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Home / Cuisine / Chinese / Chinese Peanut Cookies

Chinese Peanut Cookies

By: 👩‍🦳 Linda · Published: 🖨 February 16, 2015 · Updated: 💻May 8, 2021 · 🗨 36 Comments

Recipe ▼

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies made using rice flour. A favorite during the Chinese New Year and popular throughout the year.

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies made using rice flour.

One of the traditions surrounding the Chinese New Year is the practice of matching ingredients that are homonyms of auspicious words. Peanuts fall into this happy category with the Cantonese fah sung rhyming with long life and growing prosperity. Hence, they often appear in all kinds of dishes prepared for the New Year celebrations. I also happen to like peanuts so I have absolutely no objections to this tradition. In fact, these Chinese Peanut Cookies are something I look forward to every Chinese New Year. They are the best!

Melt-in-the-Mouth Texture

Traditionally, ground peanuts are combined with all-purpose flour, sugar, and pork lard to make these delectable cookies. Today, most people would substitute the pork lard with vegetable oil for a less “fatty” version. I have also replaced the sugar with powdered/icing sugar and the all-purpose flour with rice flour to make them gluten free. White rice flour is finer than all-purpose flour and so these cookies have a very smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies.

Molded Chinese Peanut Cookies

For a festive touch, I borrowed my mother-in-law’s excellent idea of molding half of the cookies using wooden Kuih Bangkit molds. The wooden molds with larger indentations are preferred. However, they are still smaller than the hand formed balls. Baking time for these molded cookies should be adjusted accordingly.

I make these cookies a few times a year, not just Chinese New Year because they are so easy to make. Also, you only need a few ingredients and blanched peanuts is something I always have in my pantry. Many people have affirmed that these cookies have a melt-in-the-mouth texture because of the use of rice flour and powdered/icing sugar. I hope you will it a try.

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies made using rice flour.


Similar Tools Used in Making These Chinese Peanut Cookies

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

KitchenAid 9-Cup Food Processor with Exact Slice System – Contour Silver
Staub Serving Bowl, White, 3.4 qt.
Pyrex Prepware 1-Cup Measuring Cup

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies made using rice flour.
Print Pin Rate
4.75 from 8 votes

Chinese Peanut Cookies

Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies made using rice flour. A favorite during the Chinese New Year and popular throughout the year.
(Makes 40 cookies)
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Cookies
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : chinese peanut cookies, peanut cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 20
Calories: 199kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups shelled raw peanuts (300 gm)
  • 1¼ cup rice flour (150 gm)
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar / icing sugar (90 gm)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil (160 ml)
  • White egg wash

Instructions
 

  • Place peanuts in a single layer on a shallow baking pan. Roast at 350°F (180°C) for about 12 to 15 minutes until just lightly brown. Remove and allow peanuts to cool.
  • Grind peanuts in a food processor to as fine as possible.
  • Pour into a large bowl. Mix in rice flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pour in oil and mix well. Peanut and flour mixture should come together.
  • Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Flatten slightly before placing onto parchment lined baking pan.
  • Brush top of cookie with egg wash.
  • Bake in 375°F (190°C) oven for approximately 18 minutes.
  • Remove and cool in pan for 10 minutes.
  • Transfer onto wire rack to cool completely. Store in an air tight jar.

Nutrition

Calories: 199kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @MalaysianChineseKitchen or tag #MalaysianChineseKitchen

Happy Chinese New Year with Chinese Peanut Cookies.

1.6K shares

Categories: 🗂 Chinese, Chinese New Year, Cookies, Video Recipes Tags: 📋 peanuts, rice flour

About Linda

Linda is a food writer and photographer who hails from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She now lives in Wyoming, USA. Her other blogs are Roti n Rice and Tea Tattler.

