In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, and almond extract until frothy but not stiff. Or, you can make these with only one flavoring, but don’t forget to use an entire teaspoon.

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a separate bowl.

Add the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture, then the melted butter. Stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon. You may need to add water.

Note: if you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter. For example, I used 1/2 teaspoon green food coloring to make green fortune cookies.

Place level tablespoons of batter onto the baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. I have found that a cold baking sheets, sprayed with oil spray, works best. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 4 inches in diameter. Try to keep the batter flat and even. I used a large circle cookie cutter to keep the edges round.

Bake until the outer 1/2 inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (5 to 6 minutes).

Remove from the oven and quickly remove each cookie with a wide spatula (you can spray it with cooking spray) and place upside down on a wooden board or clean oven mitt. Quickly place a fortune on the cookie near the middle and fold the cookie in half. Place the folded edge across the rim of a cup and pull the pointed edges down, one on the inside of the cup and one on the outside. This is to crease it and form the traditional shape. Then place the folded cookie into the cup of a muffin tin or egg carton to hold its shape until firm. You may leave the cookie sheet in the oven with the door open to keep the unfolded cookies warm.

Here are some of the fortunes I used:

The awakening happiness of one’s own self is revealed.

I cast this from me like an empty shell.

I cannot control this now, but I can breathe through it.

We must live as gardeners, fertilizing the flowers and appreciating the change of seasons.

May holiday lights illuminate your path.

You cannot predict the long-term consequences of any event.

Exhale the past, inhale the present, imagine the future.

May I know the contentment that allows the totality of my energies to come to full flower.

If that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose.

The wheel is turning. This is the dark time. What must you gain from the night?

Feast on your life.