Honey Pistachio Mooncakes
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 150 g bread flour (1¼cups)
- 150 g cake flour (1¼cups)
- 110 g grapeseed oil (½ cup) or other neutral oil
- 160 g Golden Syrup (½) cup (Lyle's Golden Syrup)
- 8 g Chinese alkaline water (1 teaspoon)
Filling Ingredients
- 1½ cup pistachios roasted and unsalted
- 80 g honey (¼ cup)
- 25 g coconut oil (2 tbsp)
- 10 g cornstarch (1 tablespoon)
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon tap water
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl, mix up your flours, oil, golden syrup and alkaline water.
- Stir the ingredients until you get a rough dough, that is not fully mixed, with a somewhat uneven texture and appearance.
- Then, knead the dough by hand until it is smooth, well-mixed, and holds its shape. This shows that the ingredients have been well-incorporated and the gluten has partially developed.
- Shape the dough into a bulky frisbee shape, wrap it up in plastic, and then leave it to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Oven
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and place parchment paper on a large baking tray.
Filling
- Using a food processor or blender, process the pistachios until they reach a coarsely ground texture.
- Add the honey, coconut oil, cornstarch, and salt and pulse 2 or 3 times.
- The filling will be crumbly, but when you press, it will stick together.
- If you process it too much, you could get pistachio butter, so be light with your grinding.
- Separate the filling into 12 even portions and then use your hands to roll each into a ball.
Shaping the mooncakes
- Once the dough has sat out for 45 minutes, divide it into 12 equal pieces, and then use your hands to roll each into a dough ball.
- One at a time, flatten the dough ball and roll out into a 4-inch circle.
- If it sticks, while you're rolling it out, toss out a little flour and dust the dough.
- Use the bench scraper to lift up each piece when it's circular.
- Put a ball of the filling into the middle of the dough circle, and gently push the dough up. Pinch it so it totally encases the filling.
- Smooth over any cracks and then use your hands to roll each dough/filling into a ball.
Baking the mooncakes
- Put the finished balls onto the baking sheet, separating by at least 2 inches.
- Prep the mooncake mold by sprinkling it with flour.
- Set the ball in the mold, put the mold flat side against your board, or table, and push the plunger gradually so the dough is pressed against the mold. Do not press too hard as the filling can squeeze out of the dough.
- Once all the mooncakes are made, bake until they are slightly golden, from 10-12 minutes.
- Then, remove the sheet from the oven and let them hang out on the sheet for 10 minutes
- Then, mix the egg and the tap water together, and lightly brush the mooncakes with the mixture.
- Put the sheet back in the oven and bake until the mooncakes are a golden brown from 10-12 minutes.
- After they come out of the oven, pop the sheet onto a wire rack. You can let the mooncakes cool on the sheet.
- Keep the mooncakes in a sealed container at room temperature for several days; the dough will become softer, making them ready to eat after this period.
- If they even last, you can store the mooncakes at room temp, or in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
The mooncake mold recommended in the equipment section will make 12 small mooncakes from this recipe. The diameter of the molds is about 2". There are also large mooncake molds which you could also use. In which case, this recipe would yield 6 large mooncakes.