These butter mochi bites are delightfully chewy, mildly sweet, and just oh-so-good! They are wonderful with a cuppa coffee or tea and taste even better the next day. Super easy to make and gluten-free!
If you love mochi, you're going to love this latest recipe!
A reader asked me if I could develop a healthier Hawaiian butter mochi recipe after she tried my Chewy Matcha Mochi Bites recipe. Little did she know that I was already working on a butter mochi recipe, and her request only motivated me to finish it!
What Is Butter Mochi?
Butter mochi is a Hawaiian sweet treat that is kind of like a brownie/blondie but with a chewy gelatinous texture. It is made with glutinous rice flour and is totally gluten-free.
I had actually never had it prior to working on this recipe, so I looked on the web and tried Onolicious Hawaii's Butter Mochi recipe to get my starting point. It baked up beautifully and tasted really nice...I was very impressed. However, it was much too sweet for me and my family.
So on I went to develop a healthier butter mochi recipe that, while it is not exactly the same as Hawaiian butter mochi, it's still mighty good in its own right!
How Do You Make Them?
These butter mochi bites come together incredibly quickly...you'll be shocked how easy it is!
The wet ingredients components is made up of melted butter, coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and an egg. Whisk these together until well combined.
The dry ingredients component for the butter mochi is simply glutinous rice flour and baking powder. These get added to the wet ingredients and whisked together until smooth.
Pour or scoop the mochi batter into a butter-greased muffin tin, dividing the batter among 6 cups. If you want to make a full muffin tray's worth, simply double this recipe. I make only 6 at a time so that they get eaten while they are at their best, which is 2-3 days.
While it may seem like a good idea, do not tap the the muffin tin on the counter. I tried this, thinking that tapping out the any air bubbles would be a good thing. But oddly enough, it completely changed how these mochi bites baked up. The taste was fine, but they didn't look as nice as the times I left it alone.
Bake them for 20 minutes at 375F/190C and you will see them puff up into round mushroom-looking shapes with lovely crinkles. Once you take them out of the oven, however, they will start to sink and that is totally what you want! Let them sink and then let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
Flavor and Texture
These butter mochi bites have a slight cookie type crust encasing the chewy goodness inside on the first day you bake them.
Let them sit overnight and the crust softens, the cracks in the crust seem to disappear, and the crust almost becomes one with the mochi inside. You have to try one on the day you bake them and another the day after and see which you like better, but they are both delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Butter mochi can be kept in a container at room temperature for about 2-3 days before you notice the texture drying out and them becoming not as soft.
No, regular rice flour is completely different and will not work with this recipe. You have to make sure you are using glutinous rice flour which is the same as sweet rice flour (it is not sweet). Mochiko is a well-known sweet rice flour brand, but there are also many other Asian brands that work.
Yes, you can, but it will taste slightly different.
Yes, you can. It may affect the texture and taste slightly, but it would work. Since you are reducing the overall liquid in the recipe, though, you would need to add 2-3 tablespoons more of coconut milk to make sure the batter is the right consistency.
Yes. While it may affect the texture and coloring, you can use regular milk, evaporated milk, non-dairy milks, or even water.
Enjoy them with an English tea latte or a soothing ginger tea. I'll have one for breakfast sometimes...and they're nice for dessert, too. Once you try it, it's hard to stop at just one!
If you are interested in more mochi recipes, check out my Matcha Mochi Bites, Mochi Pancakes, or Cheesy Korean Mochi QQ Balls. These recipes and this healthier butter mochi show how gluten-free CAN be totally delicious and a treat to eat!
~ Lisa.
Watch How To Make It!
Recipe
Chewy Butter Mochi Bites
Ingredients
- 140 grams glutinous rice flour (see Recipe Notes below)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375F/190C.
- In a bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour and baking powder. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a 1-quart measuring cup or medium-sized bowl, add the melted butter, maple syrup, egg, vanilla extract, and coconut milk. Whisk together to mix well.
- Add the rice flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk together until there are no lumps.
- Grease 6 cups of your muffin tin with butter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the 6 greased muffin cups.
- Bake for 20 minutes. (Mochi bites will be puffed up and rounded when they come out of the oven, but will slowly sink which is exactly what you want!)
- Let cool 10 minutes before removing from the tin, then let cool completely on a rack.
- Store in an airtight container on the counter and enjoy within 2-3 days for best texture.
Notes
- Glutinous rice = sweet rice flour
- Mochiko is a well-known brand of sweet rice flour, but there are many brands out there that will work.
- Do not use regular rice flour because it will not give you the right chewy texture.
- The crust on the mochi will soften the next day after baking.
- You can refrigerate the mochi, but be sure to bring it to room temperature again before eating it or you can warm it slightly in the microwave to soften it.
- Top your mochi with shredded coconut, if desired.
