Chinese Walnut Cookies (核桃酥)

Chinese walnut cookies are one of the most popular traditional Chinese sweets that we enjoy growing up. Walking on the streets of Beijing, you can see traditional dessert stores. They stack cookies and pastries neatly behind the windows of the counter, with small paper tags in the front with hand-written characters revealing the filling or the flavor of the cookies. To purchase the desserts, you just tell the staff which flavor and how many cookies you want. The cookies will be scaled, priced by weight, and then carefully wrapped in a paper bag. And Chinese walnut cookies are always a top pick.

Chinese walnut cookies are similar to shortbread cookies, but with a crispier, crunchier texture. They often have a lovely bright yellow surface with a piece of walnut on top, indicating the flavor of the cookie. 

Today I want to share my version of these lovely walnut cookies. They are inspired by the cookies made by the Te Company. It’s one of my favorite spots in New York to purchase traditional Chinese sweets and tea for gifting. Their walnut cookies are quite small – a bite-size version that is super cute. I really enjoy the mini size because it is much easier to snack on and is perfect to serve for afternoon tea or Chinese New Year. And they also make a great edible gift if you package them in a small box. 

Chinese walnut cookies ingredients

Chinese walnut cookies use very simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry:

• Walnuts
• Flour
• Butter
• Sugar
• Egg
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Cornstarch
• Salt

How to make Chinese walnut cookies

To make Chinese walnut cookies:

1. Mix the dry ingredients
2. Cream the butter
3. Mix the creamed butter with the dry ingredients
4. Shape the cookie dough into long logs and refrigerate to harden
5. Brush the egg with egg wash (optional)
6. Roll the log with raw sugar (optional)
7. Cut the log into cookie sized pieces
8. Garnish the cookies and bake 

Many garnishing methods

This recipe includes a few ways to garnish these walnut cookies. I like to decorate my cookies in a few ways, so they have a fun appearance. However, you can totally pick whichever decoration method works best for you:

1. Like I show in the step-by-step pictures above, this method creates cookies with sugar on the edges and a matte surface on top.
2. Cookies with bright egg wash on top
3. Cookies with raw sugar on top
4. Cookies with a whole piece of walnut on top
5. Cookies with crushed walnut pieces mixed with sugar on top 

Combined together, the assortment of walnut cookies gives a stunning presentation. But as for the flavor, I personally like the ones with the sugar surface the most 🙂 

Afterthought

Most of the traditional Chinese desserts, like these walnut cookies, are quite different from the ones that I’ve encountered in the US. They are not very sweet or decadent. But, each bite is joyful. The crumbly, nutty cookies are full of walnut aroma. It goes perfectly with freshly brewed green tea, cold milk, or a cup of black coffee. The ingredients are on the healthier end, so you won’t mind snacking on a few cookies late at night.

More delicious Chinese bakery recipes

• Red Bean Bread (豆沙包)
• Chinese Coconut Buns (Cocktail Buns)
• Chinese Egg Cake (鸡蛋糕)
• Baked BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
• Chinese Almond Cookies

Chinese Walnut Cookies (核桃酥)

By Maggie Zhu

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time: 1 hour hour

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Inactive time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 88 mini cookies (22 servings)

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Celebrate Chinese New Year with these walnut cookies that have a crispy and crumbly texture and heavenly walnut aroma. They also go perfect with tea and can be enjoyed at any time of day. {Vegetarian}

Ingredients 

Cookie

• 150 g (1 1/2 cups) roasted unsalted walnuts (*Footnote 1)
• 280 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 15 g (2 tablespoons) cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or 1 teaspoon kosher salt)
• 175 g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 90 g (1/2 cup) sugar
• 1 egg

Egg wash (Option 1)

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Egg wash (Option 2)

• 1 egg
• Splash of heavy cream

Garnish

• Chopped walnuts and / or raw sugar for garnish

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Instructions

Prepare the dough

• Toast the walnuts on the stovetop or in the oven, until very fragrant. If you have a food processor, pulse the walnuts until mostly turned to fine pieces but with corn sized pieces here and there. Without a food processor, place the walnuts into a large ziploc bag and hit it with a rolling pin, until finely crushed with larger pieces here and there.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Add walnuts and whisk to combine.
• Add butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the whisk to the stand mixer. Turn to medium speed (speed 4 to 6) for about 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl halfway through, until the butter lightens in color and the sugar is mostly dissolved. If you don’t have a mixer, you can hand whisk to cream the butter as well.
• Add the egg into the mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients from step 2. Mix at low-medium speed until the dough just comes together and no dry spots remain, no more than 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough out onto the counter or a clean working surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Pull a sheet of plastic wrap from the dispenser, leaving the end attached. Put one piece of dough onto the plastic wrap and shape into a log using your hands, rolling back and forth until the log is an even 1” (2.5 cm) in diameter. Rip plastic wrap and roll dough log with plastic to seal. Place the dough into a tray. Repeat with 3 remaining pieces of dough. Refrigerate the dough pieces until solid, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Garnish and bake the cookies

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• (Optional) To make the cookies with the raw sugar edges – Brush egg wash #1 onto each dough log. Sprinkle the raw sugar onto a large cutting board. Gently roll the brushed dough log back and forth over the sugar until fully covered.
• Slice off both ends, then slice each dough into 1/4” (6mm) rounds and place onto the lined baking sheet, with the space of one cookie dough in between. You will need to bake in batches.
• To garnish the top, brush cookies lightly with egg wash. For a lighter colored surface, use egg wash #1. For a bright yellow color, use egg wash #2. Top with a sprinkle of raw sugar, or a big piece of walnut, or a few small pieces of chopped walnut. (*Footnote 2)
• Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 120 to 15 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until golden brown on edges and fragrant. Let the walnut cookies cool off a few minutes, then carefully move to a rack or plate to cool completely before serving.
• Once cooled completely, store the cookies in a ziplock bag at room temperature for a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. If using raw walnuts, roast them longer until cooked through and fragrant.
2. When I rolled the cookie dough with raw sugar on the edges, I would leave the top plain. But feel free to create the look you prefer! I like to use a few different ways to garnish these cookies for a more appealing presentation. But for the taste, I think the ones garnished with sugar are the most delicious, because the cookies themselves are not especially sweet.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 171kcal, Carbohydrates: 14.1g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 11.6g, Saturated Fat: 4.7g, Cholesterol: 34mg, Sodium: 932mg, Potassium: 20mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4.2g, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 1mg

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