Fortune Cookies

It was a dear friend's 30th birthday this past weekend and a couple of us wanted to do something special.  We aren't the richest people and I'm on a homemade kick so we decided to make fortune cookies, complete with fortunes of our own.  I got the recipe from One Smart Cookie, an amazing book (by the writer of the blog 'dinner with Julie' -- see left for the link).

I should note that I only wrote out the fortunes.  My friend Peter did all the actual work.  Although I most definitely take credit for the idea.

Fortune Cookies
1 large egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400*.  Get everything ready before you start - you will have to work quickly when the cookies come out of the oven.  You will need a clean, flat surface, and an empty rimless mixing bowl to shape the cookies on.  Generously spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg and vanilla until foamy.  Add flour, sugar and salt and mix until smooth.

Place a spoonful of batter into the middle of the sheet.  Tilt the sheet around to make the batter run into a circle around 3" in diameter.  You can use a spatula to even it out if you like.  When the circle is even, place the sheet in the oven for about 5 minutes, until golden around the edges but still pale in the middle.

With a wide, flat spatula, quickly slide the cookie off the sheet and onto your work surface, flipping it upside down.  Lay the fortune on the cookie, just off of the center.  Fold the cookie in half.  The fortune should be lying along the fold, inside the cookie.

Quickly pick up the cookie and place the middle of the folded edge on the rim of the empty bowl, keeping it upright, like a taco.  Pull one end down one sude and the other end down the other.  Hold it up for a few seconds until it firms up, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once you get the hang of it, you can work with two sheets at a time, baking one cookie as you shape another.  Make sure you cool the sheets between batches.

The recipe says you can get 15 cookies out of the batch, but we got 9.  But, some of the cookies were monstrous.  I think one was named Gigantor.

How cute are they!?  And they were a big hit with my birthday friend.