Malaysian Chinese Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Previous Post: « Leng Ngau Tong (Lotus Root Soup)
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Comments

  1. Elin says

    February 16, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    4 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this gluten free peanut cookies . Have KIV this for a friend who can’teat gluten cookies 🙂

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 16, 2015 at 10:22 pm

      You are welcome, Elin. I think they taste better with rice flour instead of all-purpose flour. Rice flour gives them a melt-in-the-mouth texture. 🙂

      Reply
  2. sm says

    February 2, 2016 at 11:00 am

    What is the Chinese name for rice flour, is it glutinous flour?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 2, 2016 at 3:29 pm

      Rice flour is just rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is different from rice flour. It is made of glutinous rice, a.k.a sweet rice or sticky rice. Do not use glutinous rice flour for this recipe.

      Reply
  3. Shei says

    May 20, 2016 at 3:24 am

    I tried this recipe last week and have some peanuts roasting in the oven as I type, so I can make another batch this afternoon 🙂 I just wanted to say thank you for a deliciously simple recipe! I didn’t have rice flour the last time so used potato flour instead. Come out a treat!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      May 22, 2016 at 10:30 pm

      I am glad to hear you enjoyed the peanut cookies. They are so easy to make and use just a few ingredients. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Teoh says

    December 6, 2016 at 6:14 am

    5 stars
    Hi Linda, thanks for sharing the recipe. Can I replace the vegetable oil with butter or coconut oil? How long can the cookies last in room temp?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      December 22, 2016 at 10:20 am

      Yes, you can. If you use butter, do melt the butter. I think it will be very rich. Not sure how it will taste with coconut oil. Maybe you can let me know once you have tried it. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Joeway says

    December 27, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    What are the differences of using cake flour, all purpose flour (plain flour) and rice flour in making the peanut cookies?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 6, 2017 at 9:08 am

      I think using rice flour makes the cookies lighter. I have never tried cake flour.

      Reply
  6. Gisele says

    January 15, 2017 at 8:08 am

    Hi Linda,

    Can we use plain flour instead of rice flour ?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 18, 2017 at 8:28 pm

      Yes, you can use all-purpose flour but the texture will be different. The cookies will be more dense.

      Reply
  7. Lynette Roden says

    December 16, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    5 stars
    Hello, can I use wheat flour instead of rice flour?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      December 18, 2017 at 11:10 pm

      Please use all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour.

      Reply
  8. SLing says

    January 16, 2018 at 6:29 am

    5 stars
    Great taste and gluten free was a.bonus! Thank you so much for this recipe

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 17, 2018 at 6:20 pm

      You are welcome!

      Reply
  9. Joyce says

    January 16, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    5 stars
    Hi, when i use rice flour, the dough doesn’t come together and it’s so hard to shape. Is there any tricks to make them come together as it’s always grainy even after 15 mins of kneading. I used olive oil as well, not sure if that makes an difference?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 17, 2018 at 6:21 pm

      I don’t know where you went wrong. Maybe you have to grind the peanuts a little more.

      Reply
  10. Christie says

    January 20, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    Hi Linda,

    Thanks for this recipe. It looks very straight-forward on your excellent video.

    Our daughter was born in China, so we always celebrate Chinese New Year with a dessert party with lots of friends. It has become MORE important as she has gotten older and we have always tried to accurately include as many cultural traditions, as properly as we can, to ensure that she appreciates her Asian identity as much as we do.

    Recipes like yours will certainly help me in the kitchen.

    I was wondering how far in advance I can make the cookies, stored in an air-tight container, wihout risking any change in flavour or freshness?

    Also, I want to double the recipe. Would you recommend that I make two separate batches or do you think the dough will still come together for molding if I just double all the ingredients at one time? I know that doing so can sometimes compromise the recipe.

    I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

    xin nian kuai le!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 29, 2018 at 6:16 pm

      I am delighted to hear that your family celebrates Chinese New Year with your daughter. Likewise, even though we are far away from our original homeland, I try to celebrate CNY and many of the Chinese festivals so that my two sons will not lose touch with our rich traditions. As they grow older, they do appreciate it even more.

      As for the peanut cookies, you can make them two to three weeks in advance. You should have no problems doubling the recipe as I have done that before and it worked out just fine.

      Gong Xi Fa Cai and Xin Nian Kuai Le!

      Reply
  11. Christie Hoskins says

    February 1, 2018 at 12:47 am

    Hi Linda,

    Thanks for your lovely reply.

