Snow Skin Mooncakes (Step-by-Step Recipe)

Snow Skin Mooncakes are soft, chewy, and refreshing no-bake treats that are perfect for celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival. Traditionally filled with sweet pastes like red bean or lotus seed, these mooncakes are pressed into beautiful molds and served chilled for a delightful festive dessert.

Recipe

Special tool: 1 (50 g) mooncake mold
Serves: 12 (50 g) mooncakes
Prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Rest time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

For the dough:
1/2 cup (2.6 oz) (75 g) glutinous rice flour, plus 6 tablespoons for dusting
4 tablespoons (1.06 oz) (30 g) rice flour
4 tablespoons (1.06 oz) (30 g) wheat starch
4 tablespoons (50 g) sugar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3/4 cup (184 g) milk, cold

For the filling:
10.6 oz (300 g) ready-to-use red bean paste

For dusting:
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
6 tablespoons cooked glutinous rice flour (see step)

Instructions

1. Prepare the mooncake dough

• In a large mixing bowl, sift in glutinous rice flour, rice flour, wheat starch, and sugar. Pour in cooking oil and milk. Whisk until smooth.
• Pour and sift the mixture into a heatproof bowl. Cover with foil. Rest for 20 minutes.
• In a steamer with water, transfer the mixture, cover, and steam over high heat until fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
• Carefully take out the dough. Stir with a heatproof plastic spatula (it won’t stick to plastic). Cover with a towel, and let cool for 30 minutes. (Dough should weigh about 300 g or 10.6 oz.)
• With food prep gloves, transfer dough to a plastic surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Place the dough in a Ziploc bag. Rest in the fridge for 2 hours.

2. Prepare the filling & dusting flour

• Weigh the red bean paste into 25 g (0.88 oz) portions (1:1 dough-to-filling ratio for a 50 g mold). Roll each into a ball and place on parchment-lined plate.
• Freeze filling balls briefly to firm up for easier assembly.
• In a pan over medium-low heat, stir glutinous rice flour until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Set aside to use as cooked dusting flour.

3. Assemble the mooncakes

• Weigh and portion the dough into 25 g (0.88 oz) balls. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying.
• Flatten a dough ball into a 2-inch disk. Place a filling ball in the center.
• Dust hands with cooked glutinous rice flour. Wrap and seal the filling inside.
• Dust mooncake mold with powdered sugar. Place the ball inside, flip onto a parchment-lined surface, press down, release, and lift the mold.
• Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Enjoy immediately or chill in the fridge for a few hours. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• If you have different mooncake molds, try making various patterns.

Tips & notes

• Mooncake paste variety: You can find red bean, lotus seed, red date, and other pastes in Chinese supermarkets.
• Dough-to-filling ratio: Keep a 1:1 ratio (25 g dough, 25 g filling for a 50 g mold) for best results.
• Kneading the dough: Use gloves and a plastic surface to avoid sticking.
• Firming the filling: Briefly freezing the paste balls makes wrapping much easier.
• Dusting flour: Be sure to toast glutinous rice flour until lightly browned before using for dusting.
• Storage: Snow skin mooncakes taste best after chilling and can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.

Red Bean Paste Recipe (optional)

Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds azuki beans
4 ½ cups water
1 cup sugar

1. Soak beans

• Soak azuki beans in water for 2 hours or overnight. Rinse and drain.

2. Cook beans

• In a large pot, add 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Add beans and cook over low heat for 2 hours, adding ½ cup water every 30 minutes, until mushy.

3. Thicken

• Turn heat to high, cook 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until liquid nearly evaporates.

4. Blend & sweeten

• Add sugar and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

5. Cook down

• In a saucepan over low heat, cook paste for 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until thick and peanut-butter-like in texture.
• Transfer to a plate and refrigerate 1 hour before use. Filling will firm up and be easier to handle.