No products in the cart.
Mung Bean Cookies: Welcoming the Year of the Dragon
The Lunar New Year signifies fresh starts and renewed hopes, much like the Western New Year celebrated in January. As we welcome the Year of the Rabbit, ring in a new beginning in your own life with a traditional mung bean cookies known as kuih koya! This crunchy treat is popular in southeast China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Never heard of it? Well, maybe you’ve heard of its Chinese American cousin, Chinese Almond Cookies!
WHAT ARE MUNG BEAN COOKIES
Mung bean cookies are a subtly sweet mixture made from toasted mung bean flour and sugar. The taste is hearty and nutty. It’s similar to using a chickpea or a cashew nut. They’re naturally gluten-free and come in a variety of shapes and flavors. They have a unique texture that melts in your mouth and depending on the recipe, they can have a slight crunch.
Some compare the mung bean cookie recipe to an Asian sugar cookie. While the dough does use sugar, the taste and texture aren’t quite the same. The crumbly dough makes it difficult to roll out and requires molding and shaping to keep it together. For this recipe, you’ll need either a plunger cookie cutter or a wooden cookie mold. You can press the dough together in tightly packed balls using your hands if needed.
THE HUMBLE MUNG BEAN COOKIE: A CHINESE NEW YEAR STAPLE
This easy mung bean cookie recipe makes for an authentic way to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The basic recipe consists of three simple ingredients that make preparation a breeze! Traditionally, these cookies are lined in neat rows inside clear glass jars and given as holiday gifts. While they’re a staple for New Year, locals eat them year-round.
Mung bean cookies are usually found in green and yellow colors. Green represents growth and new opportunities. The golden color represents golden coins and is a symbol of prosperity. It’s common for family and friends to exchange money (not gifts) for this holiday, symbolizing good fortune for the upcoming year, so it’s most often found in a yellow color.
Traditional preparation of mung bean cookies includes pressing them into molds. Designs of the cookies vary depending on the maker and the molds. There’s no specific design that’s unique to the kuih koya so feel free to use whatever mold you have on hand.
THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF A CHINESE ALMOND COOKIE
Chinese almond cookies are a favorite in many Chinese-American restaurants and bakeries. The cookies were popularized in the 19th century by Chinese immigrants recreating traditional foods using locally available ingredients. Because mung beans were difficult to find in America, bakers used almond flour as a substitute. The result was a thick and chewy cookie that won the hearts of immigrants and foreigners alike.
The adaptation made its way back to China and Hong Kong in the early 20th century. Bakers experimented with peanut and cashew flours, as well as almond and the traditional mung bean. Today, many Asian bakeries add the Chinese almond cookie to their standard offerings alongside the original mung bean cookie.
SOUTHEAST CHINA BAKERY CULTURE
Bakeries play an important role in Chinese New Year celebrations. After all, what’s a celebration without something sweet?! Aside from mung bean cookies, sweets like nian gao sticky rice cakes, candied lotus seeds, and sesame balls stuffed with sweet bean paste are popular offerings.
Clear glass jars are common ways of packaging cookies, especially during Chinese New Year. Chinese characters featured on specialty packaging convey well wishes or prosperity for the new year.
SOME INGREDIENT NOTES ABOUT MAKING MUNG BEAN COOKIES
Because mung bean cookies are made throughout East Asia, there are quite a few different variations of the cookie. The recipe I chose is similar to the most original cookies based on my research. The recipe uses two main ingredients found in almost every kuih koya: mung bean flour (not starch) and confectioner’s sugar.
Mung Bean Flour
Both of these ingredients are on Amazon and readily available in many Asian grocery stores. Mung bean flour is essential to this recipe. If you can’t find it, you can make mung bean flour by cooking and roasting mung beans in the oven and grinding it in a flour mill. You can substitute other flours, but it won’t make this particular cookie.
Note that the recipe uses flour and not starch. They’re not the same thing. The flour in the recipe will absorb less water than the starch. It will also add more structure to the flour because of the protein content. Mung bean flour comes in two different options, green and yellow. The green mung bean flour includes the shells and will make a darker pea-colored cookie. The yellow flour doesn’t contain the shells and makes the signature golden color.
Confectioner’s Sugar (No Corn Starch)
Likewise, there’s a note about the confectioner’s sugar. In the US, most of the confectioner’s sugar is made with cornstarch to prevent caking. Using cornstarch-added sugar isn’t the end of the world in this recipe, but it does change the structure of the mung bean cookies. Because of that, I recommend pulsing fine sugar in a food processor until it makes a powder and using that instead. Some stores sell confectioner’s sugar without added cornstarch. That’s what I’m using in this recipe.
Water Vs. Fat
The liquid components differ depending on where the recipe comes from. Lard is commonly used in some parts of Asia, as are vegetable and peanut oils. Water is another common element that I’m using in this recipe, and so is thick coconut cream. You may want to experiment to see which one you like best. Just note that the amount of liquid will have to be adjusted based on the ingredient you choose to use.
