Cannellini bean cookies, called SangTu GwaJa in Korean, can easily be found in Korean bakeries. The Korean name is interesting because “sangtu” means a married man’s haircut – a topknot. “Gwaja” is a type of snack food like cookies or chips. Since these cookies look like topknot haircuts, Koreans called them “sangtu gwaja.” Another unique thing about this recipe is that there is no flour in it, which makes it great for those who have an allergy to wheat. My husband said he was surprised that there are no grains used to make them when he tried them for the first time. The main ingredients are: cannellini bean paste (a.k.a. white kidney beans) and almond powder. They are very tasty and sweet cookies. The texture is slightly chewy, but mostly, it is cake-like: as if they have flour in it.
Yield: 50 Pieces
Short Korean Lesson
- BeGae (베개) = Pillow
- IBul (이불) = Blanket
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 1½ Cups White Kidney Bean Paste
- ½ Cup Almond Powder
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 2 Tbsp Milk
Directions
Obtain ½ cup of almond powder. I make my own powder by grinding ½ cup of sliced almonds.
Obtain 1½ cups of cannellini bean paste. I used pre-made paste for this recipe, but someday I want to show you how to make the white bean paste from scratch. The paste is sweet and it is also used in various other Korean snacks and desserts.
Combine the bean paste, almond powder, 2 Tbsp of milk, and 1 egg yolk into a mixing bowl.
Mix everything together until you get a smooth paste with a texture like peanut butter.
Put the bean paste mixture into a cake decorating pouch and put a ½ inch cake decorating tip on the end.
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place a piece of wax paper on top of the baking sheet. Hold the bag at a 90° angle, about ¼ inch above the wax paper, and start to squeeze. Once the cookie is about 1 inch in diameter, slowly stop squeezing while lifting up.
Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the outside is slightly golden brown, and the inside is cooked.
The shape is beautiful. If you know anybody who has an allergy to wheat, this will be a great cookie to make for them; it will be a pleasant surprise. Of course, it is great for anybody else that likes sweet desserts. Enjoy! 🙂
OMG, I never knew Cannellini Bean Gwaja are so easy to make! Do you happen to know how to make the bean paste? I can’t find it at my local grocery store. Thanks!!
hi Janna,
I will post it someday soon. hehe thanks
thank you… this is not that hard to make! i love this cookie~~~
Love this receipeee! I will definitely try it! Very Simple and pretty!
Oh, thank you for this recipe! I cannot eat wheat and I never dared to try these from the Korean market. I will now feel safe buying them. Or maybe I will just make them myself!
hi Tolana,
It’s just my recipe, they might add flour to make it cheaper… maybe you need to check ingredients first if they have flour in it or not.. ^^ yes.. you can make it at home.. thanks
oh, I hope I can get white kidney bean paste here…these cookies look so yummy!!
Can I bake them without the cake decorator? Maybe just as a lump? 🙂
hi sophia,
Sure you can do that 🙂
Hi, I want to try to make these cookies. I can’t find white kidney beans paste at any Korean supermarkets. I was wondering if the white kidney beans sold at Korean supermarkets are different from white kideny beans sold at a non-Korean supermarket?
hi Pengelon,
if you are just talking about beans.. they will be same..but the white kidney bean paste I used for this recipe is made for making dessert.. so they are very sweet and have soft texture.. I will post how to make the bean paste someday .. thanks
Hi Aeri,
Did you use waxed paper or was it parchment paper?
Thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try it!
-GG 🙂
hi GuammieGirl,
It was wax paper ^ ^ thanks
So went to the local Korean grocery store, looking for some White Kidney Bean paste. I walked the whole store looking for it, before I asked one of the guys who was working there. He looked at me like I was crazy and asked me if I meant black bean, I told him No it is white kidney bean paste. Then he turned around and walked away from me laughing… Made me feel so good as a customer.. NOT!
So if you could please post how to make the paste, it would be very helpful!!! Thank you!!
hi Starbear Jones,
Oh.. Sorry.. I didn’t post it yet. Actually I made the recipe.. just I’m testing with different kinds of beans.. I tried.. large lima bean..and want to try with red kidney bean also .. to give you the best result.. please wait a little.. thanks
I know how you feel I have the same problem
Wow.. You should just print off this page, so they can see it’s from Aeri’s kitchen & that Aeri is a Korean & tell them that you’re trying to make SangTu GwaJa.. And try to find out how to say “Sweet White Bean Paste” in Korean.. I dunno how to say it, or I would tell you. Aeri could probably tell you! 🙂
Whenever I go to my local Korean stores, I always try to have what I’m trying to buy written down in Hangul & learn how to properly pronounce it & then I write the English name for it out to the side.. Because Korean can be a funky language.. There’s so many ways to spell things in English… Like Ddeokbokki, Ttokbokki, Dukboki, etc, and then you have English names for things.. I may not know how to properly write it in Hangul– in regards to Stroke Order.. But they get the idea. lol
Also, the guy obviously didn’t have a clue what you were trying to make, or he didn’t understand.. Because he suggested black bean paste, which is something totally different…
Also.. They have sweet white bean paste in Japanese sweets, too.. I always try to cross check things like this with Japanese foods, so if all else fails, I can go to the Japanese grocery store or a general Asian-type market & say the Japanese name of it & that’s usually more common (in my area)..
