Top photo courtesy National Honey Board, bottom photo by Claire Freierman | THE NIBBLE.

The Chinese New Year, also called the Lunar New Year, begins on February 7th this year (it changes each year, based on the lunar calendar). You can ring in the Year of the Rat with homemade honey fortune cookies—delicious and easy to make with this recipe from the National Honey Board. The substitution of honey for white sugar gives the cookies a big boost in flavor.

Personalize the cookies with creative fortunes for your family and friends (start with “You will discover amazing foods on TheNibble.com”).

You can also decorate them by dipping in chocolate, drizzling with icing, or both.

If you want to give them as a gift, red is a good luck color in China, hence the red cartons in the photo.
 
 
RECIPE: CHINESE FORTUNE COOKIES

Ingredients For 16 Cookies

Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F.

2. COMBINE the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, honey, and orange oil until slightly frothy. Add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

3. LINE a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Using a measuring spoon, place 4 one-tablespoon portions of the mixture on baking sheet, evenly spaced. Using a small spatula or the back of a spoon, shape each portion into a 3-1/2 to 4-inch round.

4. BAKE for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned, and remove from oven. Working quickly, use a small spatula to loosen the cookies from the parchment. Place a proverb or fortune on one side of each cookie, fold in half and then fold the points toward each other.

5. PLACE the cookies in a muffin pan or other device to hold the shapes until they have cooled. Repeat with the remaining batter. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

6. SERVE with jasmine tea and/or vanilla, chocolate or ginger ice cream.
 
THE HISTORY OF FORTUNE COOKIES.

They were, to quote Bruce Springsteen, born in the U.S.A.
 
 

A truly fine, fresh croissant is buttery enough (photo © La Rose Noir).

Is there a person reading this who does not enjoy a buttery croissant? (Alas, not all are made with butter…so avoid buying croissants at inexpensive delis, and eagerly seek out new bakeries to see what they have to offer.)

Our only complaint is that the flaky puff pastry that is so delightful in the mouth invariably ends up all over our place setting and our clothing. We admire people who can eat one neatly.

A good croissant already contains so much butter that it needs no more embellishment. If you get one from a top baker who uses the best butter, enjoying each bite without the interference of additional butter or jam is, in our opinion, the way to go. But if you love your jam or honey, we wouldn’t deny you.

Making croissants by hand is very labor-intensive. Much of what is available today is factory-made, pre-formed and frozen, delivered to the bakery, food store, or restaurant, and “baked on our premises.”

In the 1970s, the croissant evolved into trendy fast food, filled with everything from broccoli to ham and cheese (and in many cases, lowering the quality of the puff pastry itself with margarine or other butter substitute).

> The history of croissants and croissant recipes.

– See 25 ways to spruce up your hot chocolate. You’ll also learn the difference between cocoa and hot chocolate—they aren’t synonymous.

– You can also read the difference between natural and dutched chocolate.

– See reviews of more than 70 brands in the Cocoas & Hot Chocolates Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine.