Pinipig Cookies
Pinipig are flattened and toasted glutinous rice grains, the Southeast Asian equivalent of Kellogg’s corn flakes. Its name probably derives from the root word piga, which is Tagalog for squeeze.
The rice grains for pinipig are harvested while still young and green. Admittedly, I have never seen fresh green pinipig, not even in the Philippines, because it quickly loses color once pounded.
To capture that fresh look, some exporters add a weird hue of neon green coloring. Go for the au naturale variety, even if it is a tad less eye-catching. Wouldn’t you rather keep the food equivalent of silicone implants out of anything you eat?
Toasting reawakens its raw rice fragrance, if only for a short time, so add the pinipig to the cookie dough as soon as they cool down. The shards of sweet rice retain crispness well.
recipe adapted from Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan’s Memories of Philippine Kitchens
Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cook Almost Anything
Pinipig (Young Glutinous Rice Flake) Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies
| Ingredients | Volume | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|
| pinipig (young sweet rice flakes) | 3/4 cup | 2 | 57 |
| all-purpose flour | 1/2 cup | 2.3 | 64 |
| baking powder | 1/2 tsp | ||
| salt | 1/8 tsp | ||
| unsalted butter, at room temperature | 1/4 cup | 2 | 57 |
| granulated sugar | 1/3 cup | 2.4 | 67 |
| large egg | 1 | ||
| lemon zest | 1/4 tsp |
Notes:
- Pinipig is also sold as cốm, its Vietnamese name. Try your luck at groceries that focus on Southeast Asian products.
Directions:
Toast the pinipig. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the pinipig and toast while stirring often for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Spread out the pinipig over a plate and allow to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF / 175ºC with racks on the upper third and lower third of the oven. Prepare 2 parchment-lined or lightly greased half-sheet pans or cookie sheets.
Mix the dry ingredients. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a container with a tight lid. Cover and shake until thoroughly mixed.
Mix (Creaming Method). Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating to incorporation. Beat in the lemon zest.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and continue mixing just until smooth and thoroughly incorporated. Gently fold in the cooled pinipig.
Drop. The cookie dough will be very sticky, so use two teaspoons or a small disher. Drop 12 evenly spaced portions for each sheet pan or cookie sheet. Each cookie dough portion is roughly equivalent to 1 heaping teaspoon, about the size of a cherry.
Bake the cookies at 350ºF / 175ºC for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Let the baked cookies rest on the sheets for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The scent of rice paddy fields in cookies.
Similar Posts
July 25th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
what an interesting recipe. I ve never heard of pinipig, now I know
I d like to grab a couple. they look good !
July 26th, 2009 at 12:16 am
What a cute name for a cookie! I think I have those green rice flakes in my cupboard. Haven’t had a clue what to do with them until now. Must remember to make silicon pinipig sometime.
July 26th, 2009 at 2:49 am
MMMMMM,..these cookies look apart & so delicious!
A must try recipe!
July 26th, 2009 at 3:12 am
An unusual recipe! Those cookies look delicious! I bet they taste wonderful…
Cheers,
Rosa
July 26th, 2009 at 3:22 am
I’ve never heard of pinipig, such a cute name!
July 26th, 2009 at 4:22 am
We use beaten rice flakes (not from glutinous rice, though)quite a bit in Indian cooking, especially where I come from and I’m seeing it in cookies for the first time.
Just a couple of questions, Jude.
When you say sweet rice flakes, do you mean they’re sweetened or naturally sweet?
What are these cookies like? Crisp or chewy?
Thanks.
July 26th, 2009 at 5:17 am
I havent had sweet rice flakes on hand for a while. Im going to add to my list! Thanks, these sound great!
July 26th, 2009 at 6:37 am
When I saw those I thought about corn flakes for a bit too. I like how they look, and I bet they add just a little crunch right? Rice has sooo many neat uses
July 26th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Looks great Jude. Doesn’t sound too sweet but just enough to really bring out the flavor of the rice. Tasty!
July 26th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Oh interesting
July 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Wow. These sounds so light and delicious. I bet they would make wonderful ice cream sandwiches.
July 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
pinipig, eh? first of all, that’s a great name. secondly, they look like such cool little nibbles, and the resulting cookie sounds scrumptious. the end.
July 26th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I miss pinipig so much! These cookies = delectable morsels! I’d probably get them all in one go!
July 26th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
This looks a lot like what indians called poha; beaten rice. I had never thought to bake with it.
July 26th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I’ve never baked or even seen pinipig, but what lovely sounding cookies
!
July 26th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I bet my husband will love these – I hope North Carolina has plenty of ethnic markets. Also, have I told you lately how much I appreciate how you lay out your recipes? Thou art wonderful.
July 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Aparna, the grains are from glutinous rice grains, so pinipig is naturally sweet but subtle.
The cookies turn out very light and crisp mainly because of the toasted rice flakes in it.
Adam, they’re very crunchy after toasting. Goes great with milk and sugar for breakfast, too.
