Sweet Red Bean Paste/ Anko Crinkle Cookies (with Egg or Eggless)

Soft and chewy crinkle cookies are infused with the flavor and sweetness of sweet red bean paste is amazingly good. The recipe can be made with egg or without egg.

I always have sweet red bean paste in stock. I usually make a large batch and then portion it out into smaller portions and freeze. So I was craving for crinkle cookies and I want to use up my red bean paste stash and that’s how these sweet red bean paste crinkle cookies are created 🙂
I also like to use it as a filling for steamed buns like dou sha bao, a pastry such as Shanghai mooncake, a dessert such as mochi rolls with red bean paste, a dumpling such as sago crystal dumpling, breakfast waffles like sweet red bean mochi waffles. The possibilities are pretty endless actually!

Ingredients

1. All-purpose flour
I use unbleached all-purpose flour. You can use regular bleached all-purpose flour too. Try not to substitute with cake flour or pastry flour as the texture will be too crumbly
2. Sweet red bean paste
I use my homemade sweet red bean paste
3. Butter 
Use softened unsalted butter
4. Egg 
Egg adds richness, moisture, and a chewy texture to a cookie. The eggless version will use plain yogurt instead
5. Sugar
I use regular granulated sugar. You can also use monk fruit sweetener or allulose or other Keto-friendly sweeteners
6. Baking powder
I decided to use baking powder instead of baking soda. After a few rounds of retesting, baking powder gives a nice puff so the cookies won’t be as flat, but not too puffy that it makes the cookies too “cakey”

The recipe has been retested and updated on 12/31/2021. The previous recipe yields more light, airy, and “cakey” crinkle cookies. This latest version has that slight crisp on the edge, soft and chewy center.

Sweet Red Bean Paste/ Anko Crinkle Cookies (with Egg or Eggless)

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Chill cookie dough 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 31 minutes mins

Servings 20 cookies

4.9 from 19 reviews

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

US CustomaryMetric

Dry ingredients:

• ▢ 225 gr all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ ¼ tsp salt omit salt if using margarine

Optional (to add red color) – use either one:

• ▢ 1 tsp red yeast rice powder for coloring
• ▢ Tiny drop of red food gel

Wet ingredients:

• ▢ 113 gr red bean paste you can use store-bought too
• ▢ 113 gr butter softened
• ▢ 150 gr sugar
• ▢ 50 gr egg 1 large egg without the shell

For eggless crinkle cookies:

• ▢ 50 gr plain yogurt

To coat the cookies:

• ▢ 100 gr granulated sugar
• ▢ 120 gr icing sugar

Instructions

 

Prepare cookie dough:

• Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside. I suggest not using an electric mixer. Use a rubber spatula to mash the softened butter. Then add sugar and mix until combined. Add room temperature egg (for egg version) or yogurt (for eggless version) and mix until combined. Add red bean paste and mix to combine
• Add the dry ingredients and food coloring (if using). Use a spatula to fold to combine. Don't overwork the dough, just mix until you don't see any more loose flour. The dough will be very sticky at this point. Do not be tempted to add more flour
• Cover the cookie dough and let it chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight is best if you have the time

Shape the cookies:

• Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C) for conventional oven, 300 F (150 C) for convection oven . When the oven is done preheating, scoop about 1 1/2 Tbsp (30 grams) of the cookie dough out. The dough is still sticky but easier to handle because it's cold. Spray your palms with some non-stick cooking spray or coat lightly with a bit of oil. Roll it into a round ball and place them on a lined cookie sheet
• Roll each one in granulated sugar first and then generously roll them in icing sugar. This step prevents the icing sugar from being absorbed by the dough and you won't get the crinkle effect. Roll them 2 more times in icing sugar to make sure each ball is well-coated or the confectioners' sugar will not show much after baking

Baking:

