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Hi there! Laksa Cookie anyone?

So October is our “Honor Pastor” month at church and I wanted to make something special for my dear pastors.

Something that would give a full palate of flavors and yet bite size and easy to pop in one mouthful. Hence my version of the Singapore Laksa Cookie, spicy, punchy, tasty, appetizing and a-melt-in-your-mouth delight, was born.

Delicious and easy to make, you wouldn’t want to miss it!

WALNUT LAKSA COOKIE STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here!

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For those who are unfamiliar, Laksa is a spicy noodle soup, popular in Singapore and Malaysia. The Singapore Laksa consists of rice noodles with chicken or prawn, served in a rich, creamy, spicy curry broth, usually accompanied by a dash of finely minced Laksa leaves and a good dollop of sambal chilli (aka shrimp paste hot sauce) for that extra ooomph. Now imagine all that robust flavours, in a 🍪!

Bottle of laksa cookies

My Walnut Laksa Cookie is a quintessential butter cookie, but spiced with that potent Laksa flavor. The various Laksa cookies I have come across typically have a sugar cookie texture which is crunchy and slightly hard, as with all rollout-cut cookies. I much prefer the meltaway texture of a butter cookie which is softer and easy to pipe.

Hence the genesis of this nutty Laksa beauty descends from the royal lineage of butter cookies!

Tower of Laksa Cookies

Like its name, this Laksa Cookie, packs a punch and melts in your mouth in a burst of those spicy, lemak (rich, creamy), coco-nutty flavours, still keeping its butter cookie ‘roots’ with a soft crumbly texture. I added a walnut to each cookie as it complemented the buttery biscuit with the perfect nutty crunch! 😊

What to Watch Out for?

This is an easy recipe with simple ingredients and takes just 30 minutes to come together. There are a few things one should take note of, for that perfect butter cookie texture.

Sifting

For that butter cookie texture, sifting is ALL IMPORTANT, therefore SIFT SERIOUSLY. I would recommend double or triple sifting both the flour mixture and the icing sugar if time permits.

Butter texture

The butter should not be used straight from the fridge as it would be too cold. It should be left to soften to room temperature. Butter texture will be soft but it should still hold its shape. Using a butter that is too cold will produce a dense and heavy cookie. If you want to know the science of why butter has to be this texture, check out this very well informed write-up on just that here.

Butter Texture for creaming

I usually take out the butter from the refrigerator about an hour before to soften to room temperature. I measure out my ingredients in the meantime and start mixing once the butter is at the right softness.

Creaming

I have come to the conclusion that creaming is definitely an art and not a science. What is ‘Light and Fluffy’ when it comes to creaming???

Whilst some conventional wisdom calls for creaming at medium speed for 4-5 minutes until butter has turned light yellow and doubled in volume, I believe this needs to be adjusted for local weather and humidity, machines with different speed strengths etc which could give totally different results!

For this recipe birthed in sunny Singapore (average temperature 33°C), I creamed the butter for 3 minutes max (@medium speed on KitchenAid) before mixing in the flour. The butter had more volume and was slightly lighter in color with visible fluffy peaks.

See the beautiful piped contours..

Note: When I creamed for longer, it was (for me) a FAIL – the cookies spread out too much during baking and lost all of its beautifully piped ridges.

Check out the recipe tutorial above to see the butter texture and creamed consistency.

Laksa leaves

Laksa leaves is that little flavour booster which gives the laksa cookie a mildly tangy and subtle spicy scent that hints at its eclectic savory zing. Definitely recommend to include this if it is available.

Laksa Leaves

Storage: These Laksa beauties keep well for up to 7 days in an airtight container.

So there it is. Try this Laksa Cookie, you wont regret it! And please leave me a comment or a photo of your Laksa Cookie. I would love to hear and see how it all turned out.

Enjoy.

** We love this Walnut Laksa Cookie and bake it ever so often during Chinese New Year where this homemade savory cookie is simply too easy to pop, by the dozens. If you like this Walnut Laksa Cookie, you may also enjoy my other Chinese New Year recipes.

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Print Recipe

Walnut Laksa Cookie

This is the Ultimate Laksa Cookie, a-melt-in-your–mouth delight. A quintessential butter cookie yet spiced with that potent Laksa flavour; it melts away in a burst of those spicy, lemak, coco-nutty flavours!