Sweetbird, it’s a handy little plugin
July 26th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Sounds really delicious. I can imagine the crunchiness that come from glutinous rice grains!
July 26th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I have yet to find the au naturale kind of pinipig here. The neon green ones I see all over (It’s funny how you equate them to silicone parts, so typical of LA, perhaps? ha ha).
Those pinipig reminds me of those capiz shells, so pretty. And those cookies looks delicious.
July 26th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
These sound really good and really different!
July 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
What a great way to use pinipig!
July 27th, 2009 at 12:16 am
I love anything with rice in it, or by itself, but never thought of or tried rice cookies, much less sticky rice cookies. I love it, and I can imagine what a wonderful texture it gives them. I must try these as yours look lovely
That said, I’m hoping you took part in this month’s DB challenge! Will be checking back
July 27th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Ahh I love pinipig! Pinipig in halo halo, or ice buko, or pinipig crunch! But pinipig in cookies? I could almost smell that “rice paddy fields” and buttery aroma.
July 27th, 2009 at 1:09 am
[...] Pinipig Cookiesby Jude from Apple Pie, Patis and Pâté [...]
July 27th, 2009 at 3:26 am
These look very unusual indeed! Is the texture crunchy or soft?
July 27th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Such an unusual ingredient. It was fun to learn about something new!
July 27th, 2009 at 7:45 am
i chanced upon your blog via photograzing/serious eats. i must say that i am impressed with your recipes. will try your pinipig cookies soon, im sure i won’t have a big problem looking for the pinipig here in manila : )
thanks!!!
July 27th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Wow! I learn something new every day! What an interesting ingredient and post! Thanks!
July 27th, 2009 at 9:11 am
These cookies look like they melt in your mouth!
July 27th, 2009 at 9:48 am
I swear I always learn about something new over here. Beautiful cookies.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Ooh, that’s fantastic. I love the crunch of pinipig, but would you believe you can’t even get it all the time at markets? It’s just not as popular as it used to be anymore
July 27th, 2009 at 11:07 am
This and your recent recipes all look wonderful! Pinipig certainly takes me back to my childhood and I would guess even crumbling these cookies as a garnish to halo halo would be awesome. I’ve been on a slight commenting hiatus with my busy schedule lately… but it’s great to catch up and see what’s cooking in your kitchen!
July 27th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I’d never heard of these rice flakes before, but I can imagine so many great uses for them now. Of course, these cookies sound like a wonderful place to start.
July 27th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Great tip about it going by the name of “com”. I can find it easy enough at my local pinoy market, but not so much at the generic asian markets. Will have to look harder for com.
July 27th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Pinipig is used in Thai cooking as well, though I’ve never seen anyone turn it into cookies. These cookies look delicious and wholesome. In fact, I’d rather have a bag of these in my purse in case of hunger emergency instead of granola bars.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I’ve seen this ingredient on Indian blogs as well… I’m adding your recipe to the folder where I plan to try some of these recipes when I put my hands on this ingredient.
July 28th, 2009 at 12:17 am
i love pinipig esp. in november.. the yellow green fresly made pinipig is my most favorite.. never had pinipig cookies in my life, though.. thanks for this recipe.. ^^
July 28th, 2009 at 12:47 am
I will be sure to stay away from the neon green pinipig, LOL. I’d love to try these cookies, they sound intriuging
July 28th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
The way the rice flakes sound, they seem to be similar to the Indian “poha” or “ChiRe” (we call them that at the eastern regions).. may be a different variety of rice between them. what a cute name, makes me think of Pinipig as a penguin, but then i think i am reading too many kids books;-)
July 30th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Again, a recipe I’ve never heard of, using ingredients I’ll never find… When I end up with half my apt filled with obscure ingredients, it’ll be all your fault Jude!
July 30th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
what interesting cookies!
August 7th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Thank you so much about the tip to look for this as Vietnamese ‘com’! The selection of (labeled) Filipino products in the Twin Cities is very limited so I’ve had to try to find the same item from other Asian sources. However, this style of pinipig seems new to me – although I’ve only ever had it already made into a treat, the one I’m familiar with is more like toasted whole rice, not flattened. I’d love to find this and try it out!
Amy and Rory’s book is on my wish list!
October 16th, 2009 at 2:40 am
pinipig, didn’t know that is how it is called, as i bought it a substitute to the Indian chivra or Poha at an Asian store.
Would love to know how it is used otherwise?
I tried doing the same thing as the Indian Poha of soaking and draining them before frying but it bacame a sticky mass. So, I assume I have to use it dry?
October 16th, 2009 at 2:46 am
I googled to find a few recipes. so, it is usually cooked with coocnut milk, I see.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Aval or Poha is what its known as in India and we make a savoury breakfast from it. This is a good way to use it in something else – thank you!
December 8th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
pinipig that’s not in ice cream or suman = yay! must try this soon & see if it beats my fave way of having pinipig (in cold sweet milk, like cornflakes).