5.0 from 1 vote

Welcome to The Storied Recipe Podcast, a podcast about food, culture, and love.

As you try these delicious Chinese New Year Cookie Recipes from bloggers around the globe, I invite you to listen to what my global guests have shared about their beloved Lunar New Year cultural and family traditions. Click here to listen to All About the Lunar New Year with Huilan or Lunar New Year Memories with Emily Ho.

As the Chinese New Year is approaching in Asian countries around the world, families are preparing red packets of money for children, hanging festive fai chun banners, and gathering citrus fruits for their celebrations. As you plan your own celebration, here are traditional Chinese New Year cookie recipes from many countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year, including Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

If you're looking for more authentic recipes for this festive season, find other sweet treats like Candied Lotus Seeds (lian zhi) in my post Snacks for the Chinese New Year or other traditional desserts like Nian Gao in my Desserts for Chinese New Year round-up!

5 Classic Lunar New Year Cookies

Below, I include traditional Chinese New Year Cookies specific to each country that celebrates. But first, I've added a section of recipes that seem to crop up the most often. From simple sugar cookies, gorgeously decorated with royal icing to easy Chinese almond cookies and chewy sesame cookies with black sesame seeds, these are the recipes you'll find most commonly in searches.

Chinese New Year Cookies
Cooks in 152 minutes
Soft Chinese New Year sugar cookies made with almond flour and decorated with a simple icing in cute designs symbolizing good fortune and good luck

3 votes 5.0 Cuisine: Chinese
Melt-in-the-mouth Chinese Peanut Cookies (Mazola Peanut Cookies)
Cooks in 35 minutes
Learn how to make these traditional Chinese peanut cookies that melt in your mouth with only 5 ingredients. Recipe can be made with peanut butter for convenience

2 votes 4.8 Cuisine: Chinese, Indonesian Chinese
Almond Cookies
Cooks in 40 minutes
Chinese Almond Cookies are simple, crisp, buttery, and full of almond flavor. This recipe is a perfect treat to make for Lunar New Year!

4 votes 4.7 Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese
Sweet Red Bean Paste/ Anko Crinkle Cookies (with Egg or Eggless)
Cooks in 271 minutes
Soft crinkle cookies are infused with the flavor and sweetness of sweet red bean paste is amazingly good. The recipe can be made with egg or without egg.

4 votes 4.9 Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Chewy Toasted Sesame Cookies
A delicious, chewy, buttery, sesame cookie from Jesse Szewczyk's Cookies: The New Classics.

1 vote 5.0 Cuisine: American

P.S. Also try these gorgeous, impressive, and interactive Chinese New Year Shaker Cookies from Constellation Inspiration!!!

6 Indonesian Cookie Recipes

We begin this section with one of those Chinese New Year Cookie recipes that arguably could have made it into the last section - the very popular Pineapple Tarts Stuffed with Pineapple Jam! I also personally recommend the Indonesian Butter and Pandan Cookies - crumbly, buttery, crunchy cookies (thanks to crispy cheese bites) with the flavors of pandan and coconut.

Indonesian Butter Cookies with Pandan, Cheese, and Coconut
Difficulty: Medium
Popular Indonesian cookies with a crispy melty texture, featuring pandan, coconut, and crunches of cheese.

Cuisine: Indonesian, South Asian, Filipino

Kue Nastar – Indonesian pineapple cookies
Kue Nastar, Indonesian pineapple cookies. Traditionally eaten in the Chinese New Year, these melt-in-the-mouth cookies are incredibly aromatic.
Kue Putri Salju (Snow White Cookies)
Cooks in 45 minutes
Kue Putri Salju or Snow White Cookies are typical classic cookies that many consider to be a must-bake during the major holidays in Indonesia. These cookies are buttery and nutty with an airy, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

4 votes 4.8 Cuisine: Indonesian

4 Taiwanese Cookies

This list includes a take on pineapple tarts and a vegan version of the popular chewy black sesame cookies.

Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes (Feng Li Su)
Cooks in 120 minutes
These Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes are mini morsels of sweet, jammy pineapple encased in a buttery shortbread cookie.

9 votes 5.0 Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Taiwanese
Soft and Fudgy Matcha Crinkle Cookies
Cooks in 25 minutes
Soft matcha cookies with a sweet and crispy exterior and slightly fudgy centre. These crinkle cookies are the perfect balance of sweet and bitter, and the vibrant green makes it perfect for your Christmas baking list!

17 votes 4.9 Cuisine: Asian
Vegan Black Sesame Cookies
Cooks in 25 minutes
The easiest black sesame cookies ever — 5 ingredients, flourless, and naturally vegan! Born from my love of black sesame as a Taiwanese kid, as well as minimalist baking.

34 votes 4.4 Cuisine: American, Taiwanese
How To Make Taiwan 3Q Mooncake (3Q)
Cooks in 150 minutes
Sweet bean paste, soft and chewy mochi, salted egg yolks, meat floss are wrapped in flaky pastry is Taiwan take on modern days mooncake. The combinations of flaky, soft, chewy texture and sweet and savory taste make this 3Q mooncake really unique and so good!!!

