Must Try Peanut Puffs!

The peanuts puffs that mom and I made last week were so good and my dad like it so much that last weekend, we decided to make it again. Two tubs were gone in a week and I had not even let dd try it. So I had to "turn down" others in my "to-bake list" to make way for this golden puffs because time is just so precious for me. I'd save my kueh bangkit/ suji cookie / walnut cookie for next year!

Hands-on experience beats everything even if you read a recipe a thousand times. Probably also because this time, we did it in the day time when our energy is still at its peak so everything went smoothly and I could handle the dough much better and faster. I had more strength to roll and re-roll the dough which gets tougher each time i gathered the left-overs from the cut-out rounds.

The wrapped puffs looked so much nicer because I finally mastered the technique of folding the pleats after a few ugly attempts. Oi Lin's video posted on her blog also helped alot. I learnt to wet the edges of the cut-out rounds with water so that it can be sealed easily.

Mom was camera shy so I'm not allowed to take take a shot of her. :P

I rolled and cut out the shapes in the kitchen while she wrapped the puffs in the living hall where it is much cooler. Altogether, you need to prepare three clean, white cloth - one to cover the dough after mixing because I don't have a large work surface, so I divide the dough into several portions for rolling and cutting; one to cover the little round cut-out shapes and the last one to cover the wrapped puffs before frying. This is to prevent the dough from drying out.

These were my first attempt, of different shapes and sizes! Nonetheless they were still so good. ;)

I hope I am still not too late to share this recipe because this is just soooo good! If you still have a bit of time to spare, do do try this! The crust has this flaky texture that is crispy and it just crumbles in the mouth. Ok, enough said, here's the recipe. :)

560g plain flour (original recipe uses Hong Kong flour but plain flour works just as good in my first attempt so I'm gonna stick with it)

17 tbsp peanut oil

14 tbsp water

150g ground peanuts or peanut powder

100g caster sugar

Peanut oil for frying

(1 litre of oil is needed for this recipe, inclusive of the above 17 tbsp oil)

1. Mix ground peanuts with caster sugar and stir well. Set aside.
2. Add peanut oil to flour and mix. Add water gradually until a dough is formed. At first, the water may seemed too much and the dough is very wet. Just continue kneading and eventually all the water will be absorbed and dough will become smooth and non-sticky.
3. Roll the dough thinly with a rolling pin. Just roll it as thin as you can without tearing and you are still able to wrap it without tearing, about 2mm.
4. Cut out round shape with a cookie cutter. (or use a glass like I do!)
5. Spoon a small amount of peanut filling onto the centre. Dab the edges with water. Close up to form a semi-circle. Using your thumb and index finger, flatten the edge. Then pinch to form a pattern. I strongly recommend you to watch the video here. It helps alot.
6. Set aside in a covered container to prevent puffs from drying out.
7. Heat peanut oil in a wok. The oil should be medium hot and depth of at least 4cm. Deep-fry the puffs till golden brown.
8. Place the fried puffs on paper towels to soak up excess oil.
9. Let the puffs cool completely befoe storing in an airtight container.

The recipe is based on Oi Lin's "Delicious Asian Sweet Treats" with my own modifications. I have doubled the recipe and yields about 110 to 120 pieces.