Kueh Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies)

Kueh Bangkit, tapioca coconut cream cookies that melt in your mouth and often enjoyed during Chinese New Year.

Kueh Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies), may look plain and bland to some of you but I assure you, this airy and flavorful cookie is so fragrant and light that it literally melts in your mouth! 

Chinese New Year is by far my favorite holiday when we were living in Singapore. After being away for over 7 years now, it is always around this time of the year that I get a little homesick.

I remember as kids, one of my favorite Chinese New Year activity is sampling all the yummy cookies and snacks at every relative's house that we visit on the first day of the Lunar New Year. We will be dressed in brand new outfits and children & unmarried young adults look forward to collecting "ang pows" (red packets filled with small amounts of money as a symbol of good luck).

The variety of snacks and cookies is so vast, it is hard to just pick one favorite. Kueh Bangkit is definitely on the top of my favorite list.
​
Traditionally, the tapioca flour is pan fried with pandan leaves (screw pine leaves) to infuse its flavor in but I found a simpler way that would also generate less mess. And because I do not have the traditional Kueh Bangkit wooden cookie molds, I use regular cookie cutters instead.
This is my first attempt making them and it was a great success. The kids have been snacking on them ever since I made them!

Kueh Bangkit (Tapioca Cookies)
adapted from "Malaysian Chinese Kitchen"

Recipe
Ingredients
​1 lb Tapioca Flour
6 to 8 Pandan Leaves (screw pine leaves)
2 Egg Yolks
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Thick Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream
Red Food Coloring

Cooking Method
1. Rinse and dry pandan leaves.
2. Place tapioca flour in a baking tray. Cut pandan leaves into 3 inch lengths and place them in the flour, burying them in.
3. Bake the flour at 200 degrees F for 1 hour.
4. Remove from oven and let tapioca flour cool. Discard the pandan leaves.
5. Sieve the flour and reserve 1/4 cup for dusting.
6. Beat egg yolks and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
7. Add 1/3 portion of flour and 1/3 portion of coconut milk/cream. Mix well. Continue doing so until all the flour and coconut milk/cream is used up.
8. Gently knead the mixture to form a soft dough. It should be soft and does not stick to your hands. If it appears to be too dry, you may add 1 to 2 tbsp of additional coconut milk/cream.
9. Gently roll the dough till it is about 1/4 inch thick. Use approximately 1 inch sized cookie cutters, dip them into flour and cut them into shape.
10. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 to 25 min, depending on the size of your cookies. The bottom of the cookies should lightly browned when ready.
11. Dot cookies with red food coloring, if desired.

Makes 60 to 65 (1 inch sized) pieces