Mooncake Cookies (Lotus Seed Paste and Salted Egg Yolk Stuffed Cookies)

Ingredients for cookie 

• 10 tablespoons (140g) cold butter
  • Make sure you cut the cold butter into cubes.
• 1/3 cup (75g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (75g) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups (315g) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for salted egg yolk filling

• 3 cooked salted egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup melted white chocolate

Ingredients for lotus seed paste

• 1/2 cup (100g) dried lotus seeds
  • Make sure that the peels and the cores are removed.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons (40g) canola oil
• 3 tablespoons (40g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

This makes approximately a dozen cookies.

Instructions

1. First, let’s prepare the cookie! In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cubed cold butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed until the mixture becomes crumbly.
2. Add eggs and beat on medium speed until evenly combined. Add flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until evenly combined and the dough comes together. Divide the dough in approximately 12 pieces and flatten into discs. Leave to chill in the refrigerator to develop flavor.
3. Next, let’s make the salted egg yolk filling. In a small bowl, mash the salted egg yolks into a paste and mix in heavy cream. Add it to the melted white chocolate and combine evenly. Spread the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and leave to chill in the refrigerator until it solidifies or even overnight.
4. Now, in order to prep the lotus seeds, add the dried lotus seeds into a bowl with enough water to cover them. Leave them to soak the water for at at least 6 hours. I do all these steps the night before to have everything ready for the next day.
5. After those prep steps, next we’re going to make the lotus seed paste. In a medium pot, bring water to a boil and add the rehydrated lotus seeds. Boil for approximately 20-25 minutes until the lotus seeds are completely softened. Drain the water away.
6. Add the softened lotus seeds into a blender and add water. Blend until smooth.
7. In a pan, heat to medium heat and add the blended lotus seeds. Then, add the canola oil in three batches and make sure it’s well incorporated in the blended lotus seeds. Next, add the sugar, honey, and salt until it’s well combined.
8. While stirring frequently, cook the lotus seed paste for 30 minutes. The mixture should start to get sticky and more solid over time. Once it’s done, chill the lotus seed paste in the refrigerator. Once it’s cool, divide the lotus seed paste into 12 balls and squish them all into a disk shape.
9. In the meantime, take out the salted egg yolk chocolate and cut it into 12 even pieces.
10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
11. Now to assemble the cookies! Take one of the cookie dough balls and squish it into a disk. Next, add the lotus seed paste disk to the middle of the cookie dough and add the salted egg yolk chocolate on top. Wrap the cookie dough to cover the the lotus seed paste and chocolate and form it into a ball. Make sure there’s enough cookie dough to cover up everything in the middle, so there’s no leakage.
12. Place the cookie balls onto the cookie sheet. These cookies will be large, so make sure they are at least 2 inches apart. You might have to use two cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes and you’re done!

Mooncake Cookies (Lotus Seed Paste and Salted Egg Yolk Stuffed Cookies) is my newest twist on a classic, the mooncake! Mooncakes are often eaten during the Mid Autumn Festival as a delicacy. While they can be filled with all kinds of delicious fillings, my favorite is lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk in the middle. It’s said that the salted egg yolk represents the moon, which is celebrated during the festival. Based on this mooncake filling, I bring you mooncake cookies! These cookies are stuffed with my version of my favorite mooncake filling, but with a slight addition of chocolate as a tribute to the white chocolate cookie. Not only is it so satisfying to break these cookies in half and have the filling ooze out, the lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk gives this a nice salty and sweet flavor. Let me know in the comments below if you made Mooncake Cookies (Lotus Seed Paste and Salted Egg Yolk Stuffed Cookies) and how it went!