Cookie Crust Mung Bean Mooncake

9 simple mooncakes baked to my preference - cookie crust encasing palm sugar and pandan mung bean paste in marble pattern. I just love these soft and mild flavoured mung bean paste fillings - not too sweet nor too oily 😋😊
I think I'll try to make a smaller portion next year 😉

Yield: 8 mooncake

Mung Bean Paste

Ingredients
200g split mung beans

Directions
1. Rinse split mung beans till the water is almost clear. Let it soak for about 3~4 hours.
Drain away the water, and rinse the mung beans till the water almost clear, again.

2. Line a steamer or colander with parchment paper, and pour the soaked split mung beans over the parchment paper.

Using the "Steam" function of a rice cooker, and set the cooking time to about 25 minutes. Start the program.

End of steaming.

3. While the steamed mung beans are still hot, mash the softened mung beans into a dry paste using a fork. Set aside.

Palm Sugar Mung Bean Paste (219g)
Ingredients
25g organic coconut oil
15g palm sugar/gula melaka
15g raw sugar
20+30g hot water, 30g to be added gradually
150g mashed mung beans

Directions
1. Heat coconut oil, palm sugar, raw sugar and 20g of hot water in a pot till it bubble at medium low heat.

2. Stir in the mashed mung beans and gradually add in the 30g of hot water, till the ingredients can form into a lump.

3. While the content is still warm, use a hand blender to grind the mixture into a smoother paste,

The finished palm sugar mung bean paste.

Pandan Mung Bean Paste (317g)
Ingredients
40g organic coconut oil
50g raw sugar
20g fresh pandan paste *
pinch of salt
215g mashed mung beans
40g hot water, to be added gradually

* blend 20g fresh pandan leaves with 50g water, and collect 20g without filtering.

Directions

1. Heat coconut oil, raw sugar, pandan paste, pinch of salt in a pot at medium-low heat till it starts to bubble.

2. Stir in the mashed mung beans, and gradually add in the 40g of hot water, till the mixture form into a lump.

3. While the content is still warm, use a hand blender to grind the mixture into a smoother paste,

4. Keep both the palm sugar and pandan mung bean pastes in two separate bags. Refrigerate after cooling down to room temperature.

Cookie Crust (346g)
Ingredients
100g salted butter, softened
40g icing sugar
24g beaten egg
160g Prima plain flour plus
20g custard powder/corn starch

Directions
1. Cream softened butter till light. Sieve in the icing sugar and cream till fluffy.

2. Blend in the beaten egg.

3. Sieve and fold in the plain flour plus using a spatula.

4. Fold the mixture into a well-mixed dough.

5. Keep the dough in a plastic bag and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before shaping.
I kept the mung bean pastes and cookie dough in a fridge overnight.

Shaping

1. Let the fridge-cold mung bean pastes and cookie dough warm up in room temperature for about 40 to 60 minutes.
Divide them into 9 balls each.

2. Roll flat both palm sugar mung bean ball and pandan mung bean ball between two plastic sheets.
I re-used the plastic bags for storing the mung bean pastes for the above purpose.

With the help of the plastic sheet, flip the palm sugar mung bean paste over the pandan mung bean paste.

Roll the paste up into a swissroll. And shape into a ball.

3. Similarly for cookie dough, roll the ball into a flat dough sandwiched between two plastic sheets.

4. Place the combined mung bean ball in the centre of the cookie dough, wrap up and shape into a smooth ball.

5. Arrange the shaped dough over baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake naked in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 15 minutes at middle rack.

Let the dough cool down for about 15 minutes in room temperature.

Brush two coat of beaten egg over the crust, and stick 5 pumpkin seeds on top each dough ball, before returning to oven and continue to bake at 180℃ for about 15 minutes, or till the crust turn golden.

6. Let the mooncakes cool down slightly before serving 😋
Keep the unconsumed mooncakes in the fridge, and toast in an oven toaster before serving.

Sambal Palm Sugar Coconut Bun

Milk bread rolled with sweet and spicy sambal palm sugar grated coconut filling - moist and crunchy filling nicer than spicy sambal prawn or hae bee hiam buns 👍👍😋

Yield: 8 buns
Overnight frementation
Baking temperature: 200℃ for 5 minutes, 180℃ for 12 minutes, middle rack of oven.

