Macau Almond Cookies (澳門杏仁餅)
Savory, nutty, and lightly sweetened, these Macau-style almond mung bean cookies are the perfect treat! They are super simple to make and are great for sharing with others.
Macau almond cookies (澳門杏仁餅, ao men xing ren bing) are one of the most famous treats from Macau! The main ingredients are mung bean flour and almond flour, which results in a savorier and nuttier cookie. Unlike the Chinese almond cookies with the more common buttery, soft cookie texture, these have a uniquely crumbly and tender texture. So, a more apt name for this snack would be mung bean biscuits.
The most famous Macau almond cookies are sold by Koi Kei in Macau. One of the brand’s advertisements in 2007 with the phrase “when eaten it has a biscuit flavor” even went viral. At Koi Kei, you can get a variety of almond cookie flavor combinations. For example, some variations have egg yolk, pork floss, and black sesame mixed inside.
Recipe Notes
- Mung bean flour: This recipe calls for mung bean flour. You may have better luck finding this ingredient in Indian grocery stores, where it is called “moong dal flour.” If it is difficult to source this ingredient, you can make your own. Scroll down here to see how to make homemade mung bean flour!
- Mung Bean Flour/Almond Flour Ratio: Most Macau almond cookie recipes have a higher ratio of mung bean flour to almond flour. I increased the amount of almond flour slightly for more almond flavor. You can adjust the ratio to your own liking as long as the total amount of flour remains the same!
- Almonds: The almonds will taste better if you toast them first. To toast raw almonds, bake them in a preheated oven at 350 F for 7-8 minutes or until browned.
- Mooncake Molds: There are typically two different types of mooncake molds that are used: plastic spring molds and wooden molds. The wooden molds are more traditional, but both work well for this recipe!
- Mooncake print not coming out: If your cookies are not coming out of your mold with a clear design, here could be a few reasons why/potential fixes:
- If coming out crumbly: the cookie mixture needs to be more tightly packed into the mold.
- The cookie mixture is too wet/sticky: try dusting the mold with extra powdered sugar before you pack in the mixture for each cookie
- If using homemade mung bean flour: the mung bean flour was not blended fine enough, so the larger granules are getting stuck inside the mooncake mold
Macau Almond Cookies (澳門杏仁餅)
Ingredients
- 150 g mung bean flour (**Note 1)
- 100 g almond flour
- 60 g powdered sugar around 1/2 cup
- 50 g vegetable oil or coconut oil 1/4 cup
- 1-2 tbsp water
- 30 g almonds roughly chopped, 1/4 cup (**Note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except for water, and stir to combine well. Add 1 teaspoon of water at a time.
- To test if the mixture is wet enough, grab a handful and compress it in your palm. It should hold together. Then, when you press the clump, it should break off into chunks.
- Scoop roughly 2 tbsp of the mixture into the mooncake mold and use your fingers to tightly pack the mixture into the mold.
- Place the mooncake mold face down on the baking sheet. Press down firmly on the plunger a few times to shape the cookie, then push it out of the mold onto the baking sheet. (**Note 3 for wooden mooncake mold, see post above for cookie troubleshooting tips)
- Repeat with the remaining cookie mixture.
- Bake the cookies for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool down completely before eating/storing. (The cookies need to cool to harden and become less crumbly).
Notes
- To make mung bean flour: Add split mung beans to a dry pan and roast for 10 minutes over medium-low to medium heat until lightly browned. Remove and add to a blender. Add to a food processor/blender and grind until it turns into a fine powder with no large granules. **Optional (for a finer end result, can help cookies to come out of the mold with shape intact): Sieve the powder. For any remaining large pieces of mung bean, continue blending and sieving until everything is a fine powder.
- Almonds: The almonds will taste better if you toast them first. To toast raw almonds, bake them in a preheated oven at 350 F for 7-8 minutes or until browned.
- Wooden Mooncake Mould: For wooden mooncake molds (kuih bangkit molds), begin by dusting the cavities with some icing sugar. Scoop the cookie mixture into the cavity/cavities and use your hands to pack the mixture down tightly. Scrape off the excess with a sharp edge. Quickly flip and tap the mold down on your countertop to release the cookies.
How to Make Macau Almond Cookies
Preheat the oven to 300 F.
Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except for water, and stir to combine well.
Add 1 teaspoon of water at a time. To test if the mixture is wet enough, grab a handful and compress it in your palm. It should hold together. Then, when you press the clump, it should break off into chunks.
Scoop roughly 2 tbsp of the mixture into the mooncake mold, and press the mixture to tightly pack it. Place the mooncake mold face down on the baking sheet. Press the plunger down to push the cookie out of the mold. (For wooden mooncake molds, begin by dusting the cavities with some icing sugar. Scoop the cookie mixture into the cavity/cavities and use your hands to pack the mixture down tightly. Scrape off the excess with a sharp edge. Quickly flip and tap the mold down on your countertop to release the cookies.)
Repeat with the remaining cookie mixture.
Bake the cookies for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let them cool down completely before eating/storing. (The cookies need to cool to harden and become less crumbly).
How to Make Homemade Mung Bean Flour
Get split mung beans. The beans should be yellow, which means the outer green skin has been removed. (Some split mung beans have a lot of artificial food coloring, so you may want to rinse the beans to remove some of the color).
Add split mung beans to a dry pan and roast for 10 minutes over medium-low to medium heat until lightly browned. Remove and add to a blender. Add to a food processor/blender and grind until it turns into a fine powder with no large granules.
**Optional (for a finer end result, can help cookies to come out of the mold with shape intact): Sieve the powder. For any remaining large pieces of mung bean, continue blending and sieving until everything is a fine powder.
