On Sundays, I teach a children’s church class of about a dozen 4-7 year olds. This week our lesson was on the book of Proverbs. While there are many good lessons and teachings in Proverbs, there isn’t a clear story line that grabs the attention of young minds.
To try to keep them at least a little bit engaged as we discussed some relevant proverbs, I made fortune cookies with slips of paper inside containing a few proverbs that we could discuss. I tried to impress upon them that these were NOT fortune cookies, but “Proverb Cookies”.
This is the list of proverbs that I printed to put in the cookies. Some we opened in class, and the rest were given out to others later.
When making fortune cookies, there are always a few that don’t fold correctly, or harden too quickly to fold. My family always loves these casualties to my baking.
Click the link below for detailed instructions on how to make and shape the cookies:
Making and Shaping Fortune Cookies
RECIPE:
Proverb/Fortune Cookies
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp salt
4 egg whites
1/3 cup oil
2 Tbs water
1 ½ tsp orange or almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
Proverbs/Fortunes cut into strips about 3 ½” long by ½” wide
.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with silicone mats.
Use a whisk to mix flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
In a separate bowl, use the whisk to lightly beat the egg whites, oil, water, vanilla, and orange or almond extract until frothy.
Stir the flour into the egg white mixture and mix until you have a smooth batter. The batter will be thin, with the consistency of a sticky pancake batter and not stiff like a normal cookie dough.
Place one tablespoon of batter onto the cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread batter in a circular motion to make a circle about 3-4 inches in diameter. Place 4-6 cookies on a baking sheet (start with fewer cookies until you get the hang of folding quickly). The batter should be very thin on the baking sheet. If it’s too thick the cookies won’t fold without breaking.
Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until the outer edge of each cookie barely begins to brown.
TO FOLD: Immediately after removing baking sheet from the oven, working very quickly, remove a cookie with a thin metal spatula and flip it over onto a clean plate or mat. Place a fortune in the middle of the cookie (let one end slightly extend beyond edge of cookie, if desired). Fold the cookie in half, but do not flatten center crease; just make the edges meet gently. Fold cookie in half again by gently pulling the edges downward over the rim of a mug or glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape while it cools. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Let cookies sit, uncovered, for 1-2 hours (so that they harden completely). Cookies are best eaten the same day, especially if weather is humid. In drier climates, cookies will keep well for several days.
Yield: about 36 cookies
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