• Put the baking sheet into the oven, 3rd rack from the top. Let them bake for 8-10 minutes for the edge that just started to get crisp and the center is still really really soft. It is very important not to overbake them for that chewy center. It may seem really underbaked when it comes out, but that's how we want it so it's chewier and fudgier once they cool down completely. Let them cool down completely on the baking sheet. They will firm up once they have cooled down. Don't try to move them when they are still very soft

Storage:

• They can be kept in an air-tight container for 3 days. The baked cookies also freeze well. Transfer them to a freezer-friendly container, separated with a cling wrap if stacking on top of each other. Keep them frozen for up to one month. Simply thaw at room temperature before serving

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

digital kitchen scale

Kitchen Aid Standmixer

Baking sheets

Parchment Paper

Marv’s Recipe Notes

If you use margarine, the cookies will spread out more and thinner and hence, crispier in texture.

*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*

Nutrition Facts

Sweet Red Bean Paste/ Anko Crinkle Cookies (with Egg or Eggless)

Serving Size

 

1 cookie

Amount per Serving

Calories

172

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

5

g

8

%

Saturated Fat

 

3

g

19

%

Trans Fat

 

0.2

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

0.3

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

21

mg

7

%

Sodium

 

91

mg

4

%

Potassium

 

17

mg

0

%

Carbohydrates

 

31

g

10

%

Fiber

 

0.5

g

2

%

Sugar

 

21

g

23

%

Protein

 

2

g

4

%

Vitamin A

 

155

IU

3

%

Calcium

 

18

mg

2

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I’d love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

How to make sweet red bean paste crinkle cookies

1. Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside.

2. Use a rubber spatula to mash the softened butter. Then add sugar and mix until combined

3. Add room temperature egg (for egg version) or yogurt (for eggless version) and mix until combined

5. Add red bean paste and mix to combine

6. Add the dry ingredients and food coloring (if using). Use a spatula to fold to combine. Don’t overwork the dough, just mix until you don’t see any more loose flour. The dough will be very sticky at this point. Do not be tempted to add more flour

7. Cover the cookie dough and let it chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight is best if you have the time. If you are pressing for time, 1 hour in the freezer.

8. Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C) for conventional oven, 300 F (150 C) for convection oven. Scoop about 1 1/2 Tbsp (about 30 grams) of the cookie dough out. Roll it into a ball and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Spray your palms with some cooking spray if the dough gets a bit sticky

9. Roll each one in granulated sugar first and then generously roll them in icing sugar. This step prevents the icing sugar from being absorbed by the dough and you won’t get the crinkle effect. Roll them several times to make sure each ball is well-coated or the confectioners’ sugar will not show much after baking

10. Put the baking sheet into the oven, 3rd rack from the top. Let them bake for 8-10 minutes for the edge that just started to get crisp and the center is still really soft. It may seem really underbaked when it comes out (DO NOT OVERBAKE THEM), but that’s how we want it so it’s chewier and fudgier once they cool down completely. Let them cool down completely on the baking sheet. They will firm up once they have cooled down. Don’t try to move them when they are still very soft

Tips

1. Make sure you coat the cookies in granulated sugar first and then heavily coat them with icing sugar/powdered sugar
2. Cookies appear to be very very soft when they are first out of the oven. Let them cool down completely on the baking sheet. They will firm up further as they cool down, so keep that in mind. Don’t try to move them when they are still very soft and warm
3. For a vegan version, simply replace butter with margarine, coconut oil, or vegan butter

How to store baked crinkle cookies

1. Let the crinkle cookies cool down completely and then transfer to an air-tight container
2. You can also freeze them by putting them in a freezer bag. Simply thaw in the fridge before serving

How to store unbaked crinkle cookies dough

1. Divide the dough into dough balls as per recipe instruction, but do not coat with sugar yet. Put them on a baking sheet and put in the freezer for 1 hour
2. The dough will harden but not completely frozen yet. Transfer to a freezer bag and they won’t stick to each other anymore.
3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven, roll the cookies in granulated sugar and then powdered sugar. You may need to increase baking time by 3-5 minutes extra

Did you make this anko/sweet red bean paste crinkle cookies recipe?

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