Fortune cookies are symbols of mystery, fate, and luck; and yes, you can create all of that in your own kitchen! Part dessert, part activity, fortune cookies are delicious and entertaining– great for parties, gifts, or fun just for you. Yes, you can make fortune cookies just for yourself. Why not?? This particular fortune cookie recipe is crunchy, crisp, glossy, and yes I’ll say it: perfect. Make them any flavor you like, but I love the toasty nuttiness of sesame and almond.

Homemade Sesame-Almond Fortune Cookie Recipe with Funny Printable Paper Messages

Recipe Notes:

Ingredients and Flavor Variations
Not a sesame fan? Replace the sesame oil with neutral oil. Sesame oil is included in this recipe purely for flavor. Almond is a no go? Use any extract you like! Vanilla is always a winner.
Rice flour is included in this recipe because it adds lightness and crispness. If you try replacing the rice flour with all-purpose flour, let me know how it goes!
The recipe calls for room temperature egg whites because egg whites froth better and more readily at room temperature. Frothy egg whites will also add lightness.

How To Keep Fortune Cookies Crunchy
Guess what? These fortune cookies stay crispy and crunchy with no extra effort! For real.
I’ve tried many other fortune cookie batter formulas in the past, and none of them stayed crunchy. I suspect the rice flour and oil are to thank! Many recipes call for butter, and while butter is delicious, it just won’t yield the crunch that oil will.
These cookies will be a bit tender for the first hour or two, and will be completely crunchy all the way through by the next day.

Piping + Spreading
Using a piping bag isn’t 100% necessary, but I think it makes the batter easier to handle and distribute evenly. A dollop from a piping bag also makes a circle shape automatically. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a zip top bag.
When spreading the dollops into circles, swirl from the center outwards. It’s very difficult to get the cookies evenly thin throughout, but if you’re going to have a thin spot, it’s best to have it be in the center since the center naturally cooks more slowly than the edges.

Fast + Furious Fortune Cookie Folding

When working with fortune cookies, you gotta move fast! Here are a couple of tips to help:

Protect Your Hands
I have pretty tough fingers, but I still burned myself immediately trying to form these cookies. I wore a pair or disposable latex gloves AND a pair of cut-resistant gloves over top of them, and that worked great. Wear any gloves, as long as they are lint free.

The Right Stuff
Like anything else in the kitchen, the right tools make a difference.
For a non-stick baking surface, I prefer a silicone mat. Unlike parchment, it’s heavy, meaning it won’t slide around when you’re furiously trying to flip the cookies like you’re on Minute To Win It.
Speaking of flipping, a sturdy, thin spatula is super helpful. I like this one. A fish spatula would also work well.
You’ll want to have a cup, any cup, for folding the cookie over. Having the lip of a glass really helps puff out that second fold, and fold accurately in the right place. This will make more sense once you atrt folding.
You will also need a muffin tin or small dishes to place the cookies in once they are folded. Otherwise, they may unfold.

Practice Makes Perfect
Keep the cookies on the hot pan while folding so they stay warm. If the cookies are solidifying before you can fold them, try cooking fewer at a time, get a friend to help, and/or cook them for less time.
I recommend baking just one cookie in your first batch so you can practice your folding!
A visual can be really helpful– here’s a video that might help!

Keep scrolling for the fortune cookie recipe!

Sesame-Almond Fortune Cookies Recipe

Print Recipe

Sesame-Almond Fortune Cookies

Servings: 20 fortune cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour spooned and leveled
2 tbsp rice flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites at room temperature
2 tbsp neutral oil such as vegetable or canola
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp almond extract
3-4 tbsp water divided
toasted sesame seeds for sprinkling optional
prepared paper fortunes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, rice flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt and set aside. In a separate small dish, whisk the egg whites until they are very frothy but not stiff-- they should look like a bubble bath: a thick layer of bubbles on top with liquid beneath. Make a well in the dry mixture and add the egg whites, neutral oil, sesame oil, and almond extract. Gently fold together with a spatula, adding one tablespoon of the water at a time until the mixture is about the consistency of cake batter. When the spatula is lifted out of the batter, the batter should fall into ribbons. Transfer the batter to a piping bag.
Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat (recommended), parchment paper, or baking spray. Pipe 1-3 dollops of batter (1-2 tsp each) onto the sheet a few inches apart. Use the back of a spoon or offset spatula to swirl the dollops into thin, 4” wide circles. Sprinkle the edges of the circles with sesame seeds if using.
Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges and still a little pale in the center. As the cookies bake, prepare a muffin tin or a few small dishes, and a cup for folding. Put on gloves to protect your fingers.
Working quickly, remove the baked cookies from the oven and use a thin, sturdy spatula to flip the cookies over (this will keep the fortunes from sticking to the cookies.) Place a fortune in the center of each cookie. Working with one cookie at a time, fold loosely in half over the fortune. Then, holding the corners of the first fold with your fingertips, place the center of the first fold over the edge of the cup and pull the corners down to create the second fold. Place the cookie in the muffin tin or dish so it holds its shape as it cools.
Repeat this process until all of the cookies have been shaped, and lasso in a friend if you want to bake more cookies at a time! Enjoy fresh or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.