These delicious little Vietnamese Snowballs are one of the best Asian treats I have ever had. Each snowball has a soft, sweet centre wrapped in a chewy outer layer that is covered in desiccated coconut. In this post we have included recipes for both mung bean and coconut fillings, which are easily the most popular flavours. My family’s recipe is a cheat version that is much quicker and easier than traditional methods.
Tet (lunar new year) is only a few weeks away and mum is beginning preparations for our family festivities! For those of you who don’t know, Tet is the day of celebration and more importantly li xi (red envelopes filled with lucky money). In my younger years, I remember this being very lucrative since I was part of a very big family. All you had to do was wish the adults a happy and prosperous new year in Vietnamese (this was actually a massive challenge for most of us) and you received your li xi. Easy money!
One of our little family traditions for Tet is that mum always makes these snowballs for dessert. Over the years, mum has made a few adjustments to her original recipe that has made it much quicker and simpler. One of these improvements is to cook the dough in the microwave instead of boiling it. This saves a heap of time cooking and cleaning.
Another great short cut we have included is greatly reducing the soaking time needed to prepare the dried mung beans. Many recipes online will tell you to soak overnight for best results. For me, if I have a craving for something, waiting overnight is simply not gonna cut it. So, with this method, I can make these snowballs in under an hour.
My Tips for Success
- Do not spend too much time perfecting the snowball shape. The cupcake wrappers will hide a lot of the imperfections.
- Mini cup cake wrappers work best since they won’t dwarf the snowball.
- Desiccated coconut works better then shredded. This is because they stick better to the dough and gives a more even coverage.
- I suggest having a few practice runs. After making one, cut the snowball in half to calibrate how much dough to use to evenly cover each snowball.
- This recipe will require some practice to perfect. Wrapping the dough around the filling looks easy but it is a bit fiddly.
Creating the Dough and Filling!
Other Vietnamese Cakes and Dessert Recipes
- Mung Bean Layered Pastry Cake – Banh Pia
- Rainbow Coconut Dessert – Che Suong Sa Hat Luu
- Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake – Banh Bo Nuong
- Banana and Coconut Pudding – Che Chuoi
- Vietnamese Banana and Bread Cake – Banh Chuoi
- Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice – Xoi Nuoc Dua
- Red Coconut Sticky Rice – Xoi Gac
Making the Vietnamese Snowballs!
This Recipe Features In…
Thank you SheKnows for featuring this recipe in 16 Asian Dessert Recipes You’ll Wish You Tried Sooner! Check out their article for other delicious Asian desserts.
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– Scruff
Vietnamese Snowballs – Banh Bao Chi
Ingredients
Coconut Filling (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- 80 gm desiccated coconut
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 70 gm white sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed
Mung Bean Filing (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- 100 gm dried peeled split mung bean
- 70 gm caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp canola oil, (or any neutral oil)
- candied winter melon / mut bi dao, cut into small cubes (Optional but highly recommended)(available at Asian groceries)
Dough Mixture (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- 250 gm glutinous rice flour
- 100 gm white sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp canola oil
Presentation (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- 1 cup desiccated coconut
- 24 cupcake wrappers
- black sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
Coconut Filling (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- In a fry pan on medium heat, add the desiccated coconut, salt, sugar and water. Cook and stir for 7 mins.
- Add 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour and cook for a further 3 mins.
- Turn off heat and add the vanilla extract, sesame seeds and crushed peanuts. With a spoon, combine thoroughly.
- Measure 1 heaped tsp and mold into balls with your hands. (approx 3 cm diameter)
Mung Bean Filling (approx 22- 24 balls)
- In a large bowl, soak the mung beans in boiling water for 15 minutes.
- Strain the mung beans and cook in a pot with plenty of boiling water on medium heat. Once the water starts to boil, cook for 10 minutes.
- Strain the mung beans and put back into the pot with 2 tbsp of hot water. Cook on low for another 5 minutes with the lid on. (Note 1)
- Puree the mung bean in food processor or with a rolling pin. To do it with a rolling pin, put the mung bean into a freezer bag and push out all the air. Leave the bag open and roll it with the pin until smooth. (Note 2)
- In a fry pan on medium heat add sugar, vanilla extract and oil. Combine with a spatula and cook for until the mung bean mixture is the texture of soft play-dough. This may take anywhere from 5 – 10 minutes.
- Once the filling is at the right consistency, take off the heat and allow to cool down. Once cooled put 1 heaped tsp of filling into your hands,and wrap it around a cube of candied bitter melon. Roll them into a ball with a diameter of roughly 3 cm.
Dough Mixture (approx 22 – 24 balls)
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the dough ingredients together with a whisk. The water must be warm, not hot or boiling.
- Grease the sides of the plastic microwave-safe bowl with a neutral oil and pour in the dough mixture. Cook on high for 7 minutes. (Note 3)
- With a spoon stir the dough mixture until it is uniform.
Making the Snowballs
- Prepare a small bowl of cold water and a flat plate of desiccated coconut.
- Spoon a heaped tbsp of dough mixture and lay it on the desiccated coconut. To get the dough out, use the tbsp like you would a cookie cutter and cut into the dough with the edges of spoon. Please refer to the progress pictures for help.
- Drop the filling ball on top of the dough and push it into the dough mixture.
- Wet your finger tips in the bowl of water and slowly pull the dough mixture up over the sides of the filling ball. (Note 4)
- Roll the ball in the desiccated coconut and smooth it into a sphere. Don’t worry if it is not perfect since you can hide a lot in the cupcake wrappers. (Note 5)
- Repeat until done.
Notes
- If you have accidentally burnt the mung bean, do not peel it off the bottom of the pot.
- Results can vary at this stage. Do not be alarmed if mung beans are already squishy. You will have to compensate by cooking it on the fry pan for a little longer to get the right consistency.
- Plastic bowls work best for this. Every other material tends to stick.
- If your fingers are sticking too the dough, dip them into the desiccated coconut. This step can be quite difficult and it will take you a few goes to get it right.
- If there is too much dough on the snowball, gently pull on the dough and cut off the excess with a pair of scissors. Then reseal the snowball.
Looks really yummy 🤤 Happy New Year!
Thanks Lee!
Yum 😋
Thank you Tabula!
Very pretty to look at! I’ve never tried these and they look very tempting!
So pretty to look at. I’ve never tried them and will happily do so cause they look so tempting.
I hope you do Rosemarie! Thank you for dropping by!
Thank you so much! Happy New Year to you and your family.
Thank you! And happy new years to you too!
Thank you for sharing this recipes. I love Vietnamese cakes!
You are welcome Shari!
Are there other possible fillings outside of the two you listed? If so how could I find recipes.