Arare Cookies

When I started to work at my new job, I was introduced to this amazing thing called, "Arare" Cookies. "Aarare", is a bite sized Japanese rice cracker with a soy sauce flavor. At first, the concept of this cookie did not come across as tasty because... Arare is a salty cracker - why would you mix it with cookies? But I was completely wrong - the saltiness of the arare crackers and the sweetness of the cookies is a perfect sweet and salty combination! (OMG why did I not know about this??)

Arare Cookies

Servings: 12 regular size cookies, 24 mini cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used cUanola oil) 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3/4 cup crushed arare (I used Umeya Toasted Rice Crackers) 
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions: 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. 
• In e medium bowl, mix: vegetable oil, and sugar until well mixed. 
• Then add vanilla extract and mix well. 
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 batches until a dough form. 
• Gently fold in the crushed arare in the dough. 
• Round the cookie dough with hand and place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes. 

They are very similar to those Hawaiian cornflakes cookies - crumbly and crunchy! Since they are crumbly, you may want to make a mini version so you can make it a bite-sized cookies (:

The "Arare" I used this time

Cookie dough before baking! 

Cookies freshly out from the oven.

Sweet and salty goodness (: 

I actually have never heard of this type of cookies until I started working at a Japanese American company and to be honest, at first I was hesitant to accept this - because it's weird! But once I ate it, it stole my heart...I absolutely loved it! The combination of sweet and salty was perfect. I would think of it as how we sometimes incorporate pretzels in our sweets right? Arare is like the same thing - it's a salty snack that you put in a sweet dessert. It just works.

Another thing that I learned form these cookies is that you cannot judge anything just because it's new to you - when you are encountering something that you are not familiar with, think of it as an opportunity to learn and explore something new! Hey, you might like it, just how much I did with these deliciousness (: 

With that being said, thank you for checking NBB!

From my kitchen to yours, Happy Baking!

Smiles,

Mei