When I lived in Vancouver I tried all sorts of authentic Chinese desserts like egg tarts and moon cakes from their Chinese markets but I never warmed up to them. When I would walk into one of their bakeries I usually went come with meat buns instead!
I went on an online hunt for what makes a Chinese dessert a dessert. Whether you use seeds, beans or eggs (common ingredients for Chinese desserts) it is all about prosperity, fertility and good luck. Inspired by this idea, I took on the challenge of making Anna Olson’s Ginger Sesame Snaps.
I divided the recipe in half, I did not personally need 48 cookies! When I made the batter I thought to myself, are you kidding me? It is all liquidy! I put the sugar, sesame seeds, flour, grated ginger, fresh lemon juice and melted butter mixture in the fridge and hoped it would harden:
This is as far as you want to go spreading out the cookie
It did a little which is good. I used my mini scoop (which I am now in love with, I use it all the time) to put some batter on my Silpat Baking Sheet and used a palette knife to spread it out. Make sure to give these cookies a lot of room because they spread out big time! I think I used too much batter and spread out the cookie too thin because…
This happened! Burned cookies. The recipe says to take the cookies out when they are golden brown, I think it should say until the edges are golden brown. You can not remove the crisp right away. They have to sit on the sheet for two minutes to solidify before can you remove them so I watched as my first batch of cookies continue to burn! For the next batch I used less batter, did not spread them out as much and as soon as the edges were golden I took them out:
That’s better! You bake them for four minutes then turn the tray around and I baked for another 3 minutes until the edges were just turning golden. Then you have to wait two minutes, just long enough to gently pry the cookie off the bottom without breaking it and putting it over a wooden rolling pin:
This creates cute molds! I even put them over a small bowl to create a bowl shape, very pretty! Some of them did fall apart but I would rather risk that than burning them again.
These cookies are delicious! Even the burned ones tasted good, LOL. These ones though, wow, you can really taste the fresh lemon juice and ginger in there, what a treat!
And so pretty! It makes like a stained glass sesame seed window effect, I was amazed at how pretty they turned out and delicious they were. Dangerous! I was snacking on them all day. They are so surprising for the palette, sweet yet sour and nutty with spicy ginger to them. A bit of a pain to make but what an impression they would make!
I hope all those sesame seeds I have now eaten thanks to this recipe for Ginger Snaps blesses me with prosperity and happiness. I always say food is magic! 😉
Oh, these just look exquisite! And speaking of oriental desserts, I love egg custard tarts. Sometimes I get such a craving for them! But moon cakes — meh.
Those cookies really are so pretty and delicate and I can just imagine how flavourful they are. I know for sure you’re blessed with patience and a steady hand, getting them on the rolling pin like that without them falling apart is truly an art. Very impressive and so authentic. YUM!
How cool! I must try this one!
When I read your blog, the first thing that draws me in is the pictures. These are gorgeous. But they do explain an awful lot too (the pictures). The cookies are also gorgeous and look amazing in the light. The only way I’m going to get to taste them is to make them, so it makes me want to do that too! WOW! xo, O
Oooh how cool, love these ;]
These look incredibly crispy and delicious. Almost like little potato chips! Cheers~
Love the pictures and I will definitely try to make them.