We’ve officially had another successful RBE {Roommate Baking Endeavor (or perhaps we should call it a challenge?)* for the books!

This time, the roomie and I decided to make homemade fortune cookies. Yeah, it can actually be done. It was – once again – a very interesting experience.

Making homemade fortune cookies was fun, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be. However, I have to admit that there is definitely a slight learning curve with making them. [But of course, I will add our notes and lessons learned below the recipe just for you. That way you can make homemade fortune cookies and learn from Dani’s and my amateur blunders.]

Anyway. I hunted around online for some decent fortunes, and I came across some interesting ones [you can Google “fortune cookie fortunes/sayings,” and you’ll find several “fortune cookie message generators” online]. I printed out fortunes and cut them to fit in our cookies. After all, a fortune cookie is not a fortune cookie without some cool fortunes in them, amirite?

This one is my personal favorite; I would like to dedicate it to my brother, as he has a bottomless pit when it comes to food [and of course, he’s like 6’5″ and has great metabolism…]:

Seems about right. 😀

And here are some of my other favorite fortunes and messages:

We even made “monster” sized fortune cookies! Check out how big this mama cookie is compared to her baby cookie. Haha.

Overall, I’d say it was a worthwhile experience. I’m not sure I will ever make them again, but it was cool to see how simple they are to make [minus the first-timer blunders]. If you have a spare hour or two on a weekend and you’re making orange chicken or something, make these for dessert! It was also pretty awesome to know that I can now fold those glorious cookies so that they look like what you get at Asian restaurants! Another RBE crossed off the bucket list. 😀

// // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // //

Ingredients:
– 2 egg whites from extra large eggs [see notes on this below]
– ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
– ½ cup all-purpose flour
– ½ cup sugar

Fortunes/Optional Decorations:
– Handwritten or typed fortunes [not optional, IMHO!]
– 1 cup chocolate chips
– Sprinkles, for garnish

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk all of the ingredients together: egg whites, vanilla extract, cinnamon, flour, and sugar.

3. Scoop about one tablespoon of batter from the bowl, and place it onto the lined baking sheet. To smooth the batter, use the back of a spoon to flatten it into a very thin circle. The circle should be approximately ~3 inches in diameter.

4. Repeat step 3 a few more times until you have two or three circles of batter on the sheet. Bake for about 5 to 7 minutes. The edges of the cookie should just start to brown.

5. Once the cookies are done, place the fortunes in the center of the cookies. Using a flat spatula, carefully (so as not to tear the cookie) lift the cookie from the sheet.

6. To form the fortune cookie shape: fold the circle in half toward the top [over the fortune]. Then pinch the edges of the semi-circle inward to create the shape. [NOTE: I didn’t get photos of this part, but if you see the blog where I found this recipe (listed after the instructions), Kelly has better instructions/photos on the folding technique. I also have tips for folding them successfully below.] The cookies will harden quickly, so you must work fast to fold them into their signature shape.

7. If you want to dip some of them in chocolate (or all, I won’t judge), melt the chocolate chips in the microwave at 20-30  second intervals. Stir it to ensure that it’s properly melted, then dip the cooled cookies into the chocolate. Immediately decorate with sprinkles, if desired.