Mix honey, alkaline water, and oil until combined. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes
Shape the dough:
Preheat oven to 375 F (190C) for conventional oven (bottom heat only). If you have top and bottom heat oven, you may want to lower the heat to 350 F (180 C)
Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. The dough shouldn't be sticky anymore. It feels greasy, and that's normal. Portion the dough out into about 25 grams each. You can make bigger one too if you prefer, it's up to you. Roll into smooth round ball and then just gently flatten slightly with your palm and decorate with 2-3 pumpkin seeds if you choose to do so
If you have the mooncake biscuit mould, you are certainly welcome to use it. Just dust the mould with some cake flour and tap out any excess. Dust the dough ball with some flour too and remove excess. Put into the mould cavity and genly press to fit into the mould. Turn the mould on its side and gently tap to knock out the dough from the mould
Arrange the shaped biscuits on the parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. They will just expand slightly in the oven
1st baking:
Put in the middle rack and bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes (DO NOT skip this step)
After that, use a soft bristle brush and very gently brush a thin layer of egg wash on top of the biscuits. Use the brush to remove any excess egg wash if you use a mould to imprint some pattern on the biscuits so the pattern won't be blurry after baking. Too much egg wash will blur the pattern
2nd baking:
Put the tray back into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Keep in mind that the biscuits will darken further after they cool down and after you age them for few days
Cool down:
Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely
Age the biscuits:
Similar to traditional baked mooncakes, you DO NOT want to consume the biscuits on the same day they are made. They will be dry and won't taste as good yet
After the biscuits have cooled down completely, transfer to an air-tight container and let them age for 2-3 days to soften
How to store:
The biscuits can be kept at room temperature in an air-tight container for about a week.