In her cookbook 108 Asian Cookies, culinary creator Kat Lieu challenges you to put down the chocolate chips to embrace uniquely tasty combos that fuse eastern and western flavors. Here, she introduces her gorgeous butter flower cookies that take inspiration from a Hong Kong classic.
Established in 2005, Jenny Bakery quickly became an iconic Hong Kong landmark, known for its ridiculously long queues, famously terrible customer service (that’s the Cantonese way!), and delicious, worth-the-wait cookies — especially Butter Flower Cookies. These cookies have not only captivated locals and tourists alike, but have even fueled bootleg Jenny Bakery shops, cookie hawking, and a cookie “black market” across Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Whenever friends or family visit Hong Kong, they never fail to return with a cartoon-bear-adorned tin of Butter Flower Cookies from Jenny Bakery. My mom, who is from Hong Kong, treasures these cookies, which inspired me to re-create their acclaimed, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth magic. (I may be in my 40s, but I still live to please my mother!) Jenny Bakery offers three flavors: original, coffee, and chocolate. Here, I’ve added personal flair by infusing the dough with freeze-dried strawberry powder for a subtle pink blush color (my favorite).
Tuck these in an elegant cookie jar or tin that reflects the spirit of Jenny Bakery’s revered originals, perfect for gifting to loved ones. Or, of course, you could also always keep them for yourself.
Jenny Bakery-Inspired Butter Flower Cookies Recipe
- 1 cup (120 g) cake flour
- About ½ cup (65 g) bread flour
- About ½ cup (65 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder (optional)
- About ⅔ cup | 1 ⅓ sticks (150 g) unsalted butter, softened
- About ¼ cup (50 g) lard
- ½ cup (57 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon miso (red or white)
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the cake flour, bread flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and strawberry powder, if using, together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whisk, or spatula), cream the butter, lard, sugar, cream, and miso together until smooth and well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until a smooth dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead with your warm hands until pliable and smooth. This step helps soften the dough, making it easier to pipe later. Divide the dough into two equal portions.
- Fit a piping bag with a ½-inch Ateco or Wilton closed star tip and fill with half of the dough.
- Hold the bag vertically about 2 inches above one baking sheet and pipe the dough into 1 ½-inch wide and tall cookies, using a wavy motion for height. If the dough is too stiff to pipe, warm it in your hands — or use a cookie press for easier handling. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies an inch apart on the sheets. Chill in the freezer, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.
- About 25 minutes before baking, adjust two racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Bake all the cookies, switching the sheets between the top and bottom racks and rotating front to back once halfway through, until the bottoms and the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven (and note, it’s natural for the cookies to spread and deflate). Allow the cookies to set on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Cookie tip: If you can’t find strawberry powder, pulse about a cup of freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until a fine, dusty powder forms. You can also use a mortar and pestle. Store any extra powder you have in an airtight container as long as it remains dry or for up to one week.
Variations and substitutions: For the strawberry powder, you can swap in matcha, black
sesame powder, or cocoa powder for different flavors. If you don’t have lard handy, substitute an additional 4 tablespoons (50g) unsalted butter.
Storage: Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Excerpted from 108 ASIAN COOKIES by Kat Lieu. Copyright © 2025 by Kathleen Lieu. Photographs by Charity Burggraaf. Used with permission from Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.