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Servings: 80 bite-size cookies

Author: Kai

Ingredients

200 g butter
50 g icing sugar

Flour mixture

100 g top flour
50 g plain flour
50 g corn flour

Laksa condiments

2 1/2 tbsp laksa paste
2 1/2 tbsp coconut cream
5 stalks of laksa leaf (de-stalked and minced)

Instructions

Pre-heat over to 175°C or 350°F
Mix and double sift the three types of flour. Sift the icing sugar. Cream butter adding the icing sugar gradually, until light and fluffy ~ 2 min.
Add minced Laksa leaves and the Laksa paste. Mix quickly just to combine ~ 30 sec. Add the coconut cream. Mix for another 30 sec till just combined.
Using a spatula, add in the sifted flour mixture in 4 parts until well mixed. Cookie dough should be piping texture. Put in a large piping bag and pipe swirls, ~ an inch apart unto a cookie sheet (I used the Wilton 1M tip)
Bake for 15 min (middle rack) until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Sifting

For that butter cookie texture, sifting is ALL IMPORTANT so you would not want to skip this step. I would recommend double or triple sifting both the flour mixture and the icing sugar if time permits.

Butter texture

The butter should not be used straight from the fridge as it would be too cold. It should be left to soften to room temperature. Butter texture will be soft but it should still hold its shape.

Creaming

For this recipe birthed, I creamed the butter for 3 minutes max (@medium speed on KitchenAid) before mixing in the flour. The butter had more volume and was slightly lighter in color with visible fluffy peaks.

Check out the video above to see the butter texture and creamed consistency.

PS: When I creamed for longer, it was a FAIL - the cookies spread out too much during baking and lost all of its beautifully piped contours.

6 Comments

Name: Walnut Laksa Cookie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 200 g butter; 50 g icing sugar; 100 g top flour; 50 g plain flour; 50 g corn flour; 2 1/2 tbsp laksa paste; 2 1/2 tbsp coconut cream; 5 stalks of laksa leaf (de-stalked and minced)

Kay on November 6, 2018 at 1:05 PM
Another amazing recipe, they’re look and taste great, just irresistible!
Reply
- Kai on November 7, 2018 at 3:59 AM
  Thank you!
  Reply
Tiew Boon on December 27, 2018 at 2:18 PM
I tried baking it last weekend. The taste was great! All my friends liked it. I did not manage to keep the swirl design on the cookies though. When it was in the oven, the swirl just flatten out. I am also not sure why the cookies had an uncooked centre after 15 mins at 175C (based on oven thermometer). I am using a table top oven. I increased my baking time by another 10 mins at 160 degree. It turned out more brown than golden. I baked a 2nd time at 160C for 30 mins n though it was cooked, it was more on the brown side. I guess the uncooked centre and browning has got to do with my oven. About the swirl, could I add a bit more flour?
Thanks in advance for your kind advice,
Reply
- Kai on December 29, 2018 at 4:43 PM
  Hi!Tiew Boon
  Thanks for trying the recipe. I am so happy you like the taste! There could be a few reasons for the loss of the swirl 1) over creaming the butter 2) oven temperature was too hot. I suspect the heat distribution in a table oven tends to be different from a conventional oven due to the different rack height, insulation and heat retention. I am not sure if your table oven has a preheat temperature setting. You would want to preheat your oven to 175C before you start the baking. I would suggest experimenting with baking at a lower oven temperature and see how it turns out. Do small batches until you get the right cooking temperature and time! Unless you prefer a harder and crunchier cookie, I wouldn’t recommend adding flour as you could lose the butter cookie texture intended in the recipe. Hope this helps!
  Reply
  - Lee Tiew Boon on February 2, 2019 at 5:47 AM
    Finally!! It is a success using my tabletop oven. You are right that heat of oven was not evenly distributed. It was hotter on one side making the cookies looked burnt brown. To overcome this problem, I turned the baking tray after 10mins.
    The uncooked centre I had was because my cookies were bigger than what you made. I examined your video on your swirling and followed exactly.
    Thanks so much for your guidance and suggestions.
    Reply
    - Kai on February 6, 2019 at 2:18 PM
      That’s great! Thanks for letting me know! Made my day 🙂 To laksa cookies and more, here’s wishing you and family a Blessed, Healthy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!
      Reply