These biskut kacang, or peanut cookies, are too easy to eat! Melt in the mouth, nutty, creamy and far too addictive. Like the pineapple tarts, they make an appearance at all festive celebrations in Singapore and Malaysia. We make then for Eid and Christmas.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What is Biskut Kacang?
Let’s do the name, first, shall we? You’ve probably figured out one half of biskut kacang, anyway, haven’t you? The name is in Malay, and let me tell you, it is one of the easiest languages there is to learn.
There are no tenses, and there is no gender differentiation in the language apart from the actual nouns. On top of that, it borrows heavily from English.
While not my native tongue, Malay is one of the 3 languages I grew up speaking, and it was also my second language in school. We used to make up all sorts of Malay words when doing our essay, amazingly (or not), we were correct half the time!
But back to biskut kacang and what the name means:
- biskut = that’s the Malay word for biscuit (in this instance, cookie)
- kacang = nut (in this instance peanut, which is specifically kacang tanah)
- tanah (bonus!) = land
So biskut kacang = peanut cookies
But What’s Biskut Mazola, then?
Ok, so I wasn’t even aware of the term biskut Mazola until recently. When I forget a recipe, I tend to ask my 2 sisters for help. So it was the same with this. I was speaking to my younger sister about Eid cookies and she suggested Mazola cookies, and sent me the recipe for it.
I kind of thought right off the bat that it was probably the same thing as biskut kacang, and when I looked at the recipe, yep, exactly the same. Mazola is the popular corn oil brand used by many around the world. So I reckon they obviously published this recipe on their site (as many brands do) using their own oil, and called it Biskut Mazola!
Biskut Kacang Recipe
So instead of sitting down and working out the biskut kacang recipe from memory (my granny’s), I went down the lazy route and used my younger sister’s recipe. The only change I made was to swap the peanut butter for raw peanuts.
Using peanut butter shaves off 15 minutes from the total prep time in making these peanut cookies. So go ahead and do that (I’ll add it to the recipe as an option). I much prefer roasting the peanuts from scratch for this, and that’s the route I’m taking.
When we used to make these biskut kacang with my granny, those peanuts still had their skin on. Oh, the mess! Because as you toast them in the frying pan, the skin will loosen. We would them take the pan to the sink, and literally blow on it to get rid of the skins! They would fly EVERYWHERE!
Luckily, these days, shelled and peeled raw peanuts are very easy to find. You can also get the blanched ones, they work perfectly well; you’ll still need to toast them though. These are the ones I get from Amazon (affiliate link).
One thing you’ll notice is that our biskut kacang haven’t got an egg wash, which enhances the appearance somewhat, and adds to the flavour. This is because my girls are allergic to eggs, which is the reason you’ll find lots of eggless desserts on LinsFood. However, I shall still add eggwash to the recipe below.
Homemade Peanut Cookies
Call them whatever you like, they are peanut cookies. And this is how we’ll be making them:
- Toast the peanuts on the stove (unless you’re using peanut butter)
- Grind the peanuts
- Make the dough
- Form balls with the dough
- Top with a small sliver of nut (I used pistachios but peanut slice is customary)
- Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes
Just to give you an idea of how easy, these biskut kacang are, my 15-year old made them all on her own. She knew I wanted to get them done today, and asked if she could do it. Erm, yeah, absolutely!
I took pictures of most of the steps, except the formed balls, prebaking! But you can see what they look like after!
And now, shall we get baking?
Interestingly, this recipe has been included in an article on vegetarian foods by the international educational publisher Twinkl – you can read more here.
More Eid Recipes
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And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Biskut Kacang (Peanut Cookies aka Biskut Mazola)
Equipment
- large frying pan for toasting peanuts
- large bowls
- chopper
- knife or pestle and mortar
- weighing scales
- spatula
- spoons
- baking tins x 4
Ingredients
- 500 g raw or blanched peanuts (shelled and skinned) OR 500g semi coarse peanut butter
- 500 g All Purpose flour
- 500 g caster sugar
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
- 400-450 ml vegetable oil (like corn or rapeseed) Mazola brand or otherwise
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 Tbsp fresh milk or water
Instructions
Toast the Peanuts
- Place the raw or blanched peanuts in a large frying pan over medium heat and toast for 10 minutes. Be sure that the pan is large enough for the nuts to be in a single layer.Turn the heat down to medium-low after 2 minutes, so the peanuts don't brown too quickly and burn.
- Keep tossing and flipping the peanuts until they are a light brown colour and giving off a sweet and nutty aroma.
- When done, tip the nuts onto a large, flat plate and leave to cool for 20 minutes. Then, save about 20 peanuts and set aside. Place the rest in a chopper and pulse to a semi fine state. Do these in batches if your chopper isn't big enough. When the peanuts resemble large grains of wet sand, you're done.The 20 peanuts – break them up with the back of a knife to get large pieces for topping the cookies. Or use a pestle and mortar (batu lesung).
Prepare the Kuih Kacang Dough
- Place the flour, sugar, chopped peanuts and salt into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Slowly, drizzle about ¾ of the oil all over the dry ingredients. Stir with the wooden spoon to mix. Your dough will still be a little too dry at this point. Use your clean hands to bring the dough together, but do not knead, just mix with your fingers.
- Keep adding the oil a little at a time until you get a dough that doesn't crumble. I apologise for forgetting the photos from this step! Your dough wants to be a little damp. The more the dough stays together at the point, the sturdier your biskut kacang.
Forming and Baking Kuih Kacang
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C Fan).
- Roll the dough into little balls and place on a baking tray.
- Beat the egg yolk a little with the milk or water. Then finish the peanuts balls with a little egg wash on, and press down (slightly) a tiny piece of nut for decoration.
- Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes. You can do 2 trays at a time. Check your cookies at the 15 minute mark, if they are not brown enough, bake for 3 minutes more.
- Let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They will last for 2 weeks.
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