Ingredients

Milk Dough (463g)

150g bread flour
80g Prima plain flour plus
20g raw sugar
3g low-sodium salt
2g instant dry yeast

30g natural yeast, 100% hydration
15g beaten egg
15g condensed milk

125g cold milk

10~15g cold water, depending on dough condition

20g rice bran oil/mild flavour vegetable oil

Filling
200g sambal Palm Sugar Coconut

Directions

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer.

2. Mix condensed milk in cold milk before adding with all the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl.

Knead the dough into window pane stage.

3. Keep the dough in a plastic bag coated with oil. Loosely tie a knot at the opening before keeping in a second plastic bag. Place in a covered mixing bowl before keep in the fridge for overnight fermentation, about 16 hours.

4. In the second day, remove the first plastic bag, invert the dough, and let it rest in room temperature for about 1 hour. Do the same to the refrigerated sambal palm sugar coconut filling, too.

5. Invert out the dough onto a floured work top. Deflate the dough, and divide it into 8 portions.

Shape into 8 balls, cover and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

6. Roll out a dough to about 0.5cm thick. Top about 25g of sambal coconut in a flat layer over the dough, keeping about 1 cm fringe free.

Roll up the dough, sealing the two ends at the simultaneously.

Impress three grooves over the rolled up dough. This step is optional.

Arrange the shaped dough over a non-stick baking tray.

Let them proof in a cold oven for about 45 minutes.

End of second proofing.

7. Start to preheat oven to 200℃ for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Brush a coat of egg wash over the shaped buns.

8. Bake at middle rack of a preheated oven at 200℃ for 5 minutes. Reduce to 180℃ and bake for about 12 minutes or till golden.

Let the buns cool down slightly before serving 😋

Sambal Palm Sugar Grated Coconut

I find the usual sambal chilli prawn filling or Hae Bee Hiam in dialect, in bread filling was too salty and dry. Therefore, I tried adding the sambal chilli prawn flavour to palm sugar coated grated coconut, to give the bread filling a moist, crunchy, flavourful, and sweet taste. Trust me, this is more interesting than plain sambal chilli prawn, or palm sugar coconut filling for bread 😜

The sambal palm sugar grated coconut not only can be used as bread filling, it can be added to bread toast, or serve with coconut rice or nasi lemak. Very very yummy 😋

Sambal palm sugar coconut bun recipe

Yield: 390g sambal palm sugar grated coconut

Ingredients

20g dried prawns

10g olive oil
10g chopped garlic
5g fried small red onion crisps
65g palm sugar granules
30g nasi lemak sambal chilli paste
2g low-sodium salt
250g fresh grated coconut

2g glutinous rice flour
30g soaked prawn water
6g fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Raw ingredients

Processed ingredients

Directions

1. Rinse and soak dried prawns for about 30 minutes.

Drain and keep the soaked prawn water for mixing with glutinous rice flour later. Chop the reconstituted prawns into fine bits. Set aside.

2. Heat up about 10g of olive oil and 10g of chopped garlic in the pot at medium low heat till golden. Stir in the fried red onion crisps.

3. When the fried small red onion crisps become fragrant, stir in the chopped reconstituted prawns. Stir-fry till the reconstituted prawns becomes golden and fragrant.

4. Stir in the palm sugar granules and nasi lemak sambal chilli paste.

Wait for the mixture to bubble,

before adding in the low-sodium salt,

and grated coconut. Stir to mix well.

5. Add about 30g of soaked prawn water from Step 1 to mix with the glutinous rice flour.

Dig a well in the center of the ingredients in the pot, and pour the glutinous rice water into it.

Wait for the glutinous rice water to thicken before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.

Stir to mix well.

6. Finally, mix in the chopped coriander leaves.

7. Transfer the sambal palm sugar coconut to a dry and sterilized glass container.

Wait for the content to cool down to room temperature before sealing it with cling wrap and lids. Keep the content in the fridge and it can last for about 1 week.