Maejakgwa is a Korean traditional cookie that’s really popular. The ingredients are very simple! The combination of 3 kinds of flavors make this cookie very special: ginger, cinnamon, and the pine nuts.
The best part of this cookie is that it’s very crunchy! If all family members sit around together after dinner and taste these cookies, the sound of crunching from each member will give so much fun! You can make this large amount of cookies in 1 hour if you use your food processor, longer if you have to knead by hand.
Ingredients
Flour, kosher salt, sugar, ginger, pine nuts, water, cinnamon powder, and vegetable oil.
Directions
- In a large stainless bowl, place 2 cups of all purpose flour, ½ ts kosher salt, 1 TBS sugar, 1 TBS ginger juice, and ½ cup water. Knead by hand for about 20 minutes.
*tip: If you use a food processor, kneading takes about 2 minutes. Be sure to change the blades on your food processor to dough-making blades!.
- Put the cookie dough in a plastic bag and set it aside at least for 30 minutes.
- Chop 2 TBS of pine nuts to garnish the cookies. Set aside.
- Take the dough out from the plastic bag and roll it out with a rolling pin, into a roughly rectangular shape (about 50 cm x 40 cm, and 2 mm – or 1/16 inch – thick).
- Cut the sheet of cookie dough into little 2 cm x 6 cm rectangles.
- Put the leftover dough edges into a plastic bag to protect them from drying out.
- Make 3 slits in the middle of each piece of dough.
- Push one end of the dough through the center slit to a make ribbon shape.
- Take the leftover dough out and spread it on the cutting board with the rolling pin. Cut it into any of your favorite shapes: triangles, squares, whatever – or use a cookie cutter.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan.
- *tip: Put a sample of the cookie dough into the heated oil to check if it’s the right temperature. The dough should float slowly on the surface of the heated oil.
Let’s Make syrup!
Place ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water into a pot and bring to a boil over low heat for about 20 minutes. About half of the water should evaporate, so the syrup is nice and thick.
- Turn the heat off and add 1 ts cinnamon powder and stir it well.
- Gently toss the cookies with the syrup to lightly coat them.
- Sprinkle the chopped pine nuts on top of the cookies.
- Serve it with tea.
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Wonderful cookies. We couldn’t stop eating them. They also were easy to make. Thanks for the recipe:)
wow, you made this! yum yum! : )
I made these today to take to a Christmas party and they came out perfect. I wish I had a camera so I could take a picture because they were so pretty.
I kneaded the dough by hand and I found that if the dough was too dry and crumbly, wetting my hands while kneading added the perfect amount of water. In all I suppose I added 3 teaspoons of water. I also added a bit more ginger juice since I like a very gingery cookie.
A note on the ginger juice: I saw someone wondering how they could extract juice if they didn’t have a grater and I came up with a solution. Finely mince a piece of ginger the size of your palm and place in a 1/3 cup size measuring cup with two pinches of salt. Place a 1/4 cup size measuring cup inside of the 1/3 cup size and balance something heavy on top, like a big book or a small saucepan filled with water. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so, then squeeze the ginger until no more juice runs out. It should give you a tablespoon or so of liquid.
I also made the liquid with corn syrup and honey in addition to the simple syrup because I didn’t want the sugar to burn (I am notorious for that). Time consuming, but they came out great and everyone loved them! Thanks, Maangchi!
Great!
Your tips will be very important for those who want to make their maejakgwa especially if they knead the dough by hand.
Let’s share your tips with more people. Copy your post and paste it on the forum so that I will refer to it in the future.
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Posted it up! The direct link is here: https://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/maejakwa-tips
Thank you very much! ^^
I really want to send my mother in law some homemade treats for Christmas and I was going to make her a package of Kkae Dasik and a second treat. Will the Ginger cookies do well If they are made the night before a plane trip as she lives out of state or will they become soggy from the syrup?
Maangchi.
Thank you for this recipe. I love ginger and this recipe. Keep them coming. I’m looking for a candied ginger recipe dipped in sugar or chocolate. I’m interested in what you have baking on that topic.
Laura
P.S. aigo
i made this and my family loved it.
thanx for the recipe
love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You must be busy cooking Korean food these days, yellowcindy! I’m glad your family loved your maejakgwa!
Hello Maangchi,
Can i put in the syrup if i want to keep the cookies in a container for a few days? Can i use the corn syrup instead? thank you for your lovely and easy recipe!
no, after dipping the cookies in syrup, you have to take them out and keep them in an air tight container before putting them in the fridge. Otherwise, the cookies will get soggy.
hey Maangchi im trying doing it without the food processor by hands but the paste is not like yours it comes in allot of circle it doesn’t come as one what should id should i put more water
Add some more water then. When you knead by hand, it will take more time and patience.
oh and maangchi is the pine nuts you were using raw?
yes, they are raw pine nuts.
