5 Mochi Recipes That'll Make You Fall in Love with Chewy Desserts
Sweet rice flour is the secret behind these treats.
Teri Lyn Fisher
With more than 5 billion views and counting on TikTok, making and eating mochi at home is something everyone seems to be doing. The bite-sized Japanese cakes — traditionally made from mochiko, or sweet glutinous rice flour — come in a variety of colors and flavors, and can be stuffed with just about any filling, from ice cream and red bean paste to puddings and custards. As if that weren’t enough of a reason to make mochi from scratch, you can also use the rice flour to create one-of-a-kind hybrid treats, like mochi-stuffed cookies, cakes and doughnuts. Here are five ways to use mochi that are sure to satify any sweet tooth.
Confetti Mochi Cookies (pictured above)
Kids will love these sprinkle-studded sugar cookies. In fact, we know a lot of adults who will too. Inside each golden-brown round hides a chewy, sweet surprise — homemade confetti mochi! If you’re a bit intimidated about making mochi from scratch, this recipe is a great one to start with, since most of your mochi prep happens in the microwave. When buying the ingredients for this recipe, be sure to purchase sweet rice flour not regular rice flour — it makes all the difference! Oblong-shaped sprinkles also go a long way in making sure the colors don’t bleed through your cookie dough while the cookies are baking.
Renee Comet
Ice cream season is officially upon us! If you and yours have now grown tired of eating store-bought ice cream sandos, pops and cones, this mochi ice cream cake makes a vibrant and refreshing addition to your beat-the-heat snacking routine. The delicious dessert, which is a classic in Hawaii, features two buttery layers of coconut-flavored cake on the top and bottom and a thick layer of store-bought green tea ice cream in the center. Using sweet rice flour and coconut flakes also gives this cake the same chewy texture of traditional mochi bites, while the ice cream provides a lush creaminess. Want to put your own spin on this recipe? Go ahead and add a spoonful of cocoa or matcha powder into your cake batter before baking. You can even choose the ice cream flavor of your choice for the filling.
Not only do these mochi doughnuts from Molly Yeh taste phenomenal, but they look incredible too. The Girl Meets Farm star uses sweet rice flour two different ways to make this social media-worthy snack — once to make the doughnut starter, then again to make their batter. We’ll admit forming the treat's iconic wreath-like shape is a bit of a task, but you’ll feel so proud of yourself when you get it done! If you’re not a matcha fan, feel free to replace Molly’s earthy green glaze with this vanilla one from Ina Garten or this Dark Chocolate one from Michael Solomonov.
Teri Lyn Fisher
Like the mochi ice cream cake listed above, this butter mochi recipe is a beloved staple in Hawaii. It's pretty easy to make too. You simply whisk all your ingredients together, including whole milk, eggs, sugar, butter and an entire box of mochiko, and bake. The end result — which is very similar to a baked French toast casserole — is subtly sweet, richly dense, chewy and oh-so-delicious! The inclusion of coconut milk in the batter also gives this dessert a dreamy tropical-like taste that’ll go a really long way in taking your mind off of the heatwave outside.
These brightly colored mochi ice cream bites from Food Network Magazine are the quintessential summer treat. Not only is the recipe totally customizable — you can fill your mochi with the ice cream flavor of your choice, plus dye them whichever color you’d like — but forming them by hand is an excellent way to challenge your own culinary prowess and creativity. Don’t be too hard on yourself if your first batch of mochi ice creams comes out a little flat — they’ll taste delicious regardless.
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