CNY Herbal Mixed Berries Cookies 药膳果子饼

I hope my photos would make you feel that Chinese New Year's near! We only have these few weeks to fulfil all our CNY home bakes! This year, I'm foregoing my favourite homemade pineapple tarts and bak kwa because husband and I are on weight management mode. My parents, however, requested that I bake some CNY cookies. I'll prefer to make some less sinful ones for them. If you have problems getting your family members to consume Chinese herbal tonic or soup because of the rich pungent smell, you may want to consider this lower sugar, lower carb (as I used more than 50% coconut flour that's supposedly extremely low carb) homemade CNY Herbal Mixed Berries Cookies 药膳果子饼. The true benefits of herbal tonic's so easily and subtly infused that it's almost non-existent in smell. The texture's somehow similar to cereal or oatmeal cookies due to the coarse texture of coconut flour. 

Some may ask why not use 100% coconut flour? You can if you don't mind your cookies having the soft, cake crumble like texture. This is because coconut flour does not create the structure that's necessary for cookies. I chose to use very little sugar as the sweetness from the dried mixed fruits were already sufficient for our palate  It's really versatile. You may adjust the ratio of flour and sugar weightage according to your personal preference. Just remember that the higher ratio of top flour used, the harder texture cookies should yield. 

Bear in mind to consume the herbal cookies sparingly (i.e. do not consume too many pieces a day) to avoid excess heat induced to the body. 

Ingredients (yields about 60 to 70 cookies) :

• 250 gm butter (room temperature, sliced or diced)
• 30 gm castor sugar (or to taste)
• 1 egg
• 40ml Huiji Waist Tonic (use 30 ml to pre-soak mixed berries 1 day beforehand and 10ml to be used for making cookies dough.)
• 3 tbsp water (use together with Huiji Waist Tonic to pre-soak mixed berries)
• 340 gm coconut flour
• 240 gm multi-purpose or top flour (both ok)(sifted beforehand)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups organic mixed raisins, dried cranberries, dried rasberries (you may add/reduce in accordance to your preference)

Method : 

1. Pre-soak mixed berries with 30ml Huiji Waist Tonic and 3 tbsp water in a jar one day beforehand.
2. Pre-heat oven to 170C.
3. Mix butter and sugar at high speed till light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and 10ml Huiji Waist Tonic. Mix at low speed till well combined.  
5. Let the mixer continue to run at low speed, spoon in coconut flour and top flour till well combined.
6. Add soaked mixed berries to dough till evenly spread in dough.
7. Remove bowl from mixer, lightly stir dough in bowl with a spoon to ensure ingredients are well combined. 
8. Use spoon or hands to roll and press cookie dough into flat round shapes (do not have to be perfect round shapes) of about a 4 to 5 cm diameter.  
9. Place round cookie dough onto a lined baking tray. Leave a little space in between each row.
10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. 
11. Once out of oven, allow the cookies to cool for 5 to 10 minutes  before transferring to cooling rack. 

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