Maangchi! It took me so long to cook these. I didn’t actually use the full recipe, but I featured it in my Foodie Fight competition entry! I fried fun-shaped wonton wrappers and coated them in delicious syrup. Next time, I will follow your recipe–it must be more delicious to have the ginger in the dough, like you do!
aww, so cute! That’s your own cookie! You invented it! : )
It reminds me of the pastry that I had in Costa Rica! Check the photo of large circle shape cookie (Orelas)
https://www.maangchi.com/blog/costa-rican-food-i-ate
i think i’m gonna make this for my boyfriend soon<3
I tried this recipe last night, my whole family loved it! Im pleased that the ingredients are easy to find, and the c=recipes are clear. Ill be sure to try more of your recipes!
we have something really similar in algeria too, it’s called “griwesh” (or chebbakiya, it depends on the region)
we just don’t use ginger in the dough, but cinnamon powder or orange flower water, and in place of the pine nuts we use sesame seeds.
some people use honey instead of syrup
and we serve it with mint tea :p
even the way we cut them is similar !!! (we make 4 slits and we do a double ribon :))
it’s a cookie we make for celebrations.
thank you so much for your work on this blog :)
Wow there are so many similar foods in the world, but this mawjakwa really seems to be international. “4 slits and we do a double ribon ” I should try it out! thank you for sharing your culture relating to this recipe.
Also there is something like this in Poland too and its called faworki! Usually its made for the last Thursday of carnival. During that day along the faworki we also eat a lot of doughnuts. We don’t use ginger in our cookies and instead of a syrup we just sprinkle them with a powdered sugar.
can I use peanuts or any other nut to substitute for pine nuts?
and oh, your cookies look really good I feel like my stomach is growling all over again.. Hahaha :D
Peanuts sounds good to me! thank you!
I have a question, if you don’t have something to grind the ginger in or to squeeze the juice out, what other methods or tecniques could you possibly use? Also, would it taste okay if I don’t use ginger?
Whatever method you use, crush ginger to get a little juice! That’s your job! : ) Ginger gives this cookie good flavor,but if you don’t like to use ginger, skip it.
hello (: i was just curious, does the syrup coating on the cookies turn hard like toffee afterwards? or does it stay wet and sticky?
a little sticky but not wet so that the cookies remain crispy for a couple of days.
In Poland we have very similar cookies. They are called “chrust” or “faworki” or “jaworki”- it depends on the region, and are usually eaten on the Fat Thursday. The dough is made from flour, a lot of eggs, sugar, small amount of fat and a little bit of vinegar, some recipes also consist bear :). They are also deep fried and you also cut them and fold into a ribbon shape, and then you dust it with powdered sugar.
Culture may be different, but food unites people :)
Now I noticed: It’s beer not bear, you can’t add the animal to the cookies :)
lol, nobody will think you meant bear. : ) “Culture may be different, but food unites people.” I agree!
actually i thought for a second he might mean bear… i know of recipes that use bear grease instead of butter :)
Do you have the recipe of using ginger into sweets like what have been shown in Jewel in the Palace? This was serve to the king when what was left in the storeroom was only ginger and lotus roots.
JLS
Also, can you show how to make rice cakes like what have been broadcasting in Arirang TV.
I don’t know the answer because I did not see the dramas.
Leave your question here: https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
You need to leave more detailed description about the food.
There is a nearly identical cookie from Norway that my family makes. We put a little more sweetness in it and dust it with powdered sugar instead :)
I’m excited to try this recipe soon
interesting!
Hello I am a student from Punahou. I had to make a cookie or quick bread FOR my home-ec project. THANK YOU so much for the recipe.
hey HoSeung =]
it’s nice to know that there’s someone else from Hawaii that watches Maangchi! :D
how’d your cookies come out?
How can I make you 2 make friends each other! : ) HeSeung, answer Kaysea,plz.
Hello!!
I have been watching all of your videos ever since I found you on youtube by accident, I love all of your recipes, I made these and some of the rainbow ricecake for my korean mother. She loved them both! Thank you so much for the recipes. I was wondering if you would also happen to know how to make 밤빵?? The little baked pastries that look like chestnuts. My 이모 won’t show me how to make it, she says she wants to keep it a secret, haha.
oh,it sounds like your aunt knows the recipe! : )
Yes, I will include it to the list of my upcoming recipes.
I made it today… it didn’t turn out perfectly though. The dough was really sticky (could I have kneaded for too long? I used a kitchenaid mixer), and I didn’t have the time to cut all of the ribbons, so I used a small circular cookie cutter. They got really puffy when I cooked them, but they were good nonetheless!
Here is the picture: http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/6315/maejakgwa.jpg
Jonathan,
your maejakgwa looks very good and cute! : )
Anyway next time you make it again, I’m sure you will be more satisfied with your cookies!
Why?
