Happy Lunar New Year! 2025 marks the Year of the Snake, which means the shedding of bad energy and is all about renewal and regeneration [1]. My latest batch: The Almond Cookie, is a traditional Chinese cookie enjoyed during the New Year to bring good fortune as they symbolize coins. 

There’s not much history about the Chinese almond cookie, except that it did originate in China (year unknown) and was not made with almonds, but with ground mung bean. However, due to the cookie’s almond shape, it was referred to as an almond cookie. Eventually, the ground mung bean was replaced with almond flour and almonds and is now round-shaped. As for when the almond cookie was introduced to the United States, it first appeared at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, the oldest Chinese restaurant in New York City. The Nom Wah Tea Parlor opened in NYC’s Chinatown in 1920, starting as a bakery specializing in Chinese pastries, steamed dumplings, dim sum, and tea. In 1968, they lost the lease of their original location and moved next door, eventually becoming most famous for their lotus paste, red bean filling, and the Chinese almond cookie. Nom Wah continues to operate and still has the Chinese almond cookie as one of their dessert options. [2,3,4]

There are quite a few variations of the Chinese almond cookie, including the recipe that Nom Wah released in their own cookbook in 2020. At this point, I must admit that I went with the first recipe I looked up, and did not think to look up the history of this cookie so I didn’t make Nom Wah’s cookie. The recipe I used is from Julie Chiou’s blog, Table for Two [5] https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/chinese-new-year-almond-cookies/

So how did mine turn out??

If I had a ‘cookie criteria’, this Chinese almond cookie would have met all of it. Crunchy, buttery, almondy, tasty..it was scrumptious! Julie Chiou recommends chilling the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight, the latter I did just like my first batch (see: chocolate chip cookie). Even though instant gratification is good, less cleanup is even better. 

When deciding how many cookies I wanted to give to friends, I referred to the lucky numbers for the Year of the Snake: 2, 8, and 9. Of course, I couldn’t give just 2 cookies to each friend so I decided that 8 would be enough. [6]

I’m hoping that making and enjoying these Chinese almond cookies will also bring me some good fortune as I could really use some right now. In the meantime, I will embrace the snake slithering into my dragon sign and will definitely welcome opportunities for making new money, trying new business ideas and, for this single dragon, attracting a new partner. [7]

Next time, I will make a heart-shaped cookie from Malawi for both Valentine’s Day and my boy’s 14^th birthday. 

References

1. Yam, K. (2025, Jan 28). The Year of the Snake is all about shedding that bad energy. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/-lunar-new-year-china-spring-festival-year-snake-rcna188025
2. “Chinese almond biscuit”, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. 3 Feb 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_almond_biscuit
3. Pavelle, S. (2024, Feb 28). CHINESE RESTAURANT ALMOND COOKIES, Now More Than A Century Old. Heritage Cookies of the Old and New World. https://www.heritagecookies.net/index.php/2024/02/28/chinese-restaurant-almond-cookies-now-more-than-a-century-old/
4. Nom Wah. https://nomwah.com. Accessed 3 Feb 2025.
5. Chiou, J. (2013, Feb 8). Chinese New Year Almond Cookies. Table for Two. https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/chinese-new-year-almond-cookies/
6. “Snake (zodiac)”, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. 3 Feb 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_(zodiac)
7. Zurowski, M. (2025, Jan 29). What will Year of the Snake mean for you? Chinese zodiac predictions for 2025. Calgary Herald. https://calgaryherald.com/life/what-will-year-of-the-snake-mean-for-you-chinese-zodiac-predictions-for-2025