If you’re looking to upgrade your mooncakes to the next level, this chocolate hazelnut flavored Chocolate Mooncakes Recipe may be your answer. Made with just 3 ingredients, chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella or Nutiva), coconut flour, and filling of choice, these delicious chocolate mooncakes take less than 30 minutes to make and bake!
I love just about anything that tastes like chocolate & hazelnut so I was really excited to try developing a recipe around these two flavors. The crust of these mooncakes simply requires chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella or Nutiva) and coconut flour, then just a little kneading and molding for you to get your fingers on these amazing little treats.
Depending on what filling you choose (I used matcha flavored white bean paste here) you can customize this chocolate mooncakes recipe to your heart’s content.
Ingredients Used to Make 2-Ingredient Vegan Mooncakes
**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂
- Chocolate Hazelnut Spread– You can use whatever chocolate hazelnut spread you have on hand, I used Nutiva the dark chocolate kind, but I’ve also used Nutella before which worked great
- Coconut flour – Coconut flour does not substitute well, and I can’t recommend swapping coconut flour with other ingredients in this recipe.
More Chocolate Recipes
For the Filling You’ll Need
- Matcha Powder – to color and flavor the bean paste
- Sweetened White Bean Paste (a.k.a. Shiro An) – fudgy and sweet, white bean paste is a perfect filling for mooncakes. You’re welcome to use other fillings for this recipe. More ideas below in the “variation” section
- Want to make your own sweet white bean paste? I finally have a Shortcut White Bean Paste Recipe I make when I’ve run out of Shiro An
Equipment
The main highlight of mooncakes is their beautiful engraved patterns and shapes. Mooncake molds are readily available at different Chinese grocery stores. You can also find it online, especially on amazon. They are of premium quality and quite affordable. I got the 50g mooncake molds here
Step by Step Guide
How to Make 2-Ingredient Nutella Mooncake Recipe
STEP 1
Mix chocolate hazelnut spread and 1/2 of the coconut flour together.
STEP 2
Depending on whether you use Nutiva or Nutella you may need more or less coconut flour. For best results, add the rest of the coconut flour 1 Tablespoon at a time and use your hands to knead the dough until the dough comes together. You want to get a soft and firm dough that can be rolled up into a ball without sticking to your hands. Add more coconut flour (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the dough seems too soft. Once done, divide the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces and roll into a ball (about 20-30 grams of dough each).
STEP 3
Prepare the filling- mix the sweetened white bean paste filling with matcha powder, then roll the sweetened white bean paste filling into a heaping tablespoon-sized balls (about 30g).
STEP 4
Flatten the dough into a thin disk using the palms of your hands, place about 30g of filling in the middle. **I wore vinyl gloves here to prevent the dough from sticking to my hands which makes it easier to shape, but the gloves are optional. Cover the filling with the dough and gently squeeze the dough into a ball. The ball really does not have to be perfect or smooth, because you’ll be using the mooncake mold to press these rough edges into shape anyways.
STEP 5
Use a well-greased mooncake mold to press the dough into shape. A non-stick cooking spray works well to ensure that the mold is properly greased.
STEP 6
Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 12-15 minutes until the tops are golden and dry. The bottom of the cakes should be lightly browned.
Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins for Vegan Chocolate Mooncakes:
There are many types of fillings used in traditional mooncakes. Here are some ideas below:
- Lotus paste – classic! You can buy these in the refrigerated section in a Asian grocery store, or buy them online (like Amazon, here)
- Shiro-an (sweetened white bean paste) – on Amazon, here, or here’s a Shortcut White Bean Paste Recipe I make when I’ve run out of Shiro An
- Koshi-an (sweetened red bean paste) – on Amazon, here
- Mung Bean paste – sweet and delightfully yellow, homemade mung bean paste is a perfect mooncake filling for those who are looking for a healthier bean paste alternative. Here’s my 2-Ingredient mung bean paste recipe here
- Coffee paste : 1/2 cup Shiro-an mixed with 2 tsp coffee extract (click on the link to see my 2 ingredient coffee bean paste recipe here)
Crust Variations
Instead of the chocolate hazelnut spread, you can use other creamy spreads such as cashew butter or peanut butter.
How to Make this Healthier
- Storebought lotus pastes and sweet bean pastes are delicious, but rather high in refined sugar and calories. While I still recommend you use the storebought kinds to make these mooncakes as close to the original texture as possible, there are many healthier alternatives for the filling, such as mashed sweet potato (the best ones are Asian sweet potato and Purple Sweet Potato), chickpea cookie dough or chopped nuts (I’ll post the recipe on this later).
- I also love adding nuts, seeds and other ingredients to the filling that add texture, fiber and nutrition. Try adding nuts or dried fruit to the filling before rolling into tablespoon sized balls.
- If you want to increase fiber, mix a Tablespoon of ground flaxseed or coconut flour to the filling.
CLICK HERE for All of my Mooncake recipes:
How to Store
- You can store these cakes covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. For longer storage, you can place them in a plastic freezer bag or airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze up to 4 months.
Final Tips
- Depending on the brand of the cashew butter, you may need more coconut flour to hold the dough. ou want your resulting dough to be soft but still firm enough to be rolled into a ball.
- I found that these mooncakes taste WAY better the day after they are made. I don’t know how to explain it other than that these mooncake crusts have a better flavor and develop a more melt-in-the-mouth, tender texture when they have a chance to rest in the fridge overnight. So for the best flavor and texture, I recommend that you store these mooncakes inside an airtight container and let them cool in the fridge for at least 8 hours before eating.
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More Vegan, Gluten-Free Mooncake Recipes Coming Up:
Go to my Healthier Mooncake Experiment post to see how I started making healthier mooncakes!
3 Ingredient Nutella Chocolate Mooncakes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread such as Nutella or Nutiva
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (read note if substituting with almond flour)
- 180 g filling of choice , such as matcha white bean paste
Instructions
- Prepare the filling. For the matcha white bean paste, mix 180g of sweetened white bean paste with 1 tsp of matcha powder. Roll into 6 equal sized balls and store in the fridge until use.
- Mix the chocolate hazelnut spread and coconut flour in a bowl
- Add more 1-2 Tbsp more coconut flour if needed, a tablespoon at a time, until a soft but firm dough consistency is achieved.
- Divide dough into 6 equal pieces
- Flatten each piece of dough into a disk, then wrap the prepared filling with the mooncake dough.
- Use a mold to press the dough into mooncake shapes and set onto a clean parchment paper.
- Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 12-15 minutes
- For best texture, store in an airtight container overnight in the fridge, then eat next day.
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