9 Simple Kuih Raya Recipes For Beginners To Recreate Ramadan Bazaar Vibes At Home

Simple kuih raya recipes for Hari Raya Puasa

It’s no secret how much Singaporeans love our kuih, whether it’s the snaking queues during festivities or the countless versions of kuih-flavoured cakes and desserts. Though there’s a fair share of incredibly intricate creations, you’ll also find plenty of simple kuih (also known as kuih muih) recipes to try yourself as you whip up these sweet and savoury treats this festive season.

Show off your kuih-crafting chops with these simple kuih recipes for beginners:

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Table of Contents

Simple kuih raya recipes for Hari Raya Puasa

Why do we eat kuih raya during Hari Raya Puasa?

Enter any Muslim household during Ramadan and you’ll surely be offered kuih raya to munch on after Iftar.

Most families try to make their own kuih raya as a bonding activity. Recipes used are usually decades-old and family-owned, having been passed down from generation to generation. But the end results aren’t just to feast on. Kuih raya is often exchanged with friends and family as a gesture of goodwill.

The idea behind it comes from berkat, a Malay word meaning “blessing”. In Malay culture, it extends beyond just wishing someone well, but includes sharing your good fortune through food and drinks.

1. Ondeh Ondeh

Image credit: Singapore Food

We don’t have to wait until Ramadan is nigh to be crazy over ondeh ondeh. Replicated in everything from cakes to soft-serve, the rich and molten gula melaka filling makes it a sweet treat loved by Singaporeans of all ages.

Ingredients:

100g chopped palm sugar
100g glutinous rice flour
100g grated coconut
40g tapioca flour
20 pandan leaves
150ml water
30g sugar
1 tsp salt

Steps:

Chop pandan leaves and blend with water. Strain the mixture with cheesecloth.
Sieve glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl, and slowly knead the pandan extract into the mixture. Add more water if the dough is too dry.
Split dough into smaller balls and create an indent to be filled with palm sugar. Seal the indent with a pinch.
Cook the balls in a pot of boiling water, removing them after they’ve floated for 2 minutes.
Cool, coat with grated coconut, and serve.

Check out the full ondeh ondeh recipe

2. Kuih Lapis

Image credit: kueppersbusch

If there’s one kuih that is most likely to warrant snaking queues, it is the popular kuih lapis a.k.a ‘sweet layer cake’, a light treat that can be indulged in at any time of the day. While it requires you to painstakingly bake it layer by layer, there is no greater satisfaction than making a Bengawan Solo-level kuih.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp of condensed milk
140g of icing sugar
60g of superfine flour
20 egg yolks
340g of butter

Steps:

Line and grease a 6-inch cake tray. Preheat the oven to 200ºC
Beat the butter and condensed milk until smooth. Set aside.
Beat egg yolks and icing sugar until thick.
Add butter mixture into egg yolk mixture. Add sifted flour in 2 batches.
Turn the oven function to ‘grill’. Put the empty cake tray in for 1 minute.
Pour a small ladle (about 70g) of the batter into the tray. Spread evenly and bake for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and lather on the second layer of batter. Repeat until you have no batter left.
Cover the top of the tray with aluminium foil and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.
Cool, slice and serve.

Check out the full kuih lapis recipe

3. Kuih Dadar

Image credit: @tiffanys_tiffin via Instagram

Coconut and pandan are popular flavours when it comes to kuih, but for something unique texture-wise, kuih dadar with its supple pandan crepe casing and caramelised coconut filling might be the one for you.

Ingredients:
Coconut filling:

500g grated coconut
200g chopped palm sugar
4 knotted pandan leaves
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp water

Pandan extract:

50g pandan leaves
200ml water

Crepe batter:

500ml coconut milk
200ml pandan juice
200g all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt

Steps:

Blend the pandan leaves with water and strain into a bowl covered with a muslin cloth
Add all the ingredients for the crepe batter into a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Cook all the ingredients for the coconut filling over low heat until the grated coconut is slightly wet. Leave to cool.
Oil a pan and set the stove to medium heat. Ladle some batter onto the pan, then tilt the pan around to spread it until it’s thin and even. Cook for 30 seconds and repeat until all the mixture is used up.
Transfer the crepes to baking papers or kitchen paper towels. Add 2 spoonfuls of coconut filling in the centre and fold in a clockwise direction.
Slice and serve.