    I have an additional question:

    It is very convenient for me (and I get top quality products) from nuts.com. I’ve placed several orders with them.

    I was just about to place my order for rice flour and my fresh peanuts to roast and pulverize when I noticed that they offer roasted and pulverized peanut flour. Essentially what I have been making.

    I would like to give their “peanut flour” a chance (especially as nuts are their speciality) but I realized that I don’t know a “cup” amount that home roasting and crushing the peanuts equals. (I hope that this question makes sense. If you think I should just stick with the recipe as is please don’t hesitate to say so).

    I’m not looking for a shortcut, only the best version of the cookie I can make which is the reason I’m shifting to your excellent rice flour replacement.

    Again, I look forward to your guidance at your convenience.

    Sincerely,
    Christie

    Gong Xi Fa Cai and Xin Nian Kuai Le to you and your lucky family! ?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 10, 2018 at 1:44 am

      For this recipe, I think it is best to roast and crush the peanuts because peanut flour may be too fine. The texture will certainly be different. I have used peanut flour once to make these Peanut Butter Stamped Cookies (from my other blog) and they were a bit too much. The peanut flour was quite fine and it felt over powering in my mouth. It is hard to explain but I did not like the texture. Perhaps I should have used half peanut flour and half all-purpose flour to make those stamped cookies instead of using only peanut flour. I will try it again sometime if I get some peanut flour.

      Wishing you and your family a most Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

      Reply
  12. victor says

    February 4, 2018 at 7:06 am

    Hi Linda

    why do you use White egg wash as most recipe using egg yolk wash? there any different?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 10, 2018 at 1:09 am

      It is a matter of preference. White egg wash promotes even browning but little shine while egg yolk wash gives the cookies a shiny look.

      Reply
  13. Helen says

    February 7, 2018 at 7:01 am

    5 stars
    Hi Linda, love your recipe and the cookies literally melt in my mouth! However all of them cracked and I have checked my oven temperature it is only at 170c. Is my oven too hot that had caused all my cookies to crack?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 10, 2018 at 1:11 am

      Glad you enjoy the recipe. 🙂 As for the cracking, perhaps your cookies may be a little too dry.

      Reply
  14. KT says

    October 12, 2018 at 4:02 am

    Hi. Does roasting the peanuts under the stove and in the oven makes a difference in the fragrance of the cookies?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      November 12, 2018 at 9:41 am

      I don’t think so and even if it does, the difference will not be noticeable.

      Reply
  15. Faith says

    December 13, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    4 stars
    Thank you for the recipe! It’s so simple and came out just like how i remember it when i get to eat them during the festive days of Chinese New Year. I will definitely make these again and this is coming from someone who is not so good at baking!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      December 14, 2018 at 10:49 am

      I am glad to hear the recipe turned out well for you. These peanut cookies are a personal favorite and I make them year round. 🙂

      Reply
  16. Meizhen Lu says

    January 7, 2019 at 8:33 am

    Chinese new year is going to happen next month. I shall use your recipe to make. But i have a few questions. I read that if i use rice flour + icing sugar i will get melt in mouth kind of cookies right? But if i want to get more crusty crispy feel. I should change my rice flour to plain flour? Do I need change to fine caster sugar? Have you try before?

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 26, 2019 at 12:03 pm

      I have not tried it. You will have to do your own experiment to find out.

      Reply
  17. Lena says

    January 30, 2019 at 3:49 am

    Hello Linda
    Can I use the bulk peanut ( unsalted) sold in the store instead of roasting the raw peanuts!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 26, 2019 at 11:30 am

      I know of people who have used my recipe with roasted peanuts from the store.The cookies turned out quite nicely. 🙂

      Reply
  18. CHRISTINE VELU says

    December 14, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    5 stars
    Very accurate recipe. Melts in the mouth. As a vegetarian, I used milk as the replacement for egg white wash. Tq

    Reply
    • Linda says

      December 29, 2020 at 7:57 pm

      You are welcome and I am glad you had a chance to try my recipe. 🙂

      Reply

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