These salted egg yolk cookies with pine nuts are a nod to the flavors of traditional Chinese holidays. The rich, eggy flavor of salted yolks, often used in mooncakes and festive treats, creates a tender and delicate texture. Its subtle savory depth even gives the cookie a slightly cheesy note. Toasted pine nuts add a gentle nutty crunch and they also symbolize longevity in Chinese culture. which makes these cookies great for the Lunar New Year table.
You might also like Barley Shortbread Cookie or Hojicha Viennese Cookie.
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What is salted egg yolk (鹹蛋黃)?
Salted egg yolk is a traditional ingredient made by curing duck or chicken eggs in a mixture of salt, water, and sometimes additional seasonings. The curing process preserves the eggs and transforms the yolks into rich, golden-orange orbs with a dense, creamy texture and a savory, umami-packed flavor. Salted egg yolks are widely used in East and Southeast Asian cuisines, appearing in both sweet and savory dishes. They are often found in mooncakes, pastries, custards, or as a sauce coating (金沙) for dishes like prawns and fried snacks. While the egg yolk is the star of salted eggs, the egg white shouldn’t be overlooked. Though saltier, it has its own uses in enhancing dishes with a savory depth. Its briny, concentrated flavor makes it a great seasoning ingredient for soups, stir-fries, and marinades.
Ingredients of Salted Egg Yolk Cookie
- Salted Egg Yolk - I use the frozen salted egg yolk from Chinese grocery store to save my time. Home making sated egg yolk takes about a month. There are some quick method online, but the salted egg yolk we use here has to be very firm and oily, not soft and curdy.
- Butter - I used unsalted cultured butter for extra butteriness, but normal unsalted butter works just as fine. Don’t use salted butter cause you already have enough salt from the salted egg yolk.
- Granulated Sugar - Granulated sugar adds a slight crunch to the cookies. It creates a sturdier dough that holds its shape well during baking. This can result in cookies with a bit more height or defined edges.
- All Purpose Flour - All-purpose flour provides a balanced structure to cookies, giving them enough stability to hold their shape while baking. The gluten content is moderate, making it ideal for cookies that should be tender but still maintain their form. The more flour you add, the better the cookie will hold its shape after baking, resulting in a firmer texture. However, adding too much flour can lead to a crumbly dough that's difficult to roll into a log and may result in a denser, less delicate cookie.
- Pine Nut - Pine nut is optional ingredients here, but I really recommend to add it cause it give a nice sweet nutty flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Salted Egg Yolk Cookie?
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the pine nuts at 350°F for 5 minutes or until it colors.
Roast the salted egg yolk 350°F for 10 minutes or until it looks bubbly and oily.
Crush the salted egg yolk to small crumbs with a fork.
In a mixing bowl, cream soften butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.
Add crushed salted egg yolk, and mix again.
Add all purpose flour and toasted pine nuts, and mix with a spatula until you don’t see any flour pockets.
Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a long log, about 2 inch diameter.
Use a bench scraper to help you shape evenly. Wrap the dough log and fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven at 350°F. Leave the dough out for 10 minutes before cutting it. Cut the dough into 0.8 cm thick (about ⅓ inch.)
Place the cookie on the baking sheet. leave at least 1 inch space between each cookie. The cookies expand a lot in the oven.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool down completely before moving them.
Equipment
A bench scraper helps you shape the dough into a log.
A silicon spatula is the most useful tool for baking. Get the seamless one so it is easy to clean and also prevent bacteria from growing.
Storage
One of the reasons that this cookie is great for holiday gifting is that you can make the dough days or weeks ahead, and freeze it until the day before baking. Defrost the dough in the fridge overnight, slice and bake freshly.
The shortbread cookies can be kept in an airtight container in the room temperature for a week.
Recipe Tips
Shape the cookie dough as tight as possible! While I was testing the recipe, I found that the tiny crack in the cookie dough does not disappear because the butter melt in the oven. Instead, It makes the cookie extra delicate and fragile.
Let the chilled cookie dough rest for 5–10 minutes before cutting to prevent cracking! When butter is too cold, the dough tends to crumble, making it difficult to cut clean shapes. Allowing the dough to soften slightly ensures smoother slicing and more consistent results.
Recipe FAQ
In this recipe, I chose the combination of salted egg yolk and pine nut for their soft oily texture. Pine nuts, with their buttery, slightly sweet flavor and delicate crunch, is easy to cut into for this kind of shortbread cookie. If you want to substitute with other nuts, you can use walnut and pecan, or chopped almond and peanut.
The size of the salted egg yolk can determine the amount of oil in the recipe, so sometimes the cookie comes out more crumbly. You can add 5 grams more all purpose flour, but the dough will also gets drier when you shape it into a log. Another way is adding less salted egg yolk. Reduce the salted egg yolk to 2.5 pieces.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Card
Salted Egg Yolk Cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter soften
- 70 g granulated sugar
- 3 salted egg yolk
- 130 g all-purpose flour
- 20 g pine nut
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the pine nuts at 350°F for 5 minutes or until it colors. Roast the salted egg yolk 350°F for 10 minutes or until it looks bubbly and oily.
- Crush: Crush the salted egg yolk to small crumbs with a fork.
- Cream: In a mixing bowl, cream soften butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Mix: Add crushed salted egg yolk, and mix again.
- Mix: Add all purpose flour and toasted pine nuts, and mix with a spatula until you don’t see any flour pockets.
- Shape: Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a long log, about 2 inch diameter.
- Chill: Use a bench scraper to help you shape evenly. Wrap the dough log and fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
- Prep: Preheat the oven at 350°F. Leave the dough out for 10 minutes before cutting it.
- Cut: Cut the dough into 0.8 cm thick (about ⅓ inch.)
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Serve: Let the cookies cool down completely before moving them.
Karen says
I didn't have pine nuts, so I used walnuts instead. The cookies came out great!