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 1/4 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 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tbs honey
- 2 tbs light olive oil
- 1 egg, separated
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 1/4 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.
Equipment Used
Notes
- If using volume measurements, 80g translates into approximately 2/3 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 tsp 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
You might also like:
-
- Easy Oh-So-Good Gluten-Free Bagels
-
- Cheesy Korean Mochi QQ Balls
-
- Fluffy Grain-Free Triple Almond Pancakes
Just to start off with, this is not a negative review about the recipe. However….
If there’s one thing that annoys me more than a failed recipe it’s the fake reviews, the people who give 5 stars when they haven’t even tried the recipe. That is where your rating comes from, so your rating is not true.
Aside from that, and having to try a recipe that it is obvious maybe 1 person has actually tried and rated true, I am always looking for new ways to use Mochiko rice flour. Recently, I have been in the process of tweaking a recipe I have created for pliable gluten free wraps using rice flour and mochiko.
When I saw this recipe I was instantly intrigued.
I tried it, the only thing I did different was add 1 tbsp of oil because my body can’t digest oil (no gallbladder) I’ll probably omit that entirely next time. And I used maple syrup instead of honey, since honey turns into a carcinogen when heated. I fluffed the egg white with a whisk.
My batter was Quite thick. Not like yours, or how yours looks in the pan. See, all rice flour is different. some absorbs water more heavily than others. Anyhow, I just ended up with thicker pancakes. My batter was never lumpy, either.
I really like this recipe, it’s going into my cookbook notebook. You are great for putting this recipe up, as I have never heard of these pancakes before. They really soak up syrup nicely too. All in all, I give it five stars for the ease of making it, and five stars because MOCHIKO! Thank you!
Thanks for your comments. I’m glad you liked it!
I know that you mentioned in the notes that 80g rice flour is 2/3cup, but isnt it actually 1/2cup?
Rice flour is measured differently from all-purpose flour:
AP Flour 1 cup = 120g
Rice Flour 1 cup = 160g
It really depends on how much the flour is compacted in the cup and there can be a lot of variance. As I mentioned in the notes, I came up with 2/3 cup by loosening up the flour and gently spooning into the cup. However, I have to stress that using the weight measurements in the recipe is the best and most accurate way to get the right results. Thanks for your question, Tina.
Thank you for this recipe! Is it possible to substitute almond flour for the rice flour? We live in Hawaii and my daughters love anything mochi! Looking
forward to trying it. Aloha!
Aloha, Jo! I don’t know how substituting almond flour for the rice flour would work. I suppose you could try just substituting the regular rice flour and not the glutinous rice flour, but you may also end up with a heavier pancake. If you try it, let me know!
How much oil did you use?
I use about 1 teaspoon of oil and then gently wipe out the excess with a paper towel, just so the pan is lightly greased.
Thank you for sharing! I know exactly which pancakes your friend had and I can’t wait to try this recipe! Is glutinous rice flour the same as mochiko? Thank you!
Yes, mochiko and glutinous rice flour are the same. I hope you like the pancakes!
This were wonderful, just sweet enough and with that wonderful chewy, elastic texture. They soaked up the maple syrup, but didn’t go soggy which is great. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I’m so glad you liked them!
Wow, what a great gf version of pancakes! Great flavour and texture, thanks!
Thanks, Sabrina!
I am so excited to try these pancakes – I’ve never cooked with mochi flour before but love the idea of a slightly chewy pancake.
Please do give them a try, Yvonne! The mochi flour gives just a slight amount of chew…and if you like a bit more, you can always slightly increase the proportion of mochi flour to regular rice flour in the recipe!
I’m making these pancakes for next weekend, and can’t wait. They are so fluffy, and delicious looking. Mochi flour is new to me and I’m so excited to give it a try. Thanks, Lisa!
Thanks, Colleen! I hope you like them! I plan to make them for breakfast this weekend, too!
what a great idea to add mochi to the batter mix! just like mochi muffins!
so fluffy and chewy
Okay, now I don’t know about mochi muffins! I’m going to have to look those up, Nancy!
We have to try these pancakes! Pinned the recipe! They are beautiful and look so fluffy and delicious! The use of mochi flour is genius! Thanks!
Thanks, Nicoletta! Yes, who knew mochi flour could be such a great ingredient for pancakes?