking like a snake instead of a dragon.
- Use a toothpick dip in red gel colouring to dot the eyes.
- Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate cookie dough for 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat oven to 150 C. Bake your cookies on the lower rack for 15 minutes till light yellow. It shouldn’t brown too much.
- Remove and leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
- You don’t need to add salt as I incorporated salted butter in the recipe.
- I use cake flour for finer, airy and tender cookies. They’re best for baked goods like cakes, biscuits, or pastries.
- It's recommended to bring eggs, butter, and other dairy ingredients to room temperature before mixing them. These ingredients form an emulsion which traps air, while at room temperature. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces fluffy baked goods.
- Chilling the cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread out or “melt” in the oven.
If you made this dish, let me know by tagging @saveurmalaisie on Instagram!
