Kueh Makmur (Malaysian Prosperity Cookie)

Here is one more Malaysian recipe to celebrate the month of eating all things sweet. As usual, I have been very busy and could not bake or make things to celebrate Christmas other than my Mother's homestyle fruit cake for the family. Not that I didn't want to but a project with Ananda Bazar kept me so busy that I couldn't make any time for other bakes. Am sharing the picture of the cakes I baked and decorated for them based on Bengali fairy tale stories called Thakumar Jhuli by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar. Do let me know what you think about it.

Now back to these cookies. Kueh Makmur or these peanuts stuffed Pandan flavoured very dainty cookies are also known as Prosperity cookies and are generally made during the holy month of Ramadan. Luckily last Ramadan I spent a month in Singapore and Malaysia and tasted these at many kueh stalls. For the uninitiated, kuehs are Malaysian term for bite-size desserts, and there are numerous types of kuehs available all over the region that uses different techniques, different ingredients and different tools. 

Yes, to make them look and taste different various tools are used. Like for this cookie, to form the pattern on the surface a small tong-like tool with scalloped edges (pincers) is used.

But more than the look the taste of the cookies is something we loved. It has a melt in the mouth shell that gives way to all the crunch in the centre, which are the peanut stuffing. So please dont fret if they look too dainty and chic, even if you skip the step to prettify them you can always just stuff the shells and bake. The taste would be the same. Or you can even decorate the surface with a toothpick. All the options are there in the post. Please check, recipe by the famous Chef Zan.

Kueh Makmur

(Makes 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

The shell:

Butter: 100 gms

Ghee: 1 tbsp

Egg: 1 large

powdered sugar: 1/4 cup

Pandan paste or green food colouring: Few drops *(please see notes)

Flour: 12/3 cups

Filling:

Peanuts: 1 cup

Castor/powdered sugar: 2 tbsp

Salt: a pinch

Melted butter: 30 gms

Method:

Filling:

Dry roast the peanuts on low till it crisps up. Cool and then remove the skin to clean it. Pulse it in a food processor till it's grounded but not a paste. Best way to do this is to pulse for a few seconds a couple of times. 

Mix all the ingredients for filling to get a sandy filling.

The shell:

Beat the butter, ghee and sugar together for a few minutes. Add the egg and colour (if using). Mix again till it forms a homogenous mixture. Add the flour and gently bring everything together to form a dough. 

Shaping the cookies:

Take a tablespoon or small lemon size dough and flatten it on your palm. Add a teaspoon of the filling in the center and bring the edges together to get a half moon shaped cookie. 

Now take the pincer and gently pinch through the edges where you pressed the two edges together. While using the pincer make sure you pinch the dough with gentle pressure. do not release the pressure after you are finished or it will break the dough. Just gently pull the pincer away while still keeping the pressure. 

Now pinch the sides, starting from the center pinch to the edges. The end result should look like a leaf vein pattern.

Repeat for all.

Preheat oven at 160 C. Place the cookies on a lined baking tray. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes till the edges start to turn golden. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Serving suggestion:

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with some beverages of your choice.

A Homemaker's Notes:

Pandan is the same as our Payes pata or Annapurna pata. Avaiable across the nurseries. I have used the paste that I got from Singapore. You can substitute with vanilla and green gel food colour. The flavour won't be the same but the taste would.