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Soft and melt-in-mouth cookies with their nice distinct milky flavor are shaped into round balls and coated with icing sugar are popular celebration cookies in Malaysia and Singapore. This recipe is simple to make and eggless.
What is kuih momo?
Kuih momo/Biskut Arab susu is originated in Sarawak. They are also known as Kuih Mor in Brunei. They are made with flour, milk powder, icing sugar, ghee/butter. The dough is then rolled into balls and then baked and coated with icing sugar. They are white in color and hence the name snowball cookies.
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. You only need 5 ingredients: cake flour, ghee/butter, milk powder, icing sugar, and salt
2. The recipe is eggless
3. You don’t need to precook the flour but the cookies still give that melt-in-your-mouth texture
Ingredients
1. Cake flour
It’s important that you use cake flour, which is low in gluten. Most recipe for kuih momo requires that you stir-fry the flour. By using cake flour, you will still get that melt-in-mouth texture
2. Ghee/butter
You can use either one. I use unsalted butter
3. Milk powder
I use non-fat milk powder because that’s what is available. It is not common to find full-fat milk powder here in the U.S. But the substitution still gives good result
4. Icing sugar
It is also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar
5. Salt
A small pinch of salt really rounds up the overall taste very well
How to make kuih momo Sarawak (Eggless recipe)
1. Please make sure the butter and ghee are soft but not melting
2. Combine all ingredients for the dough. Rub the butter/ghee with the flour to resemble a wet sand texture and keep combining until you can get a dough that won’t crumble. If the dough is too dry, add more ghee/butter so you can form a dough
3. Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C) for a conventional oven and 285 F (140 C) for a convection oven. Divide the dough into about 8-10 grams each and roll into a round ball. Put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1/2 inch apart. The cookies will expand slightly but not much. If you have a problem with the cookie spreading and melting during baking, chill the cookies for 1 hour in the fridge before baking
4. Bake in a preheated oven, middle rack, for 15 minutes. The cookies won’t brown much and just lightly golden brown at the bottom. Let them cool down on the pan for 5 minutes. They are very fragile so you don’t want to handle them when they are just out of the oven. While the cookies are baking, put the milk powder in a food processor or coffee grinder to grind them up into fine texture. Combine with the icing sugar and set aside
5. Coat each cookie in the sugar and milk powder mixture and then put on a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
6. Let the cookies cool down completely and then store them in an air-tight container for 2-3 weeks
Can I make vegan kuih momo?
I have tried making this using coconut oil with some success too. Start with the same amount of coconut oil, softened or vegan ghee. I haven’t tried with vegan ghee however. You may need more to get the dough to come together. Instead of milk powder, you can use coconut milk powder, which is available at Asian grocery store.
You may also like this Kuih makmur (Malay peanut pastry)
Did you make this kuih momo recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Kuih Momo Sarawak/ Biskut Arab Susu (Snowball Cookies)
Ingredients
Cookie dough:
- 80 gr unsalted butter or ghee softened, plus more as needed
- 150 gr cake flour (low-gluten flour)
- 40 gr milk powder
- 15 gr icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
For coating:
- 50 gr icing sugar use less if you don't want it too sweet
- 25 gr milk powder
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Please make sure the butter and ghee are soft but not melting
- Combine all ingredients for the dough. Rub the butter/ghee with the flour to resemble a wet sand texture and keep combining until you can get a dough that won't crumble. If the dough is too dry, add more ghee/butter until you can form a dough
Shaping:
- Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C) for a conventional oven and 285 F (140 C) for a convection oven
- Divide the dough into about 8-10 grams each and roll into a round ball. Put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1/2 inch apart. The cookies will expand slightly but not much
- If you have a problem with the cookie spreading and melting during baking, chill the cookies for 1 hour in the fridge before baking
Baking:
- Bake in a preheated oven, middle rack, for 15 minutes. The cookies won't brown much and just lightly golden brown at the bottom. Let them cool down on the pan for 5 minutes. They are very fragile so you don't want to handle them when they are just out of the oven
- While the cookies are baking, put the milk powder in a food processor or coffee grinder to grind them up into fine texture. Combine with the icing sugar and set aside
- Coat each cookie in the sugar and milk powder mixture and then put on a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
Storing:
- Let the cookies cool down completely and then store them in an air-tight container for 2-3 weeks
6 comments
Thank you so much for this recipe. It is a keeper. Recipe is easy to follow and they really melt in your mouth. It’s a shame that I can’t post a picture here.
Hi Judy, I’m happy to know that the recipe worked out well for you! I’m so sorry that you can’t upload a photo here. I have to figure out how that out! If you are on facebook or Instagram, feel free to tag me @whattocooktoday.
I took the cookies to a networking event and it was a hit! They couldn’t believe it’s eggless. There were 2 comments that it’s too sweet. Do you think it will affect the texture if I skip sugar for the dough further and use only 20g for the coating?
I’m glad the recipe worked out for you 🙂 I personally won’t cut down the sugar for the cookie dough, because it’s not a whole lot of sugar and it’s needed so the cookies do not taste completely bland. However, you can definitely coat it with less icing sugar, I think that’s definitely the one that affects the sweetness level. I hope that helps!
Hi! Love the easy recipe however I’m not sure what I did wrong.. the cookies ‘melted’ in the oven. It tasted more crunchier than the melty texture I remembered. Help!
Hi Olivia, sorry you had trouble with the cookies. Did the dough feel really soft and can they hold the shape when you shape them into round balls? If they are too soft, perhaps you want to hold back on the ghee and also try to chill the cookie dough for one hour before baking and see if that helps.