Practice makes perfect! lol
If your dough is too sticky, add more flour.
I have made maejakgwa twice since I made it for this video recipe. Yeah, I used cookie cutter once and it really saved time! When you use a cookie cutter, the sheet of dough should be very thin, Otherwise, it won’t be crispy enough when it’s fried.
I’m happy to chat with you about “Maejakgwa story” through this post just before going to my New Year’s Eve party. : )
Happy New Year! I will post the photo on my website soon!
I’m definitely planning on making them again! I’m sure what you said is right – I’ll just add a little bit more flour next time if it seems too sticky. I’ll post a picture when I’ve made them. :)
Happy New Year!!
I’ve seen pictures where they seem to have been colored; a different color on each side, so when braided, you can see both. Do you know how they are able to dye both sides of the dough?
It’s easy, but takes much more time!
First you will have to make 2 different color dough
Roll them out separately very thinly,
Put them together and roll them out again
That’s it! The rest of process is the same as the recipe I posted.
Happy New Year!
I just got done making these cookies. Mine did not turn out crunchy like you said. Maybe I need to roll the dough finer? However,I still liked the way they came out, but I had to add a little bit more water than you specified for the dough to come together and I only added 1/4 tsp of cinnamon in the syrup as 1tsp would have been too much. After mixing the syrup with the cookies, I lay them all out in a baking tray to cool.
Could you tell me how to store these as I need to take them to my mother-in-laws for Christmas
yes, if you want more crunchy cookies, roll the cookie dough thinner and fry it until it is a little dark brown instead of light brown.
Put the cookies in a container and keep them in the refrigerator.
Your mother-in-law will be impressed when she receives the precious cookies you make!
Maybe you used too much water. If you have trouble kneading with less water, you can mix vodka to water. As vodka is about 50% water 50% alcohol and as alcohol will evaporate much faster than water, you can use same amount of water as Maangchi and still have more liquid to knead.
Hey Maangchi,
Where did you buy your food processor at? it looks like it is working really good.
I bought it 5 or 6 years ago in Canada.
Check this out. I created amazone store. http://astore.amazon.com/cookkorefoodw-20
Love these ginger cookies! Can you also make mooncakes?
Oh my! This recipe is the same as Indian traditional cookies, except for the pine nuts..
Indian women make these cookies on the day before a wedding, to celebrate :)
Like your recipes… The cookie is almost the same as Chinese’s “sek kek mah” but uses malt syrup instead of sugar. By the way, please share the black bean banchan recipe. Like those black bean serve at the restaurants. Thanks.
sek kek mah! I should remember the name.
Check my kongjorim recipe. You can replace soy beans with black beans.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kongjang-kongjorim
Hi Maangchi,
I liked your ginger cookie recipe, but I think you forgot to put sesame oil at the end.
oh, I forgot to use it! lol, no sesame oil in this recipe! Happy Holidays!
My mom used to make these for me and my sisters when we were growing up. Instead of syrup she put confectioners sugar on them. Happy Holidays everyone!
hey maangchi I just made this half an hour ago and they are delicious but are they supposed to be very crunchy or soft in the middle? mine are very crunchy and are darker brown then your cookies. do you think i overfried them?
half an hour ago! oh, I think I smelled it! lol
Congratulation! Where is the photo! : )
They are supposed to be crunchy! Nothing wrong with your brownish cookies. If you like to make cookies like mine (light brown), use fresh oil and make sure to check the oil temperature. It shouldn’t be too high.
Wow, My mother-in-law makes these. So much fresh ginger, it hurts! I’ll show this recipe to her. Thanks Maangchi.
oh, you have tasted this cookie before, cool! Thank you!
where is the download for this for this recipe
looks so yummie =P
hehe
i want it :)
~Thanks Maangchi
Are you talking about podcast? If so, it will be coming soon. Thank you!
I love these cookies, I love ginger cookies, but I have baked, not fried, I´ll make many cookies for gifts.
Thanks for the recipe. I´ll put it on my blog is amazing. ^^
oh, you, flower! http://soulofhansik.blogspot.com/
I wish I could read Spanish to read your blog! : )
Yes, Just in time for the Holidays! I’m not too skilled with a knife so I’ll just have to stick with my cutters as well, haha. I love watching your vids and trying out new things. I’ll have to take pictures when I try my hand at these~ Happy Holidays, Maangchi!
Happy Holidays! Try out this recipe and email me the photo!
YAY! I feel so special cause I requested this recipe! Thanks Maangchi^_^; It’ll make a great winter desert with tea!
one thing i forgot to mention. this is what my mom does. she uses the rectangular/square 만두피 and cuts it into thirds i think. Then you got yourself a maejakgwa base! :D I think its easier for people to use that if they dont have time to cut all those.
You are right! You are special to me! I’m your fan! https://www.maangchi.com/fans/alex