Good-fortune cookies

Don’t put away your holiday baking supplies yet. Start 2006 with your own homemade fortune cookies, complete with special messages or predictions hidden inside. They’re fun party favors for a New Year’s celebration or a unique dessert for a weekend meal.

For 6-8 cookies, you will need:

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 egg white at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon water

Preheat oven to 300 F.

In a medium bowl, combine sifted flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Stir in oil. Add egg white, vanilla and water, and stir until smooth.

Pour 1 tablespoon of the batter onto a greased baking sheet. Spread with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to form a 3-to-4-inch circle. Make 2 more rounds of dough on the sheet. (I suggest you bake one at a time at first until you get the hang of the folding technique that follows.)

Bake about 10-12 minutes or until the cookie turns a light-brown color.

While you wait, let your kids be writers and compose lines for 2 1/2 -by- 1/2 -inch strips of paper.

When the cookie is done, an adult should remove it from the oven. Quickly loosen the cookie with a spatula and place it on a clean kitchen towel. Set a fortune strip across the center with an end hanging out the side. Wearing potholders or oven mitts, fold the cookie in half to make a semicircle with the curved edge upward. Press edge together for a few seconds until it seals.

While the cookie is still pliable, immediately grasp the pointed ends with both hands and pull them together to crease. At this point it should be cool enough for your child to hold in place for about 20-30 seconds until the cookie is crisp and keeps its final fortune-cookie shape.

Set cookies in mini muffin tins to hold their shape until completely cool. Store in an airtight container.