Ever since I discovered how kongbiji (콩비지; soy pulp or okara) complemented cookies and tteok (떡; rice cake) with its subtly nutty bite and flavor, it became an ingredient I always keep in the freezer. Although it is considered a by-product of making soy milk or tofu, I've been making soy milk to specifically get kongbiji these days.
This one also utilizes different flours - regular all-purpose flour, white rice flour and sweet rice flour (mochiko) - a lazy result from one day when I was all ready to make butter cookies and realized I only had one last scoop of wheat flour. Sure, I'd spend all afternoon to bake dozens of cookies, but leaving home and walking a block to buy a bag of flour felt like such a laborious task at that moment. So I used flours I already had handy and was happy to find a new combination that worked for butter cookies. The textural difference compared to using just all-purpose flour is minimal, but some of you may notice ever-so-slightly softer cookies with the rice flour mix. Don't worry, the sandy bites still come from kongbiji.
Together with light bitterness from green tea (녹차; nok cha) and melted chocolate drizzled over, just remember that you are taking in all the good soy nutrition from these one-bite cookies and conveniently forget about buttery fat along with mundane daily chores.
To make about 30 round cookies)
1/2 C kongbiji (콩비지; soy pulp)
3/4 C butter, room temperature
1/4 C sugar
2 TBSP milk
1/2 ts vanilla extract
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C white rice flour
1/4 C sweet rice flour
1 TBSP green tea powder
1/2 C chocolate chips
1) Spread out kongbiji on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and toast in 350F oven. Stir once or twice to toast evenly. After 15 minutes, take out the sheet pan and cool to room temperature.
2) Whip softened butter, sugar, milk and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
3) Sift all-purpose flour, white rice flour, sweet rice flour and green tea powder together and add to the butter mix. Add the toasted kongbiji from (1) and combine well. Using your hand, knead to form dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4) On a clean, floured surface, knead out the dough with a rolling pin. Punch out with a cookie cutter and transfer to a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.
5) Bake in the 350F oven for 7 minutes. Flip each cookie to the other side and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Cookies are still soft but they will firm up as they cool to room temperature.
6) Optional - Heat water in a small pot to just under boiling. Place a bowl on top of the pot and add 1/2 Cup of chocolate chips to melt. Carefully pour melted chocolate in a ziplog bag and cut an end to create a small hole. Drizzle over the cookies.
For my other related posts, you can click on the links below.
Making Soy Pulp, Soy Milk and Tofu at Home
Sable Cookies with Soy Pulp - Cranberry Orange & Sesame Mugwort
Zucchini - Soy Pulp Cupcakes (애호박 비지 미니떡)
KOREAN WORDS
bean 콩 kong
ball 공 gong
bear 곰 gom