Pandan Flavoring
Finally, let’s talk about pandan. Many of the traditional recipes I found used fresh pandan leaves that are toasted in the oven along with the mung bean flour. Pandan is often called Asian vanilla because it’s used so often in desserts. Its flavor profile is like a grassy vanilla with hints of coconut. Pandan is difficult for me to find in my area so I use pandan extract. Start with a quarter teaspoon and add up to a full teaspoon depending on your preference. You can leave it out completely if you prefer.
HOW TO MAKE MUNG BEAN COOKIES: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
Step 1: Toast the mung bean flour (if you prefer).
Mung bean cookies are made in a few different ways. Toasting is the first step if you prefer to have it nuttier and crunchier cookie. Spread it evenly on a lined baking sheet. Then, roast it at 350F for about 20-30 minutes until golden and fragrant. Make sure to mix the flour 2-3 times during cooking for an even toast. If you prefer softer mung bean cookies, skip this step.
Step 2: Mix the dough.
This is a crucial step that takes more practice than any other step. Add together the mung bean powder and confectioner’s sugar into a mixing bowl. If you’re using pandan extract, add that in as well. Add a little bit of the water at a time and mix thoroughly between additions. The final texture should be like breadcrumbs–still dry, but wet enough to form a ball when pressed together using a lot of force. The trick is to use less water. Using too much water will make the cookies into hard and crunchy cookies.
Step 3: Press the dough.
For this step, choose how you will shape your cookies. I’m using a wooden cookie mold for this step. A great trick is to line the mold with cling film before pressing your dough into the mold. Cling film helps to release the cookie and prevent it from sticking.
If you’re using a plunger, fill the cavity with dough. Press the dough firmly onto a lined cookie sheet with the plunger. A firm press will help give it a clear imprint.
Step 4: Baking the dough.
Mung bean cookies aren’t like many Western cookies. They’re baked at a lower temperature for a longer period. Baking isn’t necessary to cook the dough. It’s used instead to dry out the cookie for eating. In some places in Southeastern Asia, they’re left out in the sun for a few days to dry out. You can use a food dehydrator at 200F if you have one. Otherwise, bake them on a lined cookie sheet at 250F for 30 minutes to 1 hour until dry. The size of your cookie will determine the length of drying time.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Should the cookie be crunchy or soft?
If done correctly, the cookie will be a soft, melt-in-your-mouth type of cookie. A crunchy cookie is a sign that there is too much water content in the cookie.
Help! Why didn’t mine bake right?
There are a few tricks to baking mung bean cookies. The first is to use only one rack in the oven at a time. This helps evenly distribute heat. The second is to make sure the temperature is low. Low and slow heat will help keep the cookies soft and prevent them from overcooking. You can tell they’re done when the edges are golden brown. Of course, if you’re having a tough time, leave them out for a few days at room temperature to dry out.
I can’t get my crumb to mold, what should I do?
Rather than adding water by the spoonful, you can use a clean kitchen spray bottle to mist the dough. Lightly misting will add enough water evenly. Try remolding it after the addition of water.
I can’t find mung bean powder. What should I do?
Make sure you are using mung bean flour and not starch. If you can’t find it in powdered form, you can make your own. Cook dried mung beans in a frying pan or the oven until cooked through. Then, grind in a flour mill. Mung bean flour is what makes mung bean cookies. If you can’t do any of these options then I would recommend trying Chinese almond cookies or peanut cookies instead.
MUNG BEAN COOKIES RECIPE (CHINESE NEW YEAR)
Yield: 14
Southeast Asian Mung Bean Cookies
These nutty, crumbly, and melt in your mouth cookies are a unique treat traditionally served during Chinese New Year. Enjoy these delicate cookies with a hot cup of tea for a taste of Southeast Asia!
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Ingredients
- 350g / About 3 Cups Mung Bean Flour (See Note)
- 200 g / about 2 cups Cornstarch-Free Confectioner's Sugar, plus more for dusting molds (See Note)
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tsp Pandan Extract
- 1/4-1/2 Cup Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with liner or baking paper.
- Toasted Mung Bean Flour: Spread the raw mung bean flour on a prepared cooking sheet. Roast in the oven about 30-35 minutes. Stir occasionally for even cooking. The flour will be toasted when it's turned a golden color and smells fragrant. Skip this step if you would like softer cookies.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the mung bean flour and confectioner's sugar.
- Add in 1/4 cup of water, pandan extract, and vegetable oil. Mix together to form a dough that's crumbly but stays together when pressed into a ball. Add water as needed, but be careful to not oversaturate the dough.
- Dust the cookie mold of choice with confectioner's sugar. Press the dough into the mold firmly. Carefully turn out onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies at 325F degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. The cookie mold used in this recipe meausres approximately 3in/7.5cm. Adjust your cooking times as needed depending on the size of your mold.
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan until room temperature before removing from tray.
Notes
*Shelled mung bean flour will turn out a lighter color dough. Unshelled mung bean flour will turn green during the mixing process. If you can't find mung bean flour, you can make your own by dry toasting whole mung beans and milling it yourself.
**Most generic confectioner's sugar sold in the USA contains cornstarch. You can find cornstarch-free sugar in many Asian supermarkets and online. If you can't find it, no big deal. Just note that the texture of the cookie will not be quite the same.