DLTK's Recipes

Contributed by Shirley. Thank you!

According to Shirley, Moon Cakes are eaten on Chinese New Years because the Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar (and the little treats look like the moon). They are also eaten as part of an autumn, harvest type celebration which falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. There are many variations of this recipe. This one is simple for the kids to help with and is desert-like. It reminds me of a cookie recipe my husband's family makes (they're German though... go figure!) The real moon cakes are far fancier and these will be, often with impressions of chinese letters on them, but I think the fact that the kids can help makes up for the less professional final product *grin*.

Easy Chinese Moon Cakes
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup strawberry (or your favorite) jam
   (traditionally red bean paste is used so
   if you want a more authentic version,
   you can use a can of red bean paste
   instead of the jam).
Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk
     and stir.
3.  Mix in the flour.
4.  Form the dough into one large ball and
     wrap it in plastic wrap.
5.  Refrigerate dough for half an hour.
6.  Unwrap the chilled dough and form small

     balls in the palms of your hand.
7.  Make a hole with your thumb in the center of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam.
8.  Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet. (We didn't have a brush to
     do this, so skipped the brushing step)
9.  Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown
10. Makes 24