Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 3 cookie sheets well. Have fortunes ready to go on small strips of paper, and separate some near the place where you will assemble the cookies so you can pick them up quickly.
In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites and sugar on high speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and stir in melted butter, vanilla, water and flour one at a time, mixing well after each. It will be about the consistency of pancake batter.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of batter at a time to cookie sheets, putting no more than 3 cookies on a sheet at one time. With the back of the spoon, swirl each mound of cookie dough in a circle until you have a relatively smooth circle about 3" in diameter. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t look right at first - keep swirling and it will smooth out! The cookies should not touch - leave room between them.
Bake for 4 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. During that time, prepare the next sheet of 3 cookies. Remove the first cookie sheet from the oven, put the second one in and set the timer. That few seconds allows the first cookies to set - but don’t wait any longer! Working quickly remove one at a time with a wide spatula, flip it over on a wooden cutting board. Place a message in the center, and roll the cookie in half - not creasing the center. Pick it up and place the folded edge across the edge of a measuring cup (because the edge is thick) with one end inside the cup and one end outside and with curved edges upwards, and gently bend down on both ends to form a horseshoe shape.
Place in a muffin tin or egg carton to keep it from spreading till cool. If you find that the third cookie is too cool to fold, you may need to bake only two at a time.
Make the next batch of 3 cookies on the third cookie sheet while the hot one cools. This sets up a rhythm of work that can be continued till the cookies are done.
Don’t be discouraged if your first ones aren’t perfect. This takes practice. Bake them long enough till they are golden around the edges or they will be spongy and like pancakes. But don’t bake them too long or they will not fold nicely.
Note: Alternatively, you can roll these into tube-like cookies and fill them with icing for other occasions.
0 servings