dichos (mexican fortune cookies)

How To Make dichos (mexican fortune cookies)

• 1

  It's much easier if you gather all the necessary equipment (besides ingredients) that you'll need before you attempt the baking process. It makes it go much more smoothly if all equipment is within reach when you need them.
• 2

  Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a standard size baking sheet with a silicone baking pad or parchment paper; set baking sheet aside.
• 3

  Beat egg whites until frothy, about 3 minutes or so. Add sugar and salt to the frothy egg whites, and beat another 2 minutes or until soft peaks form. Add the cooled butter, cinnamon, vanilla and water, and beat until well combined. Then add flour and beat just until all the flour is incorporated. Don't over-mix (over-mixing will create dense cookies that will be prone to cracking when shaping them.) The batter will be slightly frothy.
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  4

  Use a 1 Tablespoon measuring spoon, and add 1 Tbsp of batter to the parchment. Use the back of a spoon and gently make swirly circles to spread the batter to form a thin circle about 3 inches wide. Repeat this step, making 2 more circles of batter on the parchment. (It's best to work in small batches, baking 2 or 3 cookies at a time and no more than 4.)
• 5

  Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 6 to 7 minutes or until the edges are browned. Remove baking sheet from oven.
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  6

  Working quickly (before the cookies cool), use the spatula to gently lift one of the cookies off the parchment. Add a fortune on top, then fold the cookie in half. Place the straight edge of the cookie over the rim of a mug, and gently push the two tips down (so the cookie is curled over the mug rim and takes the shape of a fortune cookie). Lift the curved cookie off the mug and lie it on its side inside the cup of a muffin pan (or in a small ramekin) so it retains its curved shape while it cools completely. Repeat with the other two cookies from that batch. You have to fold and curl all 3 of the cookies before they cool, so you'll want to work fast with this step. NOTE: If you prefer, you can fold the cookies over the fortune/dicho so they're "taco" shape, and omit the step of curling them over a mug rim to form them in the classic fortune cookie shape. Let them cool and serve them as taco-shaped fortune cookies.
• 7

  Repeat Steps #4 and #5 until all remaining batter is used.
• 8

  OPTIONAL STEP, IF NEEDED: If your baked Dichos seem a little chewy (i.e., didn't quite bake all the way through), you can place the muffin tin (with all cookies in place) and bake an additional 2 to 3 minutes so remaining moisture is baked out of all of the cookies. This wasn't a problem for me, but was part of the original recipe so I thought it best to include it here.
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