Healthy Purple Sweet Potato Mooncakes with Mung Bean Filling (No-Bake, Low Sugar)

These purple sweet potato mooncakes are a lighter take on the classic: a naturally sweet, vividly colored skin made from steamed purple sweet potato and glutinous rice flour, wrapped around a smooth mung bean filling. They are pressed in a mold rather than baked, so they are easy enough for a first-time mooncake maker.

Ingredients

• 400 g (14 oz) purple sweet potatoes
• 150 g (1 1/4 cups) glutinous rice flour
• 100 g (1/2 cup) split peeled mung beans
• 50 to 100 g (1/4 to 1/2 cup) sugar (use as little as you can, but do not skip it entirely or the filling will taste flat)
• 30 ml (2 tablespoons) neutral cooking oil

Instructions

1. Make the mung bean filling. Soak the mung beans in warm water for about 3 hours or overnight, until swollen. Rinse, steam until soft, then mash in a bowl or blend with a splash of water. Transfer the paste to a pan over medium-low heat, add the sugar, and stir gently until the sugar dissolves and the paste is smooth and holds together. Turn off the heat. Keep the heat low and stir gently rather than vigorously.
2. Make the sweet potato skin. Peel and rinse the sweet potatoes, steam until tender, and mash them as you did the beans. Push the mash through a sieve for an extra-smooth skin. Mix with the glutinous rice flour and the oil until you have a smooth, thick dough. Divide the skin and filling into balls in a 2:1 ratio by weight (skin is two-thirds of each mooncake, filling one-third).
3. Shape the mooncakes. Flatten a ball of skin, set a ball of mung bean filling in the center, and gently gather the skin around it into a smooth ball. Press firmly into a mooncake mold so the pattern prints evenly, then release. The mooncakes are ready to enjoy right away.