Check out the full kuih dadar recipe

4. Kuih Bahulu

Image credit: Makanan Club

Another kuih that Singaporeans go gaga over is kuih bahulu, a sweet, fluffy egg sponge cake that pairs perfectly with tea and coffee. A staple for many festivities including Ramadan, this treat only requires a few common ingredients to make.

Ingredients:

¼ tsp baking powder
5 eggs
150g wheat flour
180g sugar
Oil

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 220ºC and bake sifted flour in it for 3 to 5 minutes to get fluffy kuih bahulu.
Heat sugar until it melts.
Oil the moulds and heat for at least 5 minutes.
Whisk the eggs and add melted sugar.
Add baking powder to the flour and fold it into the egg mixture.
Remove oil from the mould, pour batter in and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
Set aside to cool and serve.

Check out the full kuih bahulu recipe

5. Kuih Seri Muka (Kuih Salat)

Image credit: Amcarmen’s Kitchen

A simple 2-layered kuih that is pretty big on aesthetics, kuih seri muka, or kuih salat as it’s also known, consists of a glutinous rice base and a pandan custard topping, with fragrant coconut milk notes that shine through.

Ingredients:
Glutinous rice layer:

400g glutinous rice
150ml coconut milk
100ml water
½ tsp salt

Custard layer:

400ml coconut milk
100ml pandan juice
50g tapioca flour
50g all-purpose flour
3 eggs
200g sugar

Steps:
Glutinous rice layer:

Soak glutinous rice for at least 4 hours.
Add coconut milk, water, salt and stir. Steam on high heat for 25-30 minutes
Oil a rectangular tray on all sides. Line the bottom of the pan, fill the tray with rice, line the top and gently press down.

Custard layer:

Whisk eggs with sugar
Gradually add in coconut milk and pandan juice while continuing to whisk.
Sift all-purpose flour and tapioca flour. Add it into the mixture and stir well.
Strain the mixture with a strainer and cook over low heat until it thickens

Steaming the kuih

Slowly pour the custard mixture over the glutinous rice layer.
Put 2 chopsticks on the 2 sides of the pot to allow the vapor to escape as you cover the pot with a lid wrapped in cloth. Steam for 30-45 minutes over medium heat.
Cool and serve

Check out the full kuih seri muka recipe

6. Kuih Talam

Image credit: Happy Dapur

We don’t blame you if you took a look at kuih talam and thought we’re repeating the recipe for kuih seri muka. But apart from the colours, the 2 kuih are quite different. With kuih talam, there’s a smooth pandan jelly layer topped with coconut milk jelly.

Ingredients:

Bottom pandan layer:

10g mung bean flour
40g tapioca flour
120g glutinous rice flour
150g granulated sugar
320ml water
½ teaspoon alkaline water
300ml pandan juice (300ml water blended with 10 pandan leaves, strained)

Top coconut layer:

50g glutinous rice flour
25g tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
250ml thick coconut milk
250ml boiling water

Steps:

Pandan layer:

In a saucepan over low heat, mix the 3 different flours together with sugar, pandan juice, and alkaline water. Whisk until it has thickened slightly. You should still be able to pour the mixture.
Pour into a pan that has been oiled and laid with parchment paper.
Steam for 20 minutes on medium high heat until layer is just set. Cover with a muslin cloth during steaming to prevent condensation from dripping into the cake.

Coconut layer:

Mix the 2 flours and salt together then pour in the coconut milk.
Gradually pour in the boiling water while whisking the batter. Make sure it’s smooth. You can also strain it if there are lumps.
Pour this over the set pandan layer and steam on medium heat for 15 minutes or until set.
Leave to cool for a couple of hours before cutting into the kuih talam. Use an oiled knife to prevent pieces from sticking together.

Check out the full kuih talam recipe

7. Tepung Pelita

Image credit: foodpanda MY Magazine

Tepung pelita definitely takes the cake for cuteness – just look at the little custards nestled in banana leaf boats. Despite its deceptively simple appearance,this kuih is actually a 2-layered custard cake with a sweet pandan and a savoury layer.

Ingredients:
Bottom layer

1 cup of rice flour
5 cups of water with 1 tbsp of lime water
1 tbsp of pandan extract
1 cup of white sugar

Top layer

1 cup of coconut milk
3 tbsp of rice flour
1 tsp of salt

Steps:

Mix all the ingredients for the bottom layer and set aside
Mix all the ingredients for the top layer and set aside
Fold banana leaves into tiny boat-like containers. In each, add 1 teaspoon of sugar before filling it ⅓ of the way with the bottom layer mixture. Steam for 15 minutes.
Then pour in the mixture for the top layer. Steam for 10 minutes.
Cool, slice and serve.

