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 🍪!

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!

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.

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.

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.

• Easy Florentines, our favorite Chinese New Year snack
• CNY Blessings Carrot Cake
• How to make your own Lohei
• Homemade Ba Kwa
• My MIL’s Yummy Pineapple Tarts
  
• Pistachio Matcha Pineapple Tarts
• Kaffir Lime Spiced Nuts
• Grandpa’s Hainanese Mutton Soup

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 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

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.

 

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  

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, 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.