Honeyed Pistachio Mooncakes Recipe (2024)

Neat recipe. The tip suggests making sodium carbonate (Na2CO3, aka Washing Soda, which is widely available) by heating baking soda (NaHCO3). Na2CO3 is used to make yellow ("alkaline"/ramen) noodles without egg yolks: alkalinity turns wheat flour yellow via an effect on flour's flavones, and makes the dough somewhat elastic. See Wikipedia for "Alkaline pasta". For this recipe, unless you regard amber color as critical, I'd treat Na2CO3 as optional and use (pale yellow) unbleached flour.

Put down the rolling pin! Try a tortilla press (or the bottom of a heavy pot). I tried rolling the first two and had to use SO much flour to stop the dough from sticking to the countertop, and the exteriors of the dough balls were super gummy and unattractive. I had the inspiration to use my tortilla press, with the dough sandwiched between two pieces of parchment, and it worked like a dream. Fast and no flour needed. I was really pleased with how they turned out!

This is chemically correct, but it's not for food. Wood ash and water make potassium hydroxide, KOH, which you do NOT want to eat. It's fine for making soap, but not mooncakes!

I made these today. Dividing the dough and filling by 12 made balls far too large for my 50 gram mooncake mold.40 grams of dough and 15 grams of filling was the right size (go figure!). I ended up with 15 mooncakes rather than 12, and 1/3 of the filling left over. I also ditched the rolling pin and just used the palms of my hands to flatten as I'd seen in YouTube tutorials.The filling was too coconutty for me, so I'll have to find a coconut oil substitution if I make this again.

I have been making mooncakes at home for years now and this recipe is unfortunately misguided. I hope this helps, because I just made these and they were delicious:1) Use cake flour instead of all-purpose2) use butter (1-2 Tbsp) instead of coconut oil (pistachio butter IS kind of what you’re going for here…)3) and most importantly, wait AT LEAST 2 days (I wait 3) before serving. This is absolutely critical for getting the texture right… fat seeps into the outer shell over time…:)

For people who don't want the coconut flavor, check for refined coconut oil. It's flavorless coconut oil. I've found it at trader Joe's and my regular grocery store.

That is definitely not appropriate for food use.

I ended up using a little less than 2 cups of flour and did Walnuts and maple syrup instead of pistachio and honey

The Cantonese moncakes we grew up eating were filled with red bean (adzuki) paste or lotus seed paste. Literally just boiled, mashed, and sweetened with icing sugar. You could also try chestnut paste, which you can buy in tins pre-sweetened or unsweetened - I buy online or from the nearby Italian market.

We used butter 1:1 - they came out great!

Next time, I think I'll do 30 grams of wrapper dough and 20 grams of filling. I think the 40/15 ratio was too much dough and not enough filling.The coconut taste diminished after letting them sit for 36 hours.I will definitely make these again.

I have tried this recipe twice--in each case, I followed directions precisely (using a scale) and the dough seemed smooth enough, but when rolled out, it became somewhat brittle and difficult to wrap smoothly around the filling. Has anyone else had this problem? Is the solution adding more oil? more flour? working longer? I read that tortilla press suggestion, but I do not have one. The end product was perfectly delightful, but I am curious about suggestions for the dough.

I have made these a few times now, experimenting with different fillings and find the dough recipe perfect except for the rolling pin instructions and sizing. I make 15 balls of about 33g. I cup the ball in my hand, make a bowl, poke the filling in and wrap the dough around the filling—it doesn't have to cover the entire bottom. Make all your balls and fill them, then with clean hands, you can use the mooncake press, changing the designs as you like. Love the plastic mooncake molds for $15

I am SO HAPPY with how these turned out. I have been experimenting with moon cakes for several years both snowskin and baked, but I have never truly nailed the baked ones. Made these in mini 50-60g moon cake molds with 20g filling and about 25g wrapper. I would up the filling slightly next time. The dough is delicate but don't be afraid to roll it very thin bc it repairs easily. I also subbed some coconut oil w/ pistachio butter and adjusted honey and salt to taste (3/4tsp). My best attempt yet!

I made these for my school's multicultural festival's bake sale (I'm not Chinese or Asian). I had students running me down for weeks asking if I'd really made them and that they were so delicious.As a teacher, I was proud to support my Asian students. (Next year, I'm making Eric Kim's kimchi.)

I love how u added ur life story to this and how u added all of the steps. So I'm really excited to make these moon pies for me and my family. I hope they enjoy how I make it. Thank U!

I ended up using a little less than 2 cups of flour and did Walnuts and maple syrup instead of pistachio and honey

I have tried this recipe twice--in each case, I followed directions precisely (using a scale) and the dough seemed smooth enough, but when rolled out, it became somewhat brittle and difficult to wrap smoothly around the filling. Has anyone else had this problem? Is the solution adding more oil? more flour? working longer? I read that tortilla press suggestion, but I do not have one. The end product was perfectly delightful, but I am curious about suggestions for the dough.

Help- the recipe calls for an egg in the dough, but it’s not mentioned in the directions! Did you add it with the other ingredients or later? Thanks.

I have been making mooncakes at home for years now and this recipe is unfortunately misguided. I hope this helps, because I just made these and they were delicious:1) Use cake flour instead of all-purpose2) use butter (1-2 Tbsp) instead of coconut oil (pistachio butter IS kind of what you’re going for here…)3) and most importantly, wait AT LEAST 2 days (I wait 3) before serving. This is absolutely critical for getting the texture right… fat seeps into the outer shell over time…:)

Agree with another commenter that the larger molds don’t hold shape as well. I have 60-ish gram mold and the definition is not ideal and they slumped a bit.

These were great. We ordered the press and lye water on Amazon, NBD. Contrary to the recipe's suggestion, we liked these best on the first day, especially just a bit warm from the cooling rack. Day 2>Day 1 in the sealed bag approach. I made the pistachio filling while the dough rested (found it just right re. coconut and salt) and then put those balls in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up, which made spreading the dough around them a bit easier. The press is easy. Definitely a unique treat!

For people who don't want the coconut flavor, check for refined coconut oil. It's flavorless coconut oil. I've found it at trader Joe's and my regular grocery store.

Question about moon cake molds. After checking out many stores in Chinatown I found I tiny hardware store that carries the molds. They have two kinds. One is a lovely wood carved type with two wells elaborately decorated. Second type is a plastic plunger type with exchangeable disks for different designs. From the recipe it sounds like I should get plunger type but aesthetically I am drawn to the wood carved one. Any advice?

This was an amazing recipe!!! I’m not sure why someone said it’s how you make soap..? Tasted very authentic to the moon cakes I grew up eating. The filling is very unique for moon cakes and loved it. Before popping it in the oven you can brush some water on to prevent from cracking.

I made these today. Dividing the dough and filling by 12 made balls far too large for my 50 gram mooncake mold.40 grams of dough and 15 grams of filling was the right size (go figure!). I ended up with 15 mooncakes rather than 12, and 1/3 of the filling left over. I also ditched the rolling pin and just used the palms of my hands to flatten as I'd seen in YouTube tutorials.The filling was too coconutty for me, so I'll have to find a coconut oil substitution if I make this again.

Used regular table salt instead of Kosher salt by accident. Definitely a mistake as it made the filling a bit too salty. Just a reminder for people to check the recipe more carefully (then I did)