KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Chinese New Year is almost upon us and many of us are still shopping for festive treats. (In part, one suspects, buying CNY cookies a tad too early and being unable to resist finishing entire jars!)

As the Year of the Fire Horse approaches, this season’s offerings demonstrate an interplay between traditional flavours and contemporary forms, making the search for just the right treat a most delicious one.

Here are six of our favourites this year:

Pandanese: CNY Party Set

Pandanese has built a devoted following for chiffon cakes that prioritise texture above all else: light, buoyant and clean-tasting, without preservatives, artificial flavourings or colouring.

For Chinese New Year, the bakery leans into whimsy with its limited-edition CNY Party Set, presented as a tray of nine miniature cake characters themed for the Year of the Horse. 

Each two-inch piece is individually moulded, making the set feel closer to a dessert display than a conventional cake.

Flavours are kept approachable – orange, orange peach and pandan – but the playful forms elevate the experience. 

Prosperity Horses sit alongside Golden Chicks, Pandan Fruit Bowls and a tongue-in-cheek CNY Burger.

V Starter x Something: Pandan Gula Melaka Butter Cookies

There is something deeply evocative about pandan and gula Melaka, a pairing that immediately signals home kitchens and festive mornings.

The Pandan Gula Melaka Butter Cookies by V Starter x Something tap into that precise collective memory.

These cookies are delicate, floral and gently sweet, with palm sugar lending depth rather than heaviness. 

Shaped like small blooms and perfumed with the scent of pandan leaves, they balance nostalgia with a tinge of reinvention.

Cocoromiru: Mandarin Orange Sando

Japanese-style desserts are no strangers to reinterpretation, and Cocoromiru’s Mandarin Orange Sando is a restrained yet festive nod to Chinese New Year traditions. 

Sandwiched between soft slices of milk bread is a filling of fresh mandarin segments, silky cream and a house-made mandarin jam.

The result is bright without being sharp, creamy without excess. 

Mandarins, prized during the festive season for their association with wealth and luck, are allowed to shine in their natural state.

Floccus Floccus: Golden Horse Pineapple Cookies & Lion Dance Angku Kuih

Floccus Floccus continues its thoughtful exploration of form and meaning with two Chinese New Year offerings that lean heavily into symbolism.

The Golden Horse Pineapple Cookies come in three variations – original, salted egg yolk pineapple and chicken floss pineapple – each offering a different balance of sweet and savoury. 

Pineapple, or ong lai, remains a perennial favourite for its auspicious connotations.

Complementing the cookies is the Lion Dance Angku Kuih set, presented in a bamboo steamer. 

Filled with sweet mung bean or gula Melaka coconut, these angku kuih are shaped to resemble lion dance heads, a playful yet respectful homage to a ritual synonymous with courage and prosperity.

Bliss Curation: Bliss Seasons 2026 Chinese New Year Cookie Gift Box

Variety takes centre stage in Bliss Curation’s Bliss Seasons 2026 Chinese New Year Cookie Gift Box.

Housed in a keepsake tin, the collection spans 11 flavours, ranging from citrus-forward grapefruit filling and peach cookies to tea-infused matcha and hojicha, as well as earthier options like purple sweet potato and pumpkin.

What stands out is the breadth of flavour profiles: nutty, bitter, sweet and aromatic, often within the same tin. 

It is a gift designed for gradual exploration rather than immediate indulgence (though there’s nothing wrong with the latter either).

Cake Tella: Moutai Mahjong Choc Bonbon

For those who prefer their festivities with a hint of indulgence, Cake Tella’s Moutai Mahjong Choc Bonbons bring together chocolate, liquor and cultural iconography.

Shaped like mahjong tiles, the bonbons are filled with either Moutai dark chocolate or Moutai orange chocolate, offering a measured hit of the famed Chinese spirit.

They are unapologetically adult in flavour, with the warmth of Moutai cutting through the richness of chocolate. As a gift, they feel particularly apt for hosts or elders who appreciate novelty grounded in tradition.

To learn more and order these CNY treats, visit:

• Pandanese: https://pandanese.com.my/
• V Starter x Something: https://www.instagram.com/vstarter_bake/ & https://www.instagram.com/something_ineveryday/
• Cocoromiru: https://www.instagram.com/cocoromiru.desserts/
• Floccus Floccus: https://www.instagram.com/floccusfloccus/
• Bliss Curation: https://www.instagram.com/blisscuration_blissseasons/
• Cake Tella: https://www.caketella.com/