Check out the full tepung pelita recipe

8. Kuih Bakar Pandan

Image credit: @thelusciousbyamal via Instagram

Joining the bevy of Pandan-flavoured kuih is the flower-shaped kuih bakar pandan, which you can mould into a shape of your choice. Don’t mistake this as a run-of-the-mill pandan sponge cake as well – you can expect a chewy and bouncy kuih-like texture.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Marigold King of Kings evaporated milk
1 cup of coconut milk
1 cup of pandan juice
Sesame seeds
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs

Steps:

Blend all ingredients with the exception of sesame seeds
Grease molds with melted butter and pour the mixture in. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake for 30 mins at 200ºC. Cool and serve.

Check out the full kuih bakar pandan recipe

9. Kuih Sago

Image credit: Yummy Tummy

Kuih sago is a dainty and delectable treat made from sago and steeped in rose syrup for that extra perfumed oomph. Its texture is soft and chewy, complemented by the grated coconut sprinkled on top.

Ingredients:

100g sago
2 pandan leaves
Grated coconut
1 tsp rose extract
50g sugar
400ml water
Banana leaves

Steps:

Boil pandan leaves, sago, sugar, and rose extract in water until the water is fully absorbed.
Line moulds with banana leaves and pour the boiled sago inside. Steam for at least 20 minutes.
Set aside, cling wrap the moulds and then chill in the fridge for 40 mins.
Sprinkle grated coconut on the pieces and serve.

Check out the full kuih sago recipe

Make your own kuih at home with U Stars Supermarket

With Ramadan season now in full swing, now is the perfect chance to put your kuih-making skills to the test. With their 24/7 outlets and ongoing deals on groceries, make a beeline to your nearest U Stars supermarket to stock up on ingredients for your DIY kuih adventure.

With 27 outlets located in residential areas all around Singapore, those dwelling in Punggol and Bukit Panjang can take advantage of the wider choice of merchandise at the U Stars Megamarts situated in Sumang Walk and Keat Hong Link respectively.

Image credit: U Stars

U Stars will also be having a Hari Raya lucky draw from 12th April to 16th May 2021, where you can stand a chance to win up to $5,000 worth of U Stars vouchers simply by spending $30 or more in a single receipt and scanning the QR code on it.

For all the IG devotees and baking aficionados out there, don’t miss out on the #kuihliciouswithustars Instagram contest happening during the same period. All you have to do is upload a photo or video of your homemade kuihs and cookies, and share your recipe with the hashtag #kuihliciouswithustars. Better still, do the same on your Instagram story and tag U Stars Instagram page to double your chances of winning.

You’ll also have to follow @ustarssupermarket on Instagram and tag as many friends as you’d like for a chance to win $2,000 worth of prizes. These include highly sought-after appliances like a KitchenAid stand mixer, TEFAL electric oven and a Philips food steamer.

Till Hari Raya Puasa on 13th May 2021, you can also get your hands on discounted essentials whether it’s ingredients for kuih or household cleaning products. To make your Kuih Bakar Pandan, get 2 cans of Marigold King of Kings evaporated milk for just $2.95, and get a pack of Dasoon Kampung eggs at $2.95 each, an essential ingredient in most of the kuih recipes above.

Prices of products may vary, please check in-store for latest prices.

Other 2021 promotions (L-R): San Remo Pasta $1.95 each, San Remo Pasta Sauce $3.95 each, Fanta $3.80 for 3 with free 1.25L A&W, Topp congee $2.40 for 2, Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief (Smart White/ Extra Strength) $8.30 each.

Reward yourself with a well-earned treat at Joyfu Tea* conveniently located within the U Stars Keat Hong Link outlet. Bubble tea options there range from classic milk teas to one-of-a-kind seasonal creations like Nutella and Brown Sugar Katira – flavour-packed renditions of the Ramadan bazaar favourite.

While we look forward to bustling markets, light-ups and other festivities in the near future, you’ll be able to whip up a treat for friends and family with these simple kuih recipes in hand.

*Joyfu Tea at Keat Hong is now closed.

Find out more about U Stars Supermarkets

This post was brought to you by U Stars.
Promotions listed in this article may no longer be valid.
Originally published on 27th April 2021. Updated by Raewyn Koh on 6th April 2024.
Cover image adapted from: Singapore Food, kueppersbusch, puchong.co

Megan Khoe