Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies (Mazola Peanut Cookies)
Course: Chinese New Year, Cookies
Cuisine: Chinese, Indonesian Chinese
Prep Time: 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 15 minutesminutes
Total Time: 35 minutesminutes
Servings: 5510 grams cookies
Calories: 51kcal
Author: Marvellina
Learn how to make these traditional Chinese peanut cookies that melt in your mouth with only 5 ingredients. Recipe can be made with peanut butter for convenience
Edited: Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) for a conventional oven. If using a convection oven, preheat to 350 F (180 C). Prepare egg wash by lightly beating the egg yolk with 1/4 tsp water. Set aside
If using roasted peanuts:
I use store-bought skinless peanuts that are already roasted and unsalted. If you use raw peanuts, roast them in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for 8-10 minutes, stirring them halfway. Let them cool completely
Place the roasted peanuts in a food processor and grind until fine in texture and the peanuts will feel "damp/wet" because some of the oil from the peanut has been released, but don't ground into a peanut butter consistency though
Prepare the cookie dough:
UPDATE: I have recently tried without baking powder with a good result, so I have removed it from the recipe.
Place ground peanut or peanut butter, sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix with a wooden spoon. Then add half of the cooking oil (don't pour in all at once), and continue to gradually add the oil. Mix with your hands until you can form a dough that will not fall apart. If the dough feels dry, add a bit more oil, one teaspoon at a time.
Shaping the dough:
Shape the dough into balls about 10 gr each. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 1/4 inch apart, they don't expand much. Continue with the rest.
I made three different styles. You can use a straw to make a small indentation in the middle (mine are a bit too deep). You can also use a fork to gently press the dough ball down while making the crisscross pattern, or you can simply insert a half piece of peanut on top of the cookie dough
Bake the cookies:
Brush the cookies with egg wash and bake for about 15-18 minutes (updated) on the middle rack. Rotate the pan halfway through baking, front to back so they bake evenly. They should be golden brown. If you make larger cookies, you may need a few minute extra
Remove from the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes before removing them to cooling rack to cool down completely. They are very soft when they are warm. Store in the air-tight container at room temperature for up to 1 month
Video
Notes
I recommend using creamy peanut butter instead of natural peanut butter as the oil in natural peanut butter tends to separate and this will affect your final result. I use skippy no-stir creamy peanut butter. Chunky peanut butter will work too as long as it's not the natural type.
If you use raw peanuts with skin, get about 300 grams. Then roast the nuts and remove the skin. You may have some leftovers for you to munch on and use the rest for the recipe
The recipe is updated on 2/7/2024 to improve the recipe for using ground peanuts. I no longer use baking powder in the recipe (video is not updated yet)