Japanese use a lot of sweet bean pastes in their desserts & snacks, too.. In Japan the red bean paste is called Adzuki bean paste (or azuki/aduki- whatever).. In Japanese white bean paste is called Shiro-An… Shiro = White (shiroi).. So.. You can look up recipes for shiro-an/shiroan & it will be the same thing as the Korean one.
Cooking With Dog: http://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog, on YouTube is a great channel to watch on YouTube.. There’s other ones, too.. Cooking With Runny: http://www.youtube.com/user/runnyrunny999 etc.. 🙂
Here’s a recipe for Sweet White Bean Paste that I found.. It shows how to make very white colored bean paste… Of course I’m sure there’s more simple recipes.. Just figured I’d show one that showed how to really get it white. 🙂
http://blog.wagashi-net.de/2010/05/shiroan-english/
Hope that helped.. And sorry again that you felt bad at your Korean store. :/ You can always go back & use my suggestions & make him feel retarded. 😀 lol And then be like “huzzah! VICTORY IS MINE!” lol j/k
best wishes,
~ Candy
Oh, also, Sorry for posting links to other places, Aeri. I was not trying to “steal your thunder” lol 🙂 I just know that Cooking with Dog & Runny’s Kitchen have some anko (sweet bean paste) recipes 🙂
Here’s the one from Cooking with Dog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD7JjeupVt0
🙂
Best Wishes,
~ Candy
Hi Aeri I when to Korean store Can’t white kidney bean paste. As you say White kidney bean paste are very sweet is anyway to cut down the sweet…Thank
hi Lee An,
Store bought one is yes..very sweet. If you make it at home, you can adjust the sweetness with your taste. However, then the cookie taste will be a little changed too. I’m working on the white kidney bean paste recipe. Thanks
Hi,
Is there any substitution for the white kidney bean paste?
Thanks
Hi Eleen,
You can use sweet red bean paste from a can (from a store) or follow my red bean paste recipe.. thanks
Is there a difference if you use the whole egg? Why just the yolk? — Not trying to be mean or anything, I am just curious if it affects the texture of the cookie or not… And just trying not to be wasteful.. What can you do with the egg white, so as not to waste it?
Did you ever find a white bean recipe that you enjoyed? 🙂 I haven’t searched your website or anything, yet, so please excuse me if you posted one & I haven’t seen it. 🙂
Your recipes always look soooooo yummy! Thanks for taking the time to show everyone how to make these awesome Korean dishes for ourselves. 🙂 I feel very blessed!!!
Your little boy is so cute! lol
Best Wishes,
~ Candy
The egg whites will change the texture of the cookie dough – making it stick together stronger and become rubbery. A good use for the egg whites would be to use them in any of Aeri’s soups, meringue on top of a pie (like chocolate or lemon), or forgotten cookies.
😛 its been a year since you post the video please show us how you make the white beans pase or at least write it in the discribtion under your video .. Iam losing hope .. the recipe look soo yummy !!! please i’ll be waitng for the ricepe .. love form Arab Emirate ~~
hi Fatima,
Oh, sorry for late posting for the recipe. I try to post it someday soon. Thanks. 🙂
Aeri I love to follow you recipe,really clear.I just tried the red bean bread. My kids loved it very much. Thank you
I am allergic to nuts. What can be used instead of the almond paste?
hi Gale,
You can just make it with the bean paste and skip the nuts. 🙂
Hi I’m still waiting for the paste recipe?…
I have two cans of cannellini beans, will this be okay to use?
hi Mika,
Sorry for the delay so long.. @,@ I can not tell the answer for your question without trying it myself.. sorry again. I will try to get the recipe someday. Thanks
Please let me know if there is any specific website I can buy the bean paste from. I have called everywhere , Korean markets, Japanese, and Vietnamese with no luck. I would greatly appreciate the info.
All the best!
Thank-you for your time in advance.
Maranda
hi Maranda,
I’m sorry but I brought it from Korea directly when I visited to Korea before. I didn’t see this kind of bean paste in USA yet. So I can not answer to your question well.