Cashew nuts cookies are yet another favourite Chinese New Year cookies that are extremely popular in Malaysia and Singapore. They are normally given as gifts and/or served at home to family and friends during their Chinese New Year visits. There are many variations of this popular cookies depending on the personal preferences of the home bakers. These buttery Cashew Nut Cookies are simple to make and have a crumbly texture and sweet nutty flavour. Cashew nuts are extremely versatile for culinary uses and they taste good in both sweet and savoury dishes and are most regularly used in Indian cooking. Natural cashew nuts are frequently used in vegan recipes to make vegan cashew butter or cheese. These cashew nut cookies are also perfect for afternoon tea or as a snack. For my gluten free recipe, I am using a mix of ingredients including vegan butter, ground cashew nuts, gluten free all-purpose flour and stevia. This recipe is also vegan, dairy free, soy free, corn free, egg free and refined sugar free.
The cashews tree (Anacardium occidentale) is a medium sized tropical evergreen tree that belongs to the Anacardiaceae family of the genus Anacardium. It yields the cashew apples and the cashew seeds. While the Cashew nuts are kidney-shaped seeds that hangs at the bottom of the cashew apples. Cashew tree is indigenous to the Amazon rain forests of Brazil. Portuguese voyagers began exporting these tasty nuts to the rest of the world as early as the 16th century. Today, cashew nuts are grown in Brazil, India, Vietnam and various African countries. Cashew nuts or simply referred to as cashews are not only subtly sweet, crunchy and scrumptious, they are bursting with energy, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are fundamental to robust wellbeing. They are abundant in “heart-healthy” monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic and palmitoleic acids that assist in decreasing bad LDL-cholesterol whilst increasing good HDL cholesterol in the blood. Cashew nuts are an excellent source of copper, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, zinc, vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and vitamin K. They are also a good source of Iron, selenium and potassium. Health benefits of cashew nuts include: decrease risks of cardiovascular diseases, strokes and heart attacks; assist in weight loss and management; improve blood circulation and blood pressure; promote healthy bone and teeth; boost healthy brain function; support healthy skin; prevent gallstones; lower risks of colon, prostate and liver cancer and reduce risks of diabetes.
Chinese Cashew Nut Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 350 g 12.3oz natural cashew nuts
- 350 g 12.3oz gluten free all-purpose flour (Orgran)
- 4 tablespoons stevia
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
Wet Ingredients:
- 200 g 7oz vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons rice milk
Garnish:
- ⅓ cup natural cashew nuts halved
Instructions
- Add all the cashew nuts into a food processor and grind until fine.
- In a large bowl, whisk the rest of the dry ingredients together and add in the ground cashew nuts. whisk and combine well.
- Then add the vegan butter to the dry ingredients and rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Add 2 tablespoons rice milk and use your hands to knead the dough until you get a smooth dough.
- Preheat fan-forced oven to 160C or 320F. Position the oven rack in the lower third of your oven.
- Roll the dough into small balls (25g/1oz each), repeat until you have used up all the dough.
- Flatten each ball into a 1 ½ inch round patty and smooth the edges with your fingers.
- Place each cookie dough ½ inch apart, onto baking trays lined with baking paper.
- Press halved cashew nut gently onto the center of each cookie dough.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 to 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, store in an air-tight container.
Notes
Disclosure Statement: I am NOT paid by Orgran for this post.
