3 coffee-infused CNY recipes for the kitchen noobs

If you’re a coffee lover and also extremely lazy in the kitchen, the good news is that you can still make snacks.

And you can level up your snack game with a few coffee-themed recipes this festive season.

Just in time to show-off during Chinese New Year too.

Here’s what I tried with my colleague in tow.

Coffee honey cornflakes

For this festive favourite, we found a relatively simple recipe online, but decided to add a tinge of coffee to the mix.

We decided to make it our own by using our very own research and development (R&D).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of plain cornflakes
• 1 sachet of OldTown White Coffee 3in1 Classic
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/3 cup of salted butter

The amount of ingredients used depends on the serving portion.

Steps:

1. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat.
2. Add the honey to the pan and stir until it starts bubbling.

3. Pour the coffee powder and cornflakes in a large bowl and toss until evenly coated.

4. Add the coffee-coated cornflakes into the pan and give it a good mix.

5. Gather small amounts of the cornflakes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake for 1 minute at 150°C in the oven (or just leave them to cool if you’re too lazy to turn on the oven).

In the name of R&D, I tried placing this in the air fryer and I might’ve overcooked it.

There were no photos of my failure, but the cornflakes turned into a full blob of burnt caramel so try that at your own risk.

Taste test

Right off the bat, many of my colleagues agreed that the presentation looks pretty legit.

While I thought it might have been on the sweeter side, one of my colleagues said if I were to sell this, he would actually buy it.

The coffee taste was light and you could probably afford to add in more of it into the mix.

This was easy to make, and adding coffee to the flavour definitely makes this a unique snack for the festive season.

Rating: 9/10

Coffee Dumplings

It is probably not difficult to guess where the inspiration for this dish came from: Chocolate xiao long bao.

I knew this would be a challenging recipe to follow, but my colleague, on the other hand, was very game for it.

I even reminded her that we would be substituting the chocolate for coffee, but still she was determined.

Spoiler alert: We attempted this dish twice.

Ingredients:

• Store-bought dumpling skins (get the white, round ones)
• 2 sachets of OldTown White Coffee 3in1 Hazelnut
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• Water (for sealing and steaming the dumplings)
• Oil

Steps:

1. Warm up the heavy cream in a pot.
2. Add the instant coffee powder to the pot, and stir till evenly mixed.

3. Pour the mixture into a bowl, and let it cool for five minutes.
4. Place the mixture into the freezer for an hour to let it thicken. The consistency should be that of a paste (similar to kaya).
5. Add a tablespoon of the coffee paste into the center of each dumpling skin.

6. Fold and seal the dumpling by pinching the edges together. Run a little water around the edges if it doesn’t stick.
7. Oil the pan and check to see if it’s bubbling.
8. Add the dumplings to the pan and let it sit for one minute.

9. Pour water into the pan, and close the lid for another minute.
10. Serve warm and enjoy the melty, coffee-chocolate goodness inside.

The last few steps may require some trial-and-error because it is dependent on the thickness of your coffee paste, and how well you seal your dumplings.

Our first attempt saw some of our dumplings unravelling and its fillings leaking.

Taste test

While this might be more tedious to make than other recipes, it was a show-stopper in the office.

The smell of the coffee wafted out of our pantry kitchen, and one of our colleagues even came along to ask us what we were making.

Our colleagues who tried this mentioned that the paste was oozing from the dumpling skin and it had a tinge of chocolate to it.

We concluded it was the hazelnut from the OldTown White Coffee 3in1 Hazelnut.

Would I do this again? Probably not, but it sure was fun attempting it.

Rating: 6/10

Hazelnut white coffee milkshake

When my colleague suggested that I make a milkshake, I did think that it was not the most CNY-like beverage that comes to mind.

But hey, I am up for anything adventurous if you couldn’t tell by now. Especially when it comes in the form of a cup of coffee to indulge in.

Ingredients:

• 200ml of fresh milk
• 2 sachets of OldTown White Coffee 3in1 Hazelnut
• 3 tablespoons of vanilla ice cream
• A bowl of ice cubes
• Whipped cream

Steps:

1. Heat up the fresh milk in the microwave.
2. Add the coffee powder to the warm milk and give it a good mix.

3. Pour mixture, a couple of ice cubes and two spoons of ice cream into the blender.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Pour mixture into a glass and top it up with some whipped cream.

Taste test:

It tastes as good as it looks. Rich, creamy and the hint of coffee was just the right amount, without being too overwhelming.

In fact, I think this would be a treat that all can enjoy thanks to the hazelnut flavours in OldTown White Coffee 3in1 Hazelnut.

Your guests will surely appreciate this in Singapore’s relentless heat.

But I’m not gonna lie, the blender did all the work.

Rating: 10/10

Fast and easy alternatives

If you still think these three recipes are a little too complex, we also made simpler ones like coffee agar-agar and coffee ice cubes.

All you’d need is a couple of ingredients, a pot and a fridge.

While the recipe for the coffee ice cubes is pretty self-explanatory, here’s the recipe for the coffee agar-agar.

Also, trust us when we say that the order in which you add the ingredients is very important.

If you have stayed in this article thus far, here’s another recommendation for you: OldTown.

OldTown offers a wide range of coffee flavours, such as Classic, Hazelnut, Less Sugar, Salted Caramel, Extra Rich, With Natural Cane Sugar, and Coffee & Creamer.

The best part is that it is an instant pre-mix, and you can have it to your liking of hot or cold.

Whether you’re looking to mix it in with milk for some of these recipes, or just enjoy it on its own with some hot water, OldTown’s coffee hits the right notes.

If you’re looking to give these recipes a try, or just enjoy a cup of coffee this festive season, here’s another piece of good news for you.

For any purchase of OldTown Twin Pack of Classic, Hazelnut, Less Sugar flavours, you can get an exclusive Fortune Cat Hand Towel too. Each twin pack will include a randomised hand towel design.

The promotion is available while stocks last so be sure to get yours now from Cold Storage, FairPrice, Giant, RedMart, Sheng Siong and Shopee.

OldTown will also be giving away free plates, trolleys, and even a multi-cooker when you hit a minimum spend of S$38, S$68 and S$88 respectively.

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Find out how you can enjoy these promotions here.

Writing this branded article by OldTown is making this writer want to get the Fortune Cat Hand Towels for herself.

Cover photo courtesy of Michelle Chew.