1 vote 5.0

5 Malaysian Cookie Recipes

These Malaysian Chinese New Year cookie recipes include gorgeous crispy honey cookies, another version of popular peanut cookies, and pretty piped custard cookies.

Kuih Loyang (Rosette/Honeycomb Cookies)
Cooks in 65 minutes
These fragrant and delicious Kuih Loyang (Rosettes/Honeycomb Cookies) are a real treat. They are ultra thin, super crispy, and easy to prepare.

1 vote 5.0 Cuisine: Chinese, Indian, Malaysian
Peanut Cookies
Cooks in 40 minutes
The best homemade Peanut Cookies for Lunar New Year. This easy peanut cookies recipe calls for six (6) ingredients, so crumbly and yummy!

87 votes 4.6 Cuisine: Baking Recipes
Kuih Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies)
Cooks in 80 minutes
Light, airy, and fragrant Kuih Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies) are a Chinese New Year favorite. Only 5 ingredients.(Makes 100-120 cookies)

5 votes 4.8 Cuisine: Malaysian
Malaysian Style Coconut Cookies
Melt in your mouth coconut cookies one of Malaysian well known classic cookies. The coconut flakes are dry fried, blended and then integrated with the dough to get that wonderful coconut flavor. And of course, then rolled in coconut flakes just for good measure. Simply yummy! If you like these cookies, you should also check our snowball cookies (milky Arabic cookies).

1 vote 5.0 Cuisine: Asian, Malaysian
Biskut Semperit
Cooks in 1 hour
'Melt in the mouth' Semperit / Custard Cookies , one of many 'favourite' traditional cookies, in many Malaysian households during Eid Celebration in the 70's to 80's.

Cuisine: Malaysian

3 Vietnamese Cookie Ideas

Say Happy Lunar New Year with these Vietnamese cookies, including the famous Pig Ear (aka Cow Ear) Cookies!!

Viet-Spiced Petit Palmiers
Made as minis, these palm cookies are two or three-bite treats. After you get the hang of the process, double up to make lots to gift or store. Experiment. Using powdered sugar at the end is a great tip from the late chef Michael Richard. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.
Vietnamese Pig Ear Biscuits - Banh Tai Heo
Cooks in 35 minutes
Vietnamese pig's ear biscuits are one of those snacks that every Vietnamese kid will remember eating growing up. They are traditionally shaped like "pig's ears" and have a distinct light and dark swirl pattern. These biscuits pair perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee but be warned... they are highly addictive and virtually impossible to eat quietly!

Cuisine: Vietnamese
Bánh Kẹp Recipe - Pandan Pizzelles / Waffles
Cooks in 150 minutes
This easy banh kep la dua recipe will fill your home with the freshly baked waffle aroma. The la dua (pandan leaves) make these pizzelles even better!

3 votes 5.0 Cuisine: Vietnamese

2 Cambodian Cookie Recipes

Khmer Crispy Rice Cookie Recipe
Cooks in 45 minutes
The Khmer crispy rice cookie recipe is a simple and delightful treat that can be easily prepared at home. These cookies are made using rice flour, coc...dge

Cuisine: Cambodian Food
Cambodian Donuts - Num Kong
Cooks in 40 minutes
Cambodian donuts are known for their fantastic and surprising flavour and texture. You may ask for more after one! They have a mildly sweet creamy flavour and are soft and chewy inside and wonderfully crunchy outside.

Cuisine: Asian, Cambodian, Khmer

3 Korean Cookie Recipes

Yakgwa - 약과
Yakgwa – 약과

5 votes 4.2 Cuisine: European
Dasik Korean Tea Cookies for Lunar New Year
Cooks in 30 minutes
How to make traditional Korean tea cookie (Dasik) for Lunar New Year's. Cookies are made from finely ground sesame seeds, green tea powder and more. Great melt-in-your-mouth cookie that is simple to make and pairs wonderfully with green teas.

3 votes 4.3 Cuisine: Korean
Mini Mochi Konpeito Cookies
These cute and fun mini mochi cookies are stuffed with rainbow mochi bites and white chocolate chips, then covered in konpeito candy.

2 votes 5.0 Cuisine: Asian American

3 Cookie Recipes from Singapore

Singaporean Florentine Cookies
Cooks in 50 minutes
Florentine cookies are super popular in Singapore around special occasions. This particular Florentine recipe is a beautiful gluten-free Christmas cookie option. Pretty as a picture, these cookies are beautifully textured with pumpkin and sesame seeds.

2 votes 5.0 Cuisine: Singaporean
Biskut Kacang (Peanut Cookies aka Biskut Mazola)
Cooks in 66 minutes
Biskut kacang recipe, melt-in-the-mouth peanut cookies from Singapore and Malaysia, perfect for Eid, Chinese New Year, Diwali and Christmas.

1 vote 5.0 Cuisine: Singaporean and Malaysian
Kue Semprong "Love Letter" Cookies
Cooks in 50 minutes
Kue semprong, aka kuih kapit, is a Chinese thin crepe-like Cookie that has been rolled into a cigar shape to conceal secret Love Letter. Try this recipe.

1 vote 5.0 Cuisine: Indonesian