[Pork-free] Chinese New Year (CNY) is just around the corner! Have you bought your CNY cookies yet?
The folks at SHE Bakes KL were so kind to send these delicious CNY cookies our way.
If you follow us long enough, you’ll know that we are big fans of her baked goods.
Her Sea Salt Brownies are our favorite! They are just so heavenly with a flaky crust and a centre that’s so decadently dark and gooey! If you love fudgy brownies, we think these are the best in town.
We also enjoyed her banana bread. Check out our post here to find out more.
Chinese New Year Cookies
One thing that always stood out to us is SHE Bakes KL’s attention to detail.
For the year of the Tiger, SHE Bakes curated the 20202 CNY HU Box.
There are five cookies on offer – Pineapple Round Round, Ground Almond Choc Chip, White Almond Melts, Seaweed Chick Floss and Hae Bee Hiam Cookies (Chilli Dried Shrimp).
We especially love the ornamental jars that the cookies are packed in – which makes excellent gifts to friends and family.
There are also Hurrah CNY Hamper Sets. Check out her Instagram here for details.
Chinese New Year Cookies – Pineapple Round Round
Pineapple tarts and cookies are always popular during CNY.
SHE Bakes’ Pineapple cookies are truly one of the best we’ve tried (and definitely our favourite among the pineapple cookies we tasted this year).
Here’s why we loved them. The pastry is so unbelievably soft, flaky and buttery – but not powdery or undercooked like dough. We think the baker had truly perfected the ratio and baking time to yield such perfect texture.
Secondly, the pineapple jam has the right amount of sweetness and tart. It is also not fibrous and sufficiently moist.
Finally, the ratio of pastry and jam is well-balanced – making each bite completely satisfactory.
Chinese New Year Cookies – Hae Bee Hiam
However, our favourite has to be the Hae Bee Hiam cookie.
The team spent a year perfecting the recipe for this delicious and savoury cookie.
For the uninitiated, Hae Bee Hiam is a dried chilli shrimp sambal – a condiment commonly served with some Chinese dishes in Southeast Asia.
Hae Bee Hiam (literally spicy dried shrimps in Hokkien) is intensely rich in flavour and umami thanks to the core ingredients used – dried shrimp, dried chillies, lemongrass, shallots and garlic.
And these cookies are so good!
To make these cookies, the team stir-fried locally-sourced dried shrimps with chillies and spices over low-heat for a long time, before they are incorporated into the cookies.
The result is one of the best savoury-sweet cookies we’ve tasted ever.
Rich in umami, soft texture
Just like the Pineapple cookies, the core pastry is soft and flaky. However, there are some lovely bits of crunch in between from the hae bee hiam.
The flavour is so savoury thanks to the umami-rich and aromatic dried shrimps and spices. There is also a good amount of heat to tantalise the palate. Honestly, we found it hard to stop ourselves after one bite.
Summary
We are big fans of SHE Bakes’ cakes and brownies – and her CNY cookies did not disappoint as well.
Of our entire CNY cookie collection in 2022, these two are our absolute favourites – and we hope she’ll bake these again for the next Lunar New Year (or festive occasion).
Unfortunately, SHE Bakes has all reached their maximum capacity and have stopped taking orders for CNY. However, please bookmark this and follow SHE Bakes KL’s Instagram account to see when her next slot will open.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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