Chinese New Year 2025: Year of the Snake
I decided on the colors of green, red and the black in the eyes for my snake. If I could have found yellow eyes, I would have jumped on that, but I had to settle for the white and black eyes.
The flavor of the orange and almond is wonderful and the crunch of the sparkling sugar gives it a perfect texture to go along with the sugar cookie.
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Ingredients
ORANGE ALMOND COOKIE
- Butter unsalted
- Sugar white
- Egg
- Almond extract
- Orange zest
- Orange juice
- Coloring gel (I used Rustic Green)
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher Salt
- Powdered sugar
DECORATING SNAKE
- Sparkling sugar red (Amazon)
- Cookie icing (Giant)
- Mini eyeballs (Amazon)
Icing for Eyes and Stripe on Snake
You can make your own icing, but since I was using it as a binder for the sparkling sugar and to attach the eyes, I was only going to need a small amount. This seemed the way to go.
If you make your own icing, I suggest getting an icing bottle so you can control the amount of icing you squeeze out. Since I do not do a ton of cookie decorating, this was my solution.
Making Orange Almond Snake Cookies
What a great way to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2025. I am not a great cookie decorator, but most people are not. So I thought this was an easy way to create the snake and enjoy a great tasting cookie.
A Little Prep Work
Start by weighing or measuring the sugar into a bowl and setting it aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour. Add to the flour the baking powder and the salt. I run a whisk through the flour mixture to blend.
Next, I zest and juice an orange and set these aside.
Time to Mix the Cookie Dough
Cube the butter into a mixer bowl. I cut the butter to tell how cold the butter is. This will determine how long it will take to cream the butter.
If your butter is room temperature, it only takes a minute or two for the butter to look creamy on a medium mixer speed.
Next, add the sugar and mix on a medium mixer speed for 3 minutes.
Now add the orange zest, orange juice, almond extract, egg, and coloring gel. I used the rustic green color. Mix until every thing is incorporated, and the dough looks green. Scrape down the sides.
Finally, add the flour mixture about a third at a time. This should only take about a minute. After all the flour has been added, take a little of the cookie dough between your thumb and finger. It should feel a little like play dough.
Dump everything onto a pastry mat. Don't worry if you see some flour that has not all been incorporated, it will come together.
Knead Into Log
You want to knead the cookie dough until all the flour has been absorbed and shape the dough into a log.
I cut the log in half. Take one half and press it down into a flat round disk shape. It is easier to roll out if it is not one giant disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap.
Do the same thing to the other half of the log. I put them on a paper plate and into the fridge they go.
Chill the two disks for about 30 minutes. This chill time helps to absorb the flour into the butter-sugar mixture of the cookie dough.
Cookie Cutter Snake
I take some of the powdered sugar and sprinkle onto my pastry mat. I use rolling pin bands on the ends of my rolling pin and I am using the ¼ inch thick band for the thickness of my cookies. Also, get 2 sheet pans and line them with parchment paper.
Here is the link to the snake cookie cutter that I purchased from Amazon. I take the disks out of the refrigerator and unwrap one of them. They will be cold and will need to warm up a little so you can roll out the dough.
If you roll out the dough, and the outside edge cracks, it is still too cold. You can put the disk between your hands to help warm the dough.
Once you get the first round of the disk rolled out, cut as many snakes as you have room for.
Place the snake cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet pan. I found that putting 8 cookies on a pan gave them plenty of room.
Baking the Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Bake for 7-9 minutes, leave the cookies on the sheet pan for at least 5 minutes after pulling the pan from the oven. Sugar cookies are soft and since the snake cookies are long, they will break if handled too soon.
Hints!
- Somewhere when I was purchasing the eyes, my thinking was that I could add them before I baked them. Some came out great, but other seemed like they burst and sank into the cookie. This was when I decided to add them after they were baked.
- I used a fish turner to move the cookies to a cooling rack. Until the cookies cool completely, they will break if moved too soon.
Decorating the Snake Cookies
You want to get a dish that is long enough so that the cookie can lie on the red sparkling sugar and attach to the white icing.
I add the stripe to all the cookies before I add the eyes. This way the cookie will lay flat on the sparkling red sugar. Taking a pair of scissors cut just the very end of the tube of icing.
Now squeeze out a line of icing along the snake. Make sure you leave enough room for the eyes.
Put the cookie icing side down onto the red sparkling sugar and press lightly across the whole snake cookie.
Once all the cookies have the red stripe on it, now is the time to add the eyes. I add some of the icing to a plate and get a toothpick. Using the toothpick, add a small amount of the icing to the back of one of the candy eyes.
Now add the eye to the snake's head. This part is a little tedious, but they are cute. Now you have a complete snake cookie! Let the icing harden, which takes about 3 hours. You can then stack the cookies in a container.
Enjoy and have fun!
FAQ's
Yes! I was very much surprised and happy that the sparkling red sugar and the eyes stayed on. I even stacked them in my container.
You can, but it will not have the same taste. Adding the orange zest along with the juice gives the cookies a much brighter and distinctive orange taste.
Don't over mix and I always chill my sugar cookie dough. I also weigh my flour. Too much flour can cause spreading. You also may want to add a scale to your baking equipment.
Other New Year Cookies
Recipe
Orange Almond Sugar Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
ORANGE ALMOND COOKIE
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar white
- 1 (1) Egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Almond extract
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Orange zest
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Orange juice
- 1 drop (1 drop) Coloring gel green
- 3 cups (375 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- ½ cup (60 g) Powdered sugar
DECORATING SNAKE
- 1 cup (236 g) Sparkling sugar red
- 1 tube (1 tube) Cookie icing
- 64 (64) Mini eyeballs
Instructions
ORANGE ALMOND COOKIES
- Weigh or measure your sugar into a bowl and set it aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour. Add to the flour the baking powder and the salt. Run a whisk through to blend. Now you want to zest and juice the orange.
- Cube the butter into a mixer bowl and cream the butter for about a minute. Add the sugar and on a medium mixer speed mix for 3 minutes. Next, add the egg, orange zest, orange juice, almond extract and a drop of the green coloring gel. Mix until blended. Scrape down the bowl and on a low mixer speed add about a third of the flour at a time. This should only take about a minute. Try not to over mix.
- Dump all the cookie dough onto a pastry mat. It is OK if there is a little flour that did not get incorporated into the dough. You will finish it by kneading the cookie dough until everything has been absorbed. Roll the dough into a log and cut it in half. Flatten each half into a round disk shape and wrap it with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. I also have a snake cookie cutter and a fish turner (check the image above to see what it looks like) to take the cookies off the sheet pan after they are baked.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar onto the pastry mat and place one of the cookie disks unwrapped onto the powdered sugar. I use ¼" rolling pin bands for the depth of the cookies. Roll the dough after it has warmed a little and cut out 8 snake cookies per sheet pan. Bake for 7-9 minutes and let them on the pan for at least 5 minutes before moving them. Sugar cookies are soft until they are completely cooled. Cool cookies before decorating.
- I used a tube of cookie icing to make the line down the snake's back. Place the cookie icing side down onto the sparkling sugar and press lightly. It sticks to the icing nicely. I do all the lines down the snake's back before adding the pair of eyes. I squeeze some of the icing from the tube onto a small plate. With a toothpick, dab a little of the icing onto the back of the candy eye and place it on the head. Repeat with the other eye. Let them dry for 3 hours and they will be stackable in a container. I put parchment paper between the layer.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
Barbara
Perfect cookies for the Chinese New Year 2025 Year of the snake. Enjoy!