Learn how to make this easy Chinese mooncake biscuit or doll biscuits without using any golden syrup and no mooncake mould is needed if you don’t have one.
What is Chinese mooncake biscuits?
Mooncake biscuits are basically very similar to the traditional baked mooncake with filling. The mooncake biscuits are usually made without any filling and they are made into different shapes. The most common shapes you will see are fish, pig, flowers, and butterfly. Because of the fun shapes, most people call it “doll biscuits” or “gong zai beng” in Cantonese.
Why you will like this mooncake biscuits
1. They taste good
Unlike the ones I used to have as a kid, which were so hard like rocks that I could break some teeth trying to eat them, this actually taste good. Just lightly sweetened with a great aroma from honey and not greasy. The biscuits are soft after aging it for few days
2. No golden syrup is needed
Contrary to a popular belief that you need golden syrup to bake Chinese mooncakes, I can tell you now that you can make mooncakes without golden syrup. I have been successful in making this mooncake biscuits and these mixed nuts mooncakes using good-quality liquid honey. I couldn’t be happier with the result
3. No long resting period
Some recipes require 3-4 hours of resting the dough. You only need 30 minutes with this recipe
4. No special mould is needed
I don’t have the special mould for the mooncake biscuits. So I just roll them round and flatten slightly. Since I have the mooncake press that I use to make traditional Chinese baked mooncake and snow skin mooncake, I use that to imprint some pattern.
How to easily make Chinese mooncake biscuits
1. Mix honey, alkaline water, and oil until combined
2. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined
3. Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes
2. Preheat oven to 375 F (190C) for conventional oven (bottom heat only). If you have top and bottom heat oven, you may want to lower the heat to 350 F (180 C). Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. Portion the dough out into about 25 grams each. You can make bigger one too if you prefer, it’s up to you
3. Roll into smooth round ball and then just gently flatten slightly with your palm and decorate with 2-3 pumpkin seeds if you choose to do so
4. If you have the mooncake biscuit mould, you are certainly welcome to use it. Just dust the mould with some cake flour and tap out any excess. Dust the dough ball with some flour too and remove excess. Put into the mould cavity and gently press to fit into the mould. Turn the mould on its side and gently tap to knock out the dough from the mould. I use a mooncake press that I use for traditional mooncake, it works too
5. Arrange the shaped biscuits on the parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. They will just expand slightly in the oven. Put in the middle rack and bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes (DO NOT skip this step). Put in the middle rack and bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes (DO NOT skip this step)
6. After that, use a soft bristle brush and very gently brush a thin layer of egg wash on top of the biscuits. Use the brush to remove any excess egg wash if you use a mould to imprint some pattern on the biscuits so the pattern won’t be blurry after baking. Too much egg wash will blur the pattern
7. Put the tray back into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
8. After the biscuits have cooled down completely, transfer to an air-tight container and let them age for 2-3 days to soften
Important tips
1. Use good quality liquid honey
Please do not use any honey that has crystals in it. The mooncake will not turn out right
2. Follow the recipe exactly
I don’t recommend reducing amount of honey or omitting alkaline water and baking soda. All these are necessary in the recipe. The mooncake biscuits are only lightly sweetened (in fact my kids think they could be sweeter, but to me, it’s the right amount)
3. Rest the biscuits after 5 minute of baking
Don’t brush the egg wash right after they come out from the oven
4. Age the biscuits for few days
If you eat them on the same day, they won’t taste right. The texture will be dry and hard. After it “return oil” for a day or two, they taste so much better and fragrant
Did you make this mooncake biscuits recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Easy Chinese Mooncake Biscuits / Doll Biscuits 公仔饼 (No Golden Syrup)
Ingredients
Please measure ingredients with kitchen scale:
- 135 gr honey
- 60 gr cooking oil
- ⅓ tsp alkaline water
- 200 gr cake flour plus more for dusting as needed
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
Egg wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp water
For decoration (optional):
- 3 Pumpkin seeds (for each biscuits)
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Mix honey, alkaline water, and oil until combined. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes
Shape the dough:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (190C) for conventional oven (bottom heat only). If you have top and bottom heat oven, you may want to lower the heat to 350 F (180 C)
- Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. The dough shouldn't be sticky anymore. It feels greasy, and that's normal. Portion the dough out into about 25 grams each. You can make bigger one too if you prefer, it's up to you. Roll into smooth round ball and then just gently flatten slightly with your palm and decorate with 2-3 pumpkin seeds if you choose to do so
- If you have the mooncake biscuit mould, you are certainly welcome to use it. Just dust the mould with some cake flour and tap out any excess. Dust the dough ball with some flour too and remove excess. Put into the mould cavity and genly press to fit into the mould. Turn the mould on its side and gently tap to knock out the dough from the mould
- Arrange the shaped biscuits on the parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. They will just expand slightly in the oven
1st baking:
- Put in the middle rack and bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes (DO NOT skip this step)
- After that, use a soft bristle brush and very gently brush a thin layer of egg wash on top of the biscuits. Use the brush to remove any excess egg wash if you use a mould to imprint some pattern on the biscuits so the pattern won't be blurry after baking. Too much egg wash will blur the pattern
2nd baking:
- Put the tray back into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Keep in mind that the biscuits will darken further after they cool down and after you age them for few days
Cool down:
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
Age the biscuits:
- Similar to traditional baked mooncakes, you DO NOT want to consume the biscuits on the same day they are made. They will be dry and won't taste as good yet
- After the biscuits have cooled down completely, transfer to an air-tight container and let them age for 2-3 days to soften
How to store:
- The biscuits can be kept at room temperature in an air-tight container for about a week.
8 comments
Instead of 135g honey, can I sub 135g golden syrup?
Hi Peggy, yes you can use golden syrup.
hi there, i was wondering, what’s the bake time if i use a 50g mold instead of a 25g mold?
Hi Crystal, you can probably try to extend the baking time by 3-4 minutes for each bake and see.
I tried the recipe twice but the dough is very too soft. What did I do wrong?
Did you measure ingredients by weight? Some differet brand of flour may not absorb liquid the same. You can try to cut down a bit on the oil maybe try 40 grams and see if that helps and add as needed.
Baked them today and they brought me back to my childhood! Thanks 😊
Yay! I’m so glad you like it! Me too! I love these biscuits as a kid 🙂