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Chris had the brilliant idea of having (mis)fortune cookies so we started brainstorming for fortunes because nothing says "I Love You" like a (mis)fortune. Who wouldn't want to know of their impending doom? Trust me, they'll be thanking you! Henry came up with that one. He's serious about it. Watch out, you do NOT want to get that one!   I have only tried Martha's recipe but it seems to work. These cookies can be a little tricky so try it a few times until you get it right. 

Fortune Cookies 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.
4. Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula (an offset spatula, available at specialty kitchen shops, works best) under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel. Using your fingers, fold the cookie in half, pinching the top together to form a loose semicircle. Hold the cookie with your index fingers inserted at each open end, and slide your thumbs together along the bottom line. Press into the center of the cookie while bending the two open ends together and down to form the shape of a fortune cookie. This whole process should take about 10 seconds. Once the cookie hardens, which begins to happen almost immediately, you cannot fold it. Place the fortune cookie on the kitchen towel to cool, and shape the second cookie. Repeat until all the batter is used up. To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.
5. Write your message on a long strip of sturdy art paper, such as Japanese moriki. Thread the fortune through the cookie when it has cooled. 

**We didn't have any heavy cream so I substituted with whole milk. When I last made this recipe a few years ago I can't remember if I used heavy cream or not and if it made a difference in the end product. '

 A few things worth noting:

I decided to use my Silpat instead of spraying the cookie sheet directly with the cooking spray. It didn't work out so great. I had to really pry the cookies off so in the end I just sprayed the pan directly and they came right off but….they kind of burned. When I did the next batch, I took a minute off the cooking time and:   they were so soft that it didn't hold it's shape. Try to make sure it's not undercooked, but also if you overcook it you won't be able to form it at all. Have I scared you away from this recipe yet? I'm sure it will work like a charm for you! And maybe the cream had something to do with it- I didn't use it so maybe that was the magic ingredient. It might be wise to have someone help you because by the time you get to the 3rd cookie (you can only fit that many on the pan at once) it started to cool and harden and got a bit tough to mold. Or you can just roll the circles into little pirouettes- that worked, too!  Here's to impending doom!