4 days until Mid-Autumn Festival, which coincidentally is also my manuscript due date! That sounds pretty auspicious, right? I was hoping to share these mooncakes a little sooner, but life just got a little crazy. I’ve been locking myself away in the bedroom (the only place I can REALLY focus) to work on my manuscript, re-reading recipes for the millionth time to make sure I didn’t accidentally write “tablespoon” when it should be “teaspoon”, and trying to not get sucked into all the distractions lurking in my phone. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though! It feels so close. Once I send it out, it’s not like work is going to be completely done though. I still have a few photos to shoot, interviews to write, and cover art to review. I’m still going to celebrating making to this deadline with a juicy cheeseburger though! And then sit out in the backyard with a mooncake and cup of tea to admire the full moon and simply hope for a better year ahead.

Despite what the general population might think, making mooncakes is NOT HARD. You know what’s harder to make? French macarons and sourdough bread, but bakers everywhere are still practicing their macaronage and tweaking their dough hydration ratios. Mooncakes feel intimidating at first because there really isn’t anything comparable to a mooncake. It’s not really a cake and it’s not really a cookie. When I used to work in an office with other human beings, I would bring in a sampling of mooncakes for people to try and it was always so difficult to explain to people. I would say “it’s a really dense cake/pastry/cookie thing filled with different pastes and nuts… oh and sometimes a salted egg yolk!” I guess it doesn’t sound that appealing when I describe it that way…

Mooncakes are beautiful and unique. They are also intentionally dense because you’re meant to share a mooncake with your family by cutting little wedges. I also think it there’s some physics involved. In order to form or press a mooncake, the filling needs to have enough rigidity to hold up to the pastry and the pressure of pressing into the mold, which is while firm pastes like red bean and white lotus work so well. Also while mixed nut varieties are common.

In this case I made a thick brownie dough with plenty of strength and delicious chocolate flavor to hold up in the mooncake! Brownies are already a little dense and fudge-y so the texture inside of a mooncake just made sense to me. The exterior dough is your classic mooncake dough with a little matcha powder mixed for a lovely tea flavor and green color. I love the color of the mooncakes but just note that as the mooncakes sit and soften (to get the traditional mooncake texture) the color does start to fade a little. These are incredible warm from the oven but also make a wonderful treat with some tea the very next day!

How are you planning on celebrating Mid-Autumn festival this year?? However you plan to, I’m sending you positive vibes for an amazing season ahead!

Matcha brownie mooncakes

makes 11 large (100g) mooncakes

dough:

300g (2 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
10g (2 tablespoons) matcha powder
110g (1/2 cup) canola or other neutral-flavored oil
160g (1/2 cup) golden syrup (like Lyle’s Golden Cane Syrup)
8g (1 tsp) alkaline water/lye water

filling:

38g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
150g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
146g (2/3 cup) coconut butter, softened
133g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
53g (1/3 cup) canola or other neutral-flavored oil
1 large egg

egg wash:

1 large egg
2 tablespoons water

steps:

1. Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour and matcha powder. Add oil, golden syrup, and alkaline water. Using a flexible spatula, mix to form a shaggy dough. Start kneading with your hands and continue until you have a smooth dough, 3 to 4 minutes. Cover the bowl and allow it rest for 45 minutes.

2. Make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine cocoa powder and flour. In another medium bowl, cream the coconut butter and sugar together until smooth with a flexible spatula. Add the oil and egg and mix until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. The dough will be thick but not dry. If it feels dry, add another tablespoon of oil. Divide the dough into 11 equal portions and roll into golf ball sized balls (about 50g each). Roll smooth and arrange on a plate or small baking tray. Chill in the fridge until firm, at least 30 minutes, or until ready to assemble mooncakes.

3. Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper

4. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 11 equal portions (about 50g each) and roll into smooth balls. Working with one ball at a time, flatten with the palm of your hand, and roll out into a 3 1/2-inch round. Dust with a little flour when needed. Lift the dough round off the surface with a bench scraper and fill with a ball of filling. Fold the ends up over the filling and pinch the dough close to fully cover the filling. Roll into a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Arrange the balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.

5. Lightly dust a mooncake mold with flour. Place the mooncake mold over the ball, press the mold to the surface of the baking sheet and firmly press down on the plunger. Release the plunger and gently press the mooncake out. Release the mooncake from the mold if sticking just a little. Repeat with remaining mooncakes.

6. Bake mooncakes for 10 minutes and remove from the oven to cool for 10 minutes. Mix together egg wash and brush the mooncakes with egg wash, making sure to brush all edges. Bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the mooncakes to cool on the baking sheet. Enjoy a few warm!

7. Bonus step: Once fully cooled, place in an airtight container for 1 day for the dough to soften (classic mooncake texture). As the dough continues to soften it starts to lose the matcha green color though.

If you have a smaller (50g) mooncake mold, divide the portions into 12 to 14.