Tender fluffy mochi pancakes are crazy easy to make, mildly sweet, have a slight chew, and are gluten-free! These are so scrumptious, you're going to love them!
Mochi pancakes.
You have no idea what you've been missing.
These pancakes are soft, tender, tasty, and have a slight chew to them that makes them stand out from regular pancakes.
They're also ridiculously easy to make and gluten-free.
This is a total winner of a recipe that you are going to love!
I had never heard of mochi pancakes until my friend, Marlies, mentioned them. She was attempting to make them at home after having them on a recent Hawaiian vacation. I was intrigued by the sound of them, and she commented that I needed to help her figure this recipe out.
Who was I to turn down a challenge like this?
The Mochi Component
The mochi part of these pancakes comes from mochi flour, which is the same as glutinous rice flour, a flour that gets sticky when cooked. This flour is what contributes to the bit of chew in this pancake that makes it so good. If you were to use all glutinous rice flour, however, the pancakes would be too dense and chewy, which doesn't quite make for good pancakes. Combining it with regular rice flour gives the pancakes the perfect balance of texture.
I have seen versions where regular wheat flour was used in combination with the glutinous rice flour, but I was interested in trying it with rice flour instead which would then make them gluten-free. Bonus!
If you're interested in other recipes that use glutinous rice flour, check out my Chewy Korean Mochi QQ Balls!
Making The Pancake Batter
The glutinous rice flour and regular rice flour are combined with baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt to make up the dry component.
The wet component is made up of milk, honey, oil, and an egg yolk...which brings me to separating the egg.
The egg yolk gets mixed with the other wet ingredients which then get mixed with the dry. The separated egg white gets loosened up and frothed up a bit with a fork and set aside until later.
When the egg yolk milk mixture gets mixed with the dry ingredients, you'll end up with a slightly lumpy batter, which is totally okay.
Then you add the frothy egg white and fold it into the pancake batter.
So why add the egg white separately? Adding the egg white into the batter at the end helps make the pancakes a little fluffier than if you simply mixed the whole egg into the batter. And while there are recipes out there that tell you to whip the egg white into soft peaks, I have found that going through that effort is not necessary at all. The results are the same whether the egg whites are whipped or not...so why go through the extra work?
Cooked Up In A Jiffy
I heat my 12-inch skillet over low-medium heat and lightly grease it with some light olive oil. I then use a ¼ cup measure (not fully filled) to scoop some batter onto the pan. I can usually fit four 4" pancakes on the pan at once.
As with any other pancakes, once the bubbles start to break through the surface, it's time to flip! At this point, you only need to let it sit for no more than a minute and they are ready to remove from the pan.
Then it's time to stack and enjoy!
Like Regular Pancakes...But Better!
These pancakes are tender like regular wheat pancakes, yet they are not so flimsy that they fall apart if you pick them up with your hands. The are soft and soak up maple syrup just like regular pancakes, but they also have a bit of a chew to them, all thanks to the glutinous rice flour. They are also not as crumbly as regular pancakes, so they hold together better when you cut into them or poke them with your fork.
Oddly enough, I also don't find them as heavy as regular pancakes, and I find the flavor a lot nicer. They are delicious eaten completely on their own, or eat them the traditional way with maple syrup poured on top.
Considering I do not know what the mochi pancakes were like when my friend, Marlies, ate them during her Hawaiian holiday, I found these pancakes to be too scrumptious not to share. And again, you will not be able to tell that there is no gluten! I have made them several times in testing the recipe and they have been snarfed up so fast...my family loves them, and I know you will, too!
~ Lisa.
Easy & Delicious Mochi Pancakes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 80 g rice flour (volume measurements in Notes below)
- 80 g glutinous rice flour (volume measurements in Notes below)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tbs honey
- 2 tbs light olive oil
- 1 egg, separated
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- In bowl or measuring cup, combine milk, honey, oil or melted butter, and egg yolk. Beat well. You will end up with just under 1 cup of liquid.
- Beat egg white in separate bowl with a fork just until frothy.
- Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula. Batter will be lumpy.
- Fold egg white into batter.
- Lightly grease pan or skillet over low-medium heat.
- Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop batter onto heated pan.
- When bubbles start to break through the surface of the pancakes and bottoms are golden brown, flip.
- Heat for no more than 1 minute and remove pancakes from pan. Bottoms will brown quickly.
- Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, or whipped cream, if desired.
- Reheat leftover pancakes in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.
Notes
- If using volume measurements, 80g translates into approximately ⅔ cup. The flours were measured by loosening them up and then gently spooning into the measuring cup. Please note that weight measurements are more accurate in ensuring the right results.
- You can look for regular rice flour and mochi flour or glutinous rice flour at your local Asian market. Mochi flour is most often from Japan, glutinous rice flour from Thailand. Either will work.
- If you do not have a gluten allergy, you can try replacing the regular rice flour with all-purpose flour to mix with the glutinous rice flour.
- I add about 1 teaspoon of oil to the pan and then gently wipe out the excess with a paper towel, just so the pan is lightly greased and there is no pool of oil anywhere.
- Fancy the pancakes up by dropping a few blueberries or chocolate chips to the pancakes in the pan before you flip them.
- Leftover pancakes can be stored in a sealed bag or container on the counter for a day, or in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to soften.
- Adding 2 tbs of maple syrup to a serving of 2 pancakes adds 110 calories.
Nutrition
Shelby
Okay so I only had buttermilk handy, and I tried that. The result was... A little too fluffy? Its hard to say because they are still quite good but almost a bit gooey like this. I'm going to enjoy these and then try again with regular milk. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Shelby! Thanks for leaving a comment. I've never tried using buttermilk, so I'm not sure if it would have an effect on the pancake texture or not. I hope they work for you with regular milk!
Janet Lord
Hi Lisa, I love all your recipes. I don’t have an regular rice flour can I use any gluten free mix instead?
Thanks so much, Janet! That means a lot! For the rice flour, if you're talking about replacing both rice flours in this recipe with a gluten-free blend, then I think it's safe to say that these mochi pancakes will not turn out like the recipe intends. However, if you're just wanting a gluten-free pancake recipe and are not concerned about whether or not they have the mochi characteristic, then I would go ahead and try using the gluten-free flour. I hope that helps!
Arnold Timmerman
Great recipe. Easy to do. Definitely the mochi experience added to American-style pancakes. Thank you!
Thanks so much for making it, Arnold! I'm glad you liked them!
Alice Ma
I used a vegan chia egg replacer and added 1 TBS of matcha- absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your adjustments to the recipe, Alice! That's great that the chia egg replacer worked and matcha mochi pancakes sound awesome!
Noni
I screwed up the recipe because so they ended up tasting like cornmeal Johnny cakes. Question: I brought Red Mill rice flour and it does not say it's non gluten so can I assume IT DOES have gluten? I'm going to try to make these again because it was fun. Thank you.
Hi Noni! If you're referring to Bob's Red Mill, I believe their rice flour IS gluten-free. I would check the packaging carefully again for a GF symbol. Also, make sure that you are using both a regular rice flour and a glutinous rice flour for these pancakes. I hope they work out!
Sal
First batch made as above was too dry so I had to add extra milk. Second batch was made with 2 eggs instead and turned out great. Prefer the extra egg anyways for more protein. I had to stop my husband from eating them all so my kiddo could have more the next morning. Thanks!
That's great, Sal! Sometimes recipes don't turn out exactly the same for everyone due to various factors, and I'm glad you were able to tweak it to have them work out!