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Certain products are made from one of the five major grains but aren't Tzuras Hapat, i.e. they don't look baked. As a result, they can be eaten even if one has taken upon themselves to eat only Pat Yisrael, for example, Cheerios and other cereals fall into this category.

Do Chinese fortune cookies fall into this category too?

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    I heard Rabbi Heinimann from the Star K says Chereros are tzuras hapas. Something about how if you break open the chereo, it looks like baked dough. Unlike other cereals... The exact parameters allude me til this day.
    – robev
    Commented Sep 14, 2018 at 15:03

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Fortune cookies are made from a batter and baked very thin, so that they can be folded around the paper fortune. (And, I always assumed that the fortune was mixed into the cookie batter!) You can see here a video of how they are made.

According to this OU site:

The Magen Avrohom (s.k. 40) agrees that if a baked item is made from a liquid batter and is baked very thin then it lacks tzuras hapas, and one would never say on it Hamotzi. The laws of bishul akum would therefore apply.

So, your assumption is correct. Fortune cookies are not tzurat hapat and therefore do not need to be pat yisra'el.

See also this answer re the rules of pourable batter.

If you are still concerned, you can easily make the cookies pas yisra'el yourself by brushing some egg and sprinkling sesame seeds, etc. on it and baking it.

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  • This answer is incorrect. Any baked food that is mezonot, requires afiyat yisrael. Tzurat hapat doesn't even touch this question except that we don't bless hamotzi on it; but it still requires afiyat yisrael. See Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah 112:6 and the Ba'er Heitev 9 ibid.
    – chacham Nisan
    Commented Sep 15, 2018 at 21:38
  • There are other rules that may apply and render them permitted in gentile lands(see that siman).
    – chacham Nisan
    Commented Sep 15, 2018 at 21:40
  • @chachamNisan Feel free to post your info as an answer. OU is not the only shita around.
    – DanF
    Commented Sep 16, 2018 at 22:07
  • @chachamNisan, the point is that it;'s not even Pat, like Daysa, which is Mezonot but not Pat. Thus, it's subject to Bishul Akum, not Pat Akum.
    – MDjava
    Commented Sep 30, 2018 at 14:01
  • @MDjava It's not daysa, because it's crunchy...see my source above and the Rama there.
    – chacham Nisan
    Commented Oct 1, 2018 at 18:54
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Since fortune cookies are baked and contain flour and require the blessing of mezonot, they need to be pat Yisrael. However, there are certain conditions that may exempt them from this requirement(CYLOR if it applies to you).

See Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah 112:6(below) and the Rama there for an explicit ruling regarding "sweet things" and the Ba'er Heitev 9 ibid(also below)

בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁנָּהֲגוּ הֶתֵּר בְּפַת שֶׁל פַּלְטֵר, אֲפִלּוּ הוּא נִלּוֹשׁ (ח) בְּבֵיצִים אוֹ שֶׁבֵּיצִים טוֹחִים עַל פָּנָיו, מֻתָּר. אֲבָל אינפנד''ה שֶׁאֲפָאָהּ עוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים, אָסוּר לֶאֱכֹל מֵהַפַּת שֶׁלָּהּ. (ע''ל סִימָן קי''ג ס''ג) . הגה: וְיֵשׁ אוֹסְרִים בְּפַת שֶׁבֵּיצִים טוֹחִים עַל פָּנָיו, מִשּׁוּם שֶׁהֵן בְּעַיִן וְאֵינָם בְּטֵלִים לְגַבֵּי פַּת, וְיֵשׁ בָּהֶם מִשּׁוּם בִּשּׁוּלֵי עוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים (תּוֹסָפוֹת וּסְמַ''ג וְהַגָּהוֹת אֲשֵׁרִי וְאָרֹךְ וּמָרְדְּכַי פא''ט וּסְמַ''ק סי' ר''ז) . וְכֵן נוֹהֲגִין. וְאוֹתָן נילו''ש שֶׁקּוֹרִין קיכלי''ף אוֹ מִינֵי (ט) מְתִיקָה שֶׁקּוֹרִין לעקי''ף, הֵם בִּכְלַל פַּת. וּבְמָקוֹם שֶׁנּוֹהֲגִים הֶתֵּר בְּפַת שֶׁל עוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים גַּם הֵם מֻתָּרִים, וְלֹא אַמְרִינָן שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶם מִשּׁוּם בִּשּׁוּלֵי עוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים. וְיֵשׁ מִינֵי נילו''ש שֶׁקּוֹרִין קיכלי''ף שֶׁאוֹפִין אוֹתָם עַל בַּרְזִלִּים, וּמוֹשְׁחִין הַבַּרְזֶל בִּשְׁעַת אֲפִיָּה בְּחֵלֶב אוֹ חֲזִיר, בְּאוֹתָן יֵשׁ לִזָּהֵר וּלְאָסְרָן. וְכֵן הַמִּנְהָג (מהרא''י בְּהַגָּהַת ש''ד וְאָגוּר בְּשֵׁם ר''י מפרי''ש).

(ט) מתיקה. כיון דאי קבע עלייהו סעודה מברך המוציא דינם כפת ממש ט''ז ודוקא אותן שבלילתן [עבה] ויש בהן תורת לחם וכ''כ בת''ח:

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  • You would never recite HaMotzi on something that doesn't have a Tzurat HaPat. See my comment to your above comment
    – MDjava
    Commented Sep 30, 2018 at 14:02
  • @MDjava You're incorrect. Tzurat hapat has only to do with whether or not we recite hamotzi: not with bishul Yisrael or afiyat Yisrael. And, actually, you would, if you are kovea seuda on it; which could be done with fortune cookies. If you don't believe me, ask your LOR.
    – chacham Nisan
    Commented Oct 1, 2018 at 18:53
  • Do you think that you would recite HaMotzi on pasta if you were kovea seudah on it?
    – MDjava
    Commented Oct 4, 2018 at 14:17
  • See Pri Chadash 112:17 who spells out how anything that one can make HaMotzi by being Kovea on is subject to Pat Akum, and anything that cannot become HaMotzi is subject to Bishul Akum. The Berachot and Issur DeRabbanan go hand in hand. If there's no Tzurat HaPat, there's nothing to talk about. See Rama OC 168:13.
    – MDjava
    Commented Oct 4, 2018 at 14:28
  • @MDjava You don't know what you're talking about...crackers and cookies can be declared a seudah.
    – chacham Nisan
    Commented Oct 7, 2018 at 14:56

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