Valentine's Cookies

Thirteen years ago today, on our first Valentine's day as an engaged couple, Kris invited me over to his place for dinner. Yes, he actually made dinner! :) He made Chicken curry with rice, but the truly impressive part of the meal was dessert. He baked homemade fortune cookies with little love notes inside. Ok, so to our gentlemen readers...this recipe will most definately get you some high marks with your lady, guaranteed! Yesterday Kris and I had our valentine's "date" and made the fortune coookies again. It's been 13 years since the last time we had them. In this season of life, raising a young child, time seems to be what we would like more than flowers and fancy, expensive dates...although those are always nice! We had the best time hanging out in the kitchen, making witty remarks, laughing, and trying not to mess up the finicky cookies!

Fortune cookies:
These cookies can be tricky to make - it's important to make sure that the cookie batter is spread out evenly on the baking sheet. The best way to spead the batter is to gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth as needed. Wearing cotton gloves makes it easier to handle and shape the hot cookies. This fortune cookie recipe makes about 6-10 cookies...They are easier to shape if you make them a little larger.

Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons water

Preparation:
1. Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.

4. Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.
Note: if you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter.

5. Place level tablespoons (we made ours with about three tablespoons of the batter each) of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter.

6. Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (You kind of just have to watch them at about 8 minutes...ours took 11 minutes total and the original recipe says 14 - 15 minutes).

7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies. Let them cool and dry for a while before eating!