Here's a delightful Chinese dessert that will transport you to mooncake heaven - Homemade Durian Snow Skin Mooncakes with Mung Bean Filling! Made with a blend of glutinous rice flour, sweet white bean paste, and pureed durian, these mooncakes are a true indulgence. With their soft and chewy snow skin and irresistibly sweet center, these mooncakes are the perfect way to celebrate the Mooncake Festival this fall!
PLEASE NOTE: This snow skin mooncake recipe is based on my original shortcut snow skin mooncake recipe (link here) and does not adhere to most traditional recipes, where the mooncake dough is made using cooked glutinous rice flour, icing sugar, shortening and water. While this recipe may differ from the traditional preparation, it still produces delicious and unique mooncakes that are perfect for anyone looking to try something new. It's also less time-consuming and simpler, so I hope you'll still give it a try!
Here's why I love this recipe
- so easy to make, and no steaming required
- made in the microwave
- only requires a couple of ingredients
- gluten free & vegan
- customizable (so many filling options!)
Ingredients Used to Make This
**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 🙂
- Sweetened White Bean Paste (a.k.a. Shiro An) - Shiro an is a thick and sweet fudgy paste made from finely mashed white beans, usually large butter beans or cannellini beans. It's a hugely popular ingredient in East Asia and widely used in Asian confectionary and desserts like mochi, sweetbreads, cookies as well as mooncakes. Unfortunately, it's not always stocked in most Asian grocery stores. Here's one brand I found on Amazon (here).
- Glutinous Rice Flour - this goes by many names. You’ll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. ***Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!
- Durian (I used frozen)- Durian is a tropical fruit known for its unique taste and strong aroma. It is often used in dessert recipes for its rich and creamy texture, lending a distinct flavor to dessert recipes like this one. I used frozen durian for convenience, which you can find in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores.
Filling Ingredients
- Sweet Mung Bean Paste - Here's a recipe for how to make the sweet mung bean paste filling from scratch. You can also use pre-made red bean paste or lotus seed paste to save time 🙂
For more filling ideas, check out my Ultimate List of Mooncake Filling post, here!
Equipment for Mooncakes
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 75g and 125g mooncake molds here
Step by Step Guide
How to Make Durian Snow Skin Mooncakes with Mung Bean Filling
STEP 1
Prepare the filling: roll the sweet mung bean paste or other filling of choice into 1-2 Tablespoon sized balls. Freeze until ready to use.
NOTE: You can also use other mooncake fillings of choice like white bean paste. Check out my ULTIMATE LIST OF MOONCAKE FILLINGS post for more ideas!*
STEP 2
In a microwaveable glass bowl (like Pyrex), mix the sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) and glutinous rice flour
STEP 3
Mix until the white bean paste has been well incorporated into the flour.
STEP 4
Add the Durian fruit puree and knead until smooth.
STEP 5
Microwave the mixture for 1 minute
STEP 6
Use a SOLID METAL spoon (wooden spoons can break!) to stir the cooked mixture so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed.
Microwave the mixture again, this time for 1 minute. The resulting dough should be hot and slightly translucent.
STEP 7
Stir again, and pour the snow skin mooncake dough onto a lightly greased baking pan. Flatten with a rolling pin or gloved hands (dough will be hot!)
STEP 8
Cut the snow skin dough into 6-8 pieces using scissors or a plastic dough cutter
STEP 9
Fill with prepared sweetened mung bean filling.
STEP 10
Fit the filled pieces into a lightly greased mooncake mold and press into shape.
STEP 11
Enjoy!
STEP 12
The mooncakes have the best texture when completely cooled.
Filling Variations for Snow Skin Mooncakes:
There are many types of fillings used in snow skin 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
Final Tips for Making Durian Snow Skin Mooncakes
- Pre-freeze the filling 1-2 hours before making the snow skin dough. Wrapping the filling with the dough will be so much easier (and less messier) if the filling is frozen.
Durian Snow Skin Mooncakes with Easy Mung Bean Filling
Equipment
Ingredients
Snow Skin Mooncake Dough
- 150 g sweetened white bean paste (shiro an)
- 50 g mochiko flour, sweet rice or glutinous rice flour , about ⅓ cup
- 75 g frozen durian chunks , pureed in a mini blender, about ¼ cup of puree
Mooncake Filling
- 300 g MUNG BEAN PASTE FILLING , or any filling of choice. Check out my ULTIMATE LIST OF MOONCAKE FILLINGS post for more ideas!*
Instructions
Prepare the filling
- Prepare mooncake filling by rolling 1-2 Tablespoons of sweetened mung bean paste into balls.
- Keep the filling in the freezer until ready to use. Wrapping the filling with the dough later will be so much easier if the filling is pre-frozen.
- NOTE: You can also use other mooncake fillings of choice like white bean paste. Check out my ULTIMATE LIST OF MOONCAKE FILLINGS post for more ideas!*
Make the Mooncake Skin
- Puree the frozen durian chunks in a mini blender (thawed completely so that the fruit can be pureed without any water) until smooth. You'll get about ¼ cup of durian fruit puree.
- In a sturdy microwaveable glass bowl (like Pyrex), mix the sweetened white bean paste (shiro an) and sweet rice flour until the bean paste has been well incorporated into the flour.
- Add the durian puree and stir the mixture until smooth.
- Microwave the mixture for 1 minute
- Use a SOLID METAL spoon (wooden spoons might break!) to stir the cooked mixture so that the cooked and uncooked parts are evenly mixed
- Microwave the mixture again, this time for 1 minute
- Stir again until all cooked and uncooked parts of the dough are mixed evenly.
- Scrape the cooked mooncake dough onto a lightly greased baking pan
Shape the Mooncakes
- Cut the snow skin dough into 8 pieces using scissors or plastic dough cutter
- Take each piece of the cut dough and fill with the prepared filling.
- Fit the filled pieces into a lightly greased mooncake mold** and press into shape.
- Enjoy!
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