Thanks for stopping by! If you make this dish or any of my other recipes, I would love it if you could take the time to comment and rate it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Bella says
Hi!
Can I make these in a mini muffin tin? How long should I bake for?
Thanks for the question, Bella! I have never tried making them in a mini muffin tin, but I would suggest checking them at 15 minutes.
Patty says
Hello,
If I wanted to add homemade pandan juice, would it be feasible? If so what do you suggest?
Thank you,
Patty
Hi Patty! I'm not exactly sure how they would turn out if you added pandan juice, and I also don't know how much to add since I've never used it before. Perhaps you could try substituting a portion of the coconut milk with pandan juice and see how it turns out? That would be my suggestion. Thanks for the question, and please let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
Patty says
Hi Lisa,
They turned out absolutely delicious. My kind of dessert, not too sweet. I am going to dry fresh pandan leaves, grind them, incorporate the powder into the recipe, and see how they turn out. Would substituting butter for clarified butter alter the finished product?
Thank you.
Hi Patty! Thanks for reporting back! I'm so glad they turned out? How did you incorporate the pandan juice? Did you substitute any of the coconut milk? I do not think substituting the butter with clarified butter would make any difference, but I cannot speak definitively on that. Again, if you give that a try, please share your results!
Mica says
Could I substitute a different milk? Soy milk or regular milk maybe?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Mica! Yes, you can use regular milk, evaporated milk, soy milk, etc. Note that any of these may affect the texture and coloring. Thanks for the question!
Mica says
Oh wonderful! Thanks Lisa! I really appreciate your quick response 😀
Lianet says
Do you have to use glutinous rice flour or can it be a regular flour?
Hi Lianet! Yes, it must be glutinous rice flour. Regular rice flour won't create the chewy sticky texture that glutinous rice flour does. Thanks for the question!
Caroline says
Am I able to put this in a sheet pan instead of muffin tins?
Hi Caroline! Sure, you can definitely try and see how they turn out. I'm not sure about baking time, but since it's a bigger area, I would probably try 25 minutes. Thanks for the question, and please report back if you try it!
Bri says
I made these and they turned out great!! I’m wondering about other flavours though. I thought of doing an earl grey one by steeping the coconut milk with an earl grey tea bag first or doing a matcha one but does anyone have any other ideas? I’m not a big Fan of flavour extracts because they often taste fake.
Hi Bri! Thanks so much for trying the recipe and leaving a comment! Steeping Earl Grey tea bags in the coconut milk sounds like a delicious idea! I have matcha and chocolate mochi bites...similar to this recipe, but not exactly the same...I find them al delicious! Search for "mochi" on my blog and you'll come up with the recipes.
Lisa says
This was so easy and so good. Instead of making 6 muffin tin size Mochi, I used the mini muffin tin and made 21 mini size. Perfect snack size for work.
Hi Lisa! Oh a mini muffin tin to get more mochi bites is a great idea! Thanks for making the recipe and for sharing the tip!
Lady Juju says
Traditional mochi butter has a ton of calories and fat, so I appreciate this recipe that is healthier and portion controlled. Just one question, salted or unsalted butter?
Hi there! Thanks for the question! I use unsalted butter and have updated the recipe to specify that. I hope you like the mochi bites!
Lady Juju says
Thanks! Tried it and love it!
Fabulous! I'm so happy that you liked the recipe! Thanks so much for reporting back!
Dana says
My husband's family is from Singapore and his favorite dessert is mochi. But as a T1 Diabetic, I just can't bring myself to work with that much sugar! I'm not familiar enough with the structure of rice flour desserts to cadge my own recipe together, either. Thanks for doing the hard work and making this recipe available, we're really looking forward to trying it!
Thanks for your message, Dana! I hope you and your husband like the recipe and that with the reduced amount of sugar, it works out okay for him. Let me know how it goes!
Sharon says
These little bites look so delicious! I love that they are relatively low in sugar too. Isn't it funny how something like a little tap on the counter can make such a difference? Baking truly is a science.
Thanks, Sharon. Yes baking is totally a science...I don't think I ever enjoyed science as much when I took it in school! 😉
Colleen says
I love the idea of a less sweet mochi and I love the texture on these. They look delicious!
Thanks, Colleen!
Vanessa says
What a fun texture! Love the simple ingredient list as well:)
Yes, it's so easy to make!
Amyg says
Never heard of Mochi before, but by the sounds of this it looks absolutely decadent. Pinned for later and definitely on my to bake list!
If you like chewy, this might be for you, Amy! I hope you like it!
nancy says
i love mochis and this is a lovely base recipe! i can't wait to try this out!
I love a good mochi. 🙂
Bernice says
Love the texture on the mochi. I'm with you, I find regular mochi way too sweet so I'm glad you switched the recipe up.
Thanks, Bernice!