I have a confession to make: I used to dislike mochi. I didn’t HATE it, but I disliked the stretchy and strangely doughy texture of it.
However, mochi is one of my favorite foods now. What changed my opinion? It could’ve been the pillowy soft, perfectly sticky mochi I had in Hawaii. It could’ve been it simply growing on me since the rest of my family had a deep love for mochi. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure what it was, but what I do know is that ever since I started to love mochi, I have been constantly incorporating it into my baking.
Mochi waffles, mini mochi cakes, mochi cookies, mochi pancakes, even mochi babka… I think I’ve proven that I do have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with mochi. But overall, one of my absolute favorite mochi bakes has to be butter mochi. I tried several butter mochi recipes, but none had the same creamy yet chewy inside and crisp coconut crust as the kitchn’s butter mochi, which is why my recipe is based on it.
These ube butter mochi bars are even better on the second day, when they develop an addictive chew as they sit. They have that gorgeous purple hue that is truly striking in appearance, and they are extremely easy to make.
tips for success
- Use finely shredded coconut – finely shredded coconut creates a crispier and addictive crust. On the other hand, shredded coconut with bigger flakes will result in a chewier crust.
- Let the butter mochi fully cool after it’s out of the oven – this is a KEY step for cleaner cuts. It typically takes a couple hours, but I promise it’s worth the wait! If you cut into it while it’s still warm, it will be very sticky and messy. I find that butter mochi gets chewier the longer it sits out of the oven, so when I make butter mochi for a party, I make it the day before.
Obsessed with ube? Then you should try my white chocolate stuffed ube cookies! They’re soft, sweet, and have a little surprise.
ube butter mochi
makes one 8 by 8 pan | adapted from the kitchn’s butter mochi
ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (225 grams) sweet rice flour (Mochiko)
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons ube halaya (purple yam jam – can be found at a local Filipino supermarket), optional
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ube extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (190 grams) coconut milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8 baking pan with parchment, and using butter or a butter wrapper, grease the pan. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, brown the butter. If you’ve never made brown butter before, here’s how: melt the butter over medium-high heat. Continuously stir the butter with a silicone spatula (this is key – just keep stirring so it doesn’t burn!). The butter will ‘sizzle’ and eventually foam. Keep stirring until you see several brown specks form in the butter (this takes a couple minutes). When the sizzling dies down, the butter is done. Pour the brown butter into a separate small bowl and let it cool until room temperature.
- In a large bowl, whisk the rice flour/mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and kosher salt together until well combined. In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk the whole milk, 2 eggs, ube halaya (if using), ube and vanilla extract together until well combined. Whisk all of the wet ingredients (in the medium-sized bowl) into the dry ingredients (in the large bowl) until thoroughly combined. Add the brown butter and coconut milk, and whisk together until smooth (don’t be shy when mixing here – rice flour doesn’t have gluten, and butter mochi is supposed to be dense anyways!).
- Pour into the prepared baking pan, and gently tap the pan on the counter a few times (to get rid of air bubbles). Generously sprinkle on the shredded coconut.
- Bake for 50 minutes, until the butter mochi is set and the coconut crust on top is a deep, golden brown. Let cool completely (this is key if you want clean edges!), and cut into squares of your desired size. Enjoy!
- Butter mochi can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature.
These look amazing – I love the vibrant purple color from the ube and the textural contrast with the toasted coconut on top. Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Your comment made my day! 🙂
My mouth was watering while reading this.
Beautiful description and photo!
Thank you so much!!
I have made the butter mochi, and it was excellent already. But your recipe with the ube!! Ooh la la, that has my name on it. Will have to double the recipe though.
Thanks for this recipe! It’s right up my alley and I will be making it for a coworker’s going-away party next week. She just told me she doesn’t like shredded coconut though, so I will be omitting it this time around. What would you suggest as an alternative top layer? Thanks again!
Hi there! You could possibly substitute finely chopped almonds, turbinado sugar, or even possibly finely chopped white chocolate for the shredded coconut on top. Thank you for your support, and let me know how it goes! 🙂
Thanks for your suggestions. I ended up going with finely chopped pistachios! Looks great with the contrasting colours. I can’t wait to bring them to the office tomorrow. 😋
This looks great! If I didn’t have ube extract, could I omit it and make plain butter mochi by replacing with more vanilla extract? Thanks!
Hi Lily! You are exactly right. To just make plain butter mochi, you can omit the ube extract and ube halaya and replace it with an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, to make a total of 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 🙂 . Happy baking!
Absolutely love your baking! The ube mochi recipe was AMAZING!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for trying out the recipe!
I made the ube butter mochi today and it turned out so good! Thanks for posting this recipe!
Ahh love the recipe! Just curious, would I be able to sub the whole milk for a different milk, like something lactose free?
Hi Gabby! The butter mochi will not turn out the same, but you could try replacing the whole milk with additional coconut milk or even possibly oat milk. Let me know how it turns out if you end up making a substitution!