Cream Cheese Bak Kwa Savoury Cookies (肉干咸香饼干）

INTRODUCTION

Bak Kwa or pork jerky is definitely not new.. It appeared at least 2-3 years ago especially among the English speaking Facebook Group and blogs. Therefore, this exotic cookie’s concept is not mine but the recipe is developed by me.

It is rather funny if I go and buy the expensive bak kwa just to prepare this cookie. Since i am preparing some homemade bak kwa the day before, I have decided to use the bak kwa for my cookies. I regretted to have eaten all the trimmings during the day of preparation. Otherwise , this preparation will be an ideal way to get rid of such trimmings.

If you are interested in the preparation of home made bak kwa, you can refer to this post: I Have No Patience And I Prepared My Instant Bak Kwa–Instant Chinese Pork Jerky

For this recipe, cream cheese is added to soften the dough, I believed a slightly sandy cookies is great for this cookie as opposed to the hard crispy type. In addition, the slight cream cheese flavour do blend well with the other ingredients in the cookies. Since meat is used, I have opt to make it a savoury cookie. I find that savoury cookies always stand out in a tray of sweet cookies. Other savoury cookies include cheesy gold bar, shrimp floss cookies and etc. However, if you prefer a sweet cookie, you can easily substitute the seasoning with a small quantity of salt.

As for the design, It is up to individual. In the internet, such cookies can be in a form of round shape, square shape or even cut out shape. I do not have many moulds and I just used a small mould used for pineapple tarts. Instead of putting pineapple jam in the centre, I placed a piece of bak kwa in the centre.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: About 50-60 small cookies depends on size

200 grams of plain flour
80 grams of butter
60 grams of cream cheese
75 grams of bak kwa (pork jerky)
Pinches of salt*
1/2 tablespoon of cooking wine (optional)*
1/4 teaspoon of chicken stock powder *
1/8 teaspoon of five spice powder*
Additional 150 grams of bak kwa for decoration (optional)

If you prefer a sweet cookie, omit items mark (*) and replaced with 50 grams of castor sugar.

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

In a food processor, blend the pork jerky until small bits. Add the cream cheese and butter, blend until well combine. Add the flour, follow by the seasonings and wine. Blend until it form a pliable dough.

Transfer the dough out on a light floured surface or clingy wrap. Roll it flat. Use your preferred mould to mould the dough. If you are using pineapple tarts mould, use some thing to cut the bak kwa into a round shape (I used piping nozzles). Place a piece of the bak kwa at the centre of the dough. Bake in the pre-heated oven of 170 degree Celsius for about 12-15 minutes. Let the cookies rest in the tray for 5 minutes before transfer to a wire rack for complete cooling.

CONCLUSION

Remember to save the trimmings of your home made bak kwa for this cookies. If you like it sweet, just forget about the normal seasonings and substitute with 50 grams of sugar. The cookies are supposed to have a five spice fragrant, sandy with some bak kwa bits to bite with.

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Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

I’m submitting this post to Best Recipes for Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 Event Theme: My Homemade Cookies organized by Fion of XuanHom’s Mom and co-hosted by Victoria Bakes

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