Mid-Autumn Festival is very much like Thanksgiving holiday for the Chinese population. Held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, it is the day when families come together to celebrate and give appreciation to the year’s harvests. On the days leading up to the festival, friends and relatives would exchange elegant boxes of mooncakes as gifts. Each box usually comes with 4 generous-sized moon cakes; depending on the price of the box, each moon cake would have one to as many as four duck yolks in the filling. Over the years, however, more people began to look for healthier options, as lotus seed paste and duck yolks wrapped inside a pastry exterior isn’t exactly the healthiest thing for the body or the waistline. Many opt out of traditional moon cakes altogether, and go for snow-skin mooncakes and ice-cream moon cakes instead (yes, ice-cream moon cakes is considered a “healthier” option compared to the traditional type).
When I was little, I used to go down to the park on the day of Mid-Autumn festival, excitedly holding the lantern I’ve picked to buy that year. Picking lanterns have always been one of my favourite festivities around the time of the festival. My family, along with my grandma and grandpa would take my sister and I to the many street vendors in Hong Kong to look for lanterns. There were always so many shapes, sizes, and patterns to choose from, which made me realize how much of an indecisive person I am from a young age. When night time hits and the full moon comes into full effect, my whole family would go down to our neighbourhood park, where many other families gather together for moon gazing. The kids would all run around the playground with lanterns in their hands, while the parents would supervise and gaze at the moonlight. Before it gets too late, I remember going back home and sharing a piece of moon cake with my family. Usually, families would split a single moon cake into six or even eight little bite-sized pieces because it was a way of signifying the unity of families.
Today you’re in for a treat! I’ll be sharing with you my take on healthy economical mid-autumn mooncakes. If mooncakes aren’t available in your area, you can still have a taste of what mooncakes taste like, without having to buy hard-to-find ingredients like lotus seed paste and salted duck yolks! Make it for friends and relatives, and you too, can celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with us this year!
- PASTRY SKIN
- 2¼ c. + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsp. peanut oil
- ¼ c. molasses
- ¼ c. + 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. water
- "LOTUS" PASTE FILLING
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- ¼ c. all-natural peanut butter
- ¼ c. tahini
- ⅓ c. honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp. light bean flour
- 6 tbsp. coconut flour
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a small bowl, add in all the ingredients for the pastry skin, and mix until a dough forms. The dough should be easy to work with, somewhat like play-dough. Knead the dough until all ingredients are evenly incorporated. Divide the dough into around 20-22 pieces, and roll them into balls.
- In a food processor, add in the chickpeas, peanut butter, tahini, honey, and vanilla extract. Pulse until the chickpeas are well mashed up and blended with the rest of the ingredients. Add in the bean flour, coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until all ingredients are combined into a dough-like consistency. It should be somewhat mouldable, but less doughy than the pastry skin dough. If you think the mixture is too wet, let it rest for a while so the coconut flour can further absorb moisture. When the mixture is dry enough to be mouldable, roll them into balls, Each should be slightly larger than the pastry skin balls you've rolled previously.
- To assemble, flatten a pre-rolled pastry ball with your palms as thin as you can. Take one of the filling balls and place it in the centre of the flattened pastry dough. Wrap the pastry around the filling, making sure there aren't holes. Shape them into a mooncake shape by flattening the top and bottom and shaping it into a square or a circle. If available, you can use a mooncake mold! Repeat until all fillings are wrapped in pastry skin.
- Place the mooncakes on your prepared baking sheet, leaving 1-2 centimetres space in between (they don't expand much). Back in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until the pastry skin becomes matte.
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