Coffee Snow Skin Mooncakes (Easy, Vegan, Gluten Free Recipe) - All Purpose Veggies (2024)

Coffee lovers, rejoice! Coffee-flavored desserts have been trending and I'm about to celebrate it with these easy, no-fuss Coffee Snow Skin Mooncakes. These vegan and gluten-free mooncakes are filled with a delicious coffee bean paste made from sweet white bean paste and coffee extract, delivering a robust and aromatic coffee flavor in every bite. The delicate snow skin adds a chewy texture to the mooncakes, making them the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of your favorite coffee.

PLEASE NOTE: This snow skin mooncake recipe is based on my original shortcut snow skin mooncake recipe (link here) and does not adhere to most traditional recipes, where the mooncake dough is made using cooked glutinous rice flour, icing sugar, shortening and water. While this recipe may differ from the traditional preparation, it still produces delicious and unique mooncakes that are perfect for anyone looking to try something new. It's also less time-consuming and simpler, so I hope you'll still give it a try!

Here's why I love this recipe

• so easy to make, and no steaming required
• made in the microwave
• only requires a couple of ingredients
• gluten free & vegan
• customizable (so many filling options!)

Ingredients Used to Make Coffee Snow Skin Mooncakes

_{**I've linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂}

• Sweetened White Bean Paste (a.k.a. Shiro An) - Shiro an is a thick and sweet fudgy paste made from finely mashed white beans, usually large butter beans or cannellini beans. It's a hugely popular ingredient in East Asia and widely used in Asian confectionary and desserts like mochi, sweetbreads, cookies as well as mooncakes. Unfortunately, it's not always stocked in most Asian grocery stores. Here's one brand I found on Amazon (here).

• Glutinous Rice Flour -this goes by many names. You’ll seeGlutinous Rice FlourandMochiko Flour(my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, andSweet White Rice Flourin most other stores. ***Please note that regularwhite rice flourorbrown rice flouris NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!

• Very strong black coffee - warm or hot

Filling Ingredients

• I used this coffee bean paste filling (recipe here) which is made using white bean paste mixed with coffee extract, but you can also fill these mooncakes with lotus paste, mung bean paste or red bean paste.

For more filling ideas, check out my Ultimate List of Mooncake Filling post, here!

Equipment for Mooncakes

The main highlight of mooncakes is their beautiful engraved patterns and shapes. Mooncake molds are readily available at different Chinese grocery stores. You can also find it online, especially on amazon. They are of premium quality and quite affordable. I got the 50g mooncake moldshere

Step by Step Guide

Filling Variations for Coffee Snow Skin Mooncakes:

There are many types of fillings used in snow skin mooncakes. Here are some ideas below:

• Lotus paste– classic! You can buy these in the refrigerated section in a Asian grocery store, or buy them online (like Amazon,here)
• Shiro-an(sweetened white bean paste) – on Amazon,here, or here's a Shortcut White Bean Paste Recipe I make when I’ve run out of Shiro An
• Koshi-an(sweetened red bean paste) – on Amazon,here
• Mung Bean paste - sweet and delightfully yellow, homemade mung bean paste is a perfect mooncake filling for those who are looking for a healthier bean paste alternative. Here's my 2-Ingredient mung bean paste recipe here

Final Tips for Making Coffee Snow Skin Mooncakes

• Pre-freeze the filling 1-2 hours before making the snow skin dough. Wrapping the filling with the dough will be so much easier (and less messier) if the filling is frozen.

See All My Mooncake Recipes HERE