the best melt-in-the-mouth kueh bangkit (coconut cookies) 入口即化万吉饼 ლ(⌒▽⌒ლ)

i cannot remember baking so many cookies in a span of few days  (*≧▽≦) but the Bake Along theme of Chinese New Year Cookies really got me going… (/•ิ_•ิ)/ … when Zoe baked and compared a couple of the kueh bangkit recipes, she really pressed the right button on me… that’s it.. i had to bake it.. the only thing that nearly stopped me (which finally was not a party pooper) was the frying of the flour and the *mop mop mop*…. but thanks to the tip, i fried really carefully and patted myself on the back about not having a snowy kitchen till i dropped my spatula in the wok ⊙▽⊙…. no snowy kitchen… but snowman ˭̡̞(◞⁎˃ᆺ˂)◞₎₎=͟͟͞͞˳˚॰°ₒ৹๐

Recipe adapted from Bake for Happy Kids

Ingredients

500g tapioca flour (or 250g sago flour and 250g tapioca flour)
5-6 screwpine (pandan) leaves – washed and wiped dry, cut into half
100g icing sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
150-200ml thick coconut milk
3/4 tbsp butter – room temperature

kueh bangkit wooden moulds

Directions

– Place flour and pandan leaves in a wok.  In low heat, fry the until the flour is light and the pandan leaves turned crispy [stir lightly as the flour will be very light].   Cool, discard the leaves and scoop the flour into a big sieve.  Lightly sift the flour into a big deep bowl.   Transfer sifted flour in a plastic bag until required.   The flour must be cooled thoroughly.  This step can be done days ahead
– Cream butter, eggs and icing sugar until light and creamy.  Make sure the sugar is totally dissolved
– Slowly add in the flour and creamed the mixture.  Gradually add in the coconut milk to mix [you may not need all the coconut milk, kept balance for use when the dough is too dry] – Knead until the dough does not stick to the hand.  Cover the dough with a dampcloth, rest for at least 30 minutes.   You can use this time to line your baking tray with parchment paper, extra fried flour for dusting and a little pink colouring for decoration
– Dust the wooden moulds with some tapioca flour [fry more for dusting], pinch off some dough and press it into the moulds one by one, then cut off any excess using a thin sharp knife
– Knock out and arrange the cookies onto the  baking tray.  This cookie does not expand but will be very fragile after baking
– Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 degrees C for about 12-15 minutes or until it’s slight brown at the base
– Cool completely on a wire rack before storing them in a cookie jar

Personal notes:

– i halved the recipe and used coconut oil instead of butter
– i used 100ml of thick coconut milk so the dough can come together
– if you do not kueh bangkit mould (like me), you can roll out the dough between 2 pieces of cling wrap. the dough tend to crack easily, so it is crucial you “push” the dough back together (to seal any cracks that may have developed) when rolling i.e. push dough back together, then roll out gently (and repeat process till desired thickness is obtained). i made 14 teapot cookies, (using a cookie ribbon “imprinter” roller ~picture below~ that i got from japan to imprint laces on the lid), each 0.6cm in thickness
– my cookies were baked for 17 mins before they started to brown

I am submitting this post to Bake Along #57 ~ Chinese New Year Cookies hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Pollution index: in some 鸟不生蛋的villa in milan