The Mister and I don’t throw or go to New Year’s Eve parties – I prefer a quiet evening at home with wine and a movie. With the Rose Parade, there’s too many people on the street, it gets crowded, and I hate driving with all the drunks after midnight. Plus, this year we’ll have the in-laws in town! But I do still like to celebrate, so I’ll be making these colorful New Year’s Eve Resolution Cookies that are dipped in white chocolate and bedazzled with an assortment of sprinkles! Crack one open to reveal your 2017 Resolution! 
Ok, ok, so they’re really fortune cookies and I learned they are actually fairly easy to make at home! You simply need a few specialty tools (off-set spatula and a non-stick baking mat) and a little patience because you can really only make about 6 at a time.
I was talking to my Mother-in-Law this afternoon and she said she tried to make fortune cookies once, but gave up because she couldn’t crimp them before they cooled. I started out slow by making about 3 at a time until I really got the hang of it, then did 4 at a time, and by the end I was doing 6 cookies in the oven at a time. And this was my first time making fortune cookies! So like I said, it simply takes a little patience and a couple specialty tools! 
To make these, I simply printed and cut out some 2017 resolutions, whipped up the batter, spread it out thin, baked the cookies for about 8 minutes, then burnt my little fingers on them when I folded and crimped them before they quickly cooled and hardened. 
And instead of making almond flavored cookies which I don’t like, I made them vanilla flavored with a dash of cinnamon to holiday them up a bit! 
Here’s the recipe:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup fine granulated sugar
- 1 cup flour, sifted
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp corn starch
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 Tb heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 Tb butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place your egg whites in a bowl and whisk them until frothy and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, salt, corn starch, and cinnamon. Then form a well in the middle, add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and butter and mix the wet ingredients with a spatula until all of the dry ingredients from the sides of the bowl have combined.
- Next, add half the egg whites and stir until smooth, then combine the other half of egg whites and stir until combined.
- If you wish to make different colored cookies, divide the batter into different bowls, add your desired food coloring and mix.
- Use a spoon to add 6 half-dollar dollops of batter to your non-stick baking mat (Silpat), setting them each about 3-4 inches apart. Then use the back of the spoon to spread out the batter into a circular shape, making it as thin as possible without creating any holes.
- Bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes until the edges slightly brown.
- Then use an off-set spatula to quickly flip the cookies, add your printed resolutions to the middle, and fold each cookie in half lengthwise. Then immediately pick up the cookie and fold it in half again - the easiest way to do this is by molding it over the edge of a coffee mug. Place the folded cookie in a cupcake baking tin to hold the shape as the cookie hardens. You must do this step quickly before the cookie cools and hardens.
- Decorate the cookies by dipping into melted white chocolate and covering with sprinkles.
- Store in an airtight container or cookies will soften and get chewy.
And of course you can make them any color you want! The pink ones baked up super bright, but the blue ones are a bit tricky since the blue interacts with the yellow color of the cookie batter and turns greenish if they bake too long, so keep an eye on them and pull them as soon as the edges brown.
So what will you put on your resolutions? Go to the gym more? Eat more cake? Travel to Paris? I included a few fun ones: “I will eat more donuts in 2017” and “I will sit by the pool in Palm Springs more in 2017.” But I probably should have also made “I will clean up after my crafts in 2017” and “I will wash my car more in 2017.”
Cheers to a happy, safe, and prosperous 2017 with more donuts, coffee, wine, naps by the pool in Palm Springs, and kitschy road trips to the Madonna Inn!