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Home » Recipes » Dessert » Cupcakes & Muffins

Coconut Mochi

By Trang Doan - Jan 14, 2015 (updated Jan 1, 2018) - This post may contain affiliate links.

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Coconut Mochi are chewy little treats made with sweet rice flour and coconut milk. They are similar to the Hawaiian butter mochi but lighter in flavor.
Coconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.comThis… my friends… is the easiest and one of my most favorite treats! Leave these out for Ryan or my mom and they will be gone in just a blink of an eye. And I just love the size of them; cute tiny little treats that you can eat in one bite, who doesn’t like that? You’ll notice that the measurement in this recipe is a little funky. The original recipe came from one of Ryan’s aunts. She makes hundreds of these during the holidays, so I scaled it down into one small batch in case you don’t want a hundred coconut mochi hanging out in the kitchen… although that can’t be a bad thing!

Coconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.comCoconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.comMochi is a Japanese rice cake made with sweet rice (a short grain glutinous rice) which I also love and can talk about in a whole other post! So as the name suggested, this treat is made with coconut and sweet rice flour. Now make sure you get sweet rice flour and not just any rice flour. There are many different types of rice, and the one you want is SWEET RICE or GLUTINOUS RICE. I usually get Mochiko, which you can buy at any Asian market for just over a dollar. While you’re there, pick up a can of Coconut Milk too, any brand will do. These ingredients will be a whole lot cheaper at the Asian market.

Coconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.comThese coconut mochi are also gluten free! No, I’m not jumping on the gluten free train, rice flour just happens to be naturally gluten free 🙂 . And coconut… I’m friggin’ Asian! We already have a thing for coconut right out of the womb. I love coconut, I drink the water and eat the flesh, but I still wouldn’t cook with coconut oil… it’s not necessary for all my food to smell like coconut. Or coconut ice cream… I dunno, yeah sure it’s a dairy free alternative but they should just have one flavor, COCONUT! We tried it for Ryan cuz of his lactose intolerance; I prefer the real thing even if I have to make it with lactose free milk! Somebody please make lactose free cream!

Coconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.comOMG that was so totally off topic, let’s just get to the recipe now! Happy baking!

Coconut Mochi Recipe

Coconut Mochi | wildwildwhisk.com

Coconut Mochi

Coconut Mochi are chewy little treats made with sweet rice flour and coconut milk baked in mini muffin tins. They are similar to the Hawaiian butter mochi but lighter in flavor. 
4.84 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cupcakes, Dessert
Cuisine: Hawaiian, Japanese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 20
Calories: 56kcal
Author: Trang

Ingredients

  • 3.2 oz by weight of Mochiko (½ cup + 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon)
  • ½ teaspoon rounded baking powder
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter – melted
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Extra butter or nonstick spray for pan

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Spray a mini cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush with some melted butter. Mop up excess and set aside.
  • In a small bowl, add mochiko, sugar and baking powder, whisk around to combine.
  • In a medium bowl, add egg, coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla, whisk to combine.
  • Add the mochiko mixture to the liquid mixture and whisk until smoothly combined, you will get a thin batter.
  • Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each cupcake cavity of the prepared pan, the batter will be enough to fill 20.
  • Bake in the middle of the oven for 13 – 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before removing the coconut mochi from the pan.
  • Use a butter knife to loosen the coconut mochi from the side of the cupcake cavity and lift it out.
  • Store in an air tight container, consume within the week.

Notes

  • If you have a scale, measure 3.2 oz or 90 g of Mochiko (or sweet rice flour) for the recipe. If you don't have a scale, you can use the volume equivalent measurement of ½ cup + 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon.

Nutrition

Serving: 19g | Calories: 56kcal
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I love hearing how it went! Leave a comment below and rate it. Mention @WildWildWhisk or tag #WildWildWhisk on Instagram.
Coconut Mochi are chewy little treats made with sweet rice flour and coconut milk. They are similar to the Hawaiian butter mochi but lighter in flavor. | wildwildwhisk.com
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Comments

  1. Kekoa

    April 17, 2022 at 1:30 am

    4 stars
    First time making coconut mochi so I’m glad I found your recipe. I found a ziplock of young coconut meat in our freezer – leftovers from a backyard ‘nut husking adventure with our grandsons last fall, I’m guessing – and didn’t want to waste it, and coconut mochi came to mind. I ran the “spoon meat” through a processor and was able to strain out exactly one cup of creamy liquid, which I used in place of canned coconut milk for a double batch following your recipe. I don’t have any mini muffin tins, so I used full-sized muffin pans, filling 18 molds with 2 tablespoons of batter each. Turned out great! Had to adjust baking time to account for larger pans, etc., so I watched the edges brown and the discs rise and pulled them out after about 27 minutes. Discs popped out easily once cooled and began disappearing immediately. Thank you for sharing this recipe, and for including the helpful comments and replies from other bakers.

    Reply
    • Trang Doan

      April 22, 2022 at 3:32 pm

      Thank you for your wonderful review Kekoa! I’m so glad you like the recipe and I love all the details you listed for the changes you made, they would help other readers so much!

      Reply
  2. Clare

    November 28, 2021 at 1:46 am

    Hi Trang! 😉
    When I baked the mochi cupcakes, I noticed there were lots of bubbles around the cupcakes…it’s like they were drenched in butter…and when they came out from the oven, the bottom of the cupcakes were wet…not crunchy 🙁 Do you know what I did wrong? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Trang Doan

      November 30, 2021 at 6:57 am

      Hi Clare, I’m not so sure but it sounds like maybe they weren’t well mixed? This rice flour doesn’t have gluten so you don’t have to worry about overmixing the batter, make sure to mix it well until smooth. If the bottom is wet, it could be too much moisture. Perhaps one of your measurements was off?

      Reply
      • clare

        December 05, 2021 at 2:19 am

        Hi Trang,
        thanks for your reply! I did make sure there were not lumps in my batter and I followed all the measurements. 🙁 The mochi cupcakes came out very oily. The bottom were wet with butter (need to blot them with kitchen towel) . Also, my mochi cupcakes were like baking in a pool of butter…oh my..

        Reply
        • Trang Doan

          December 07, 2021 at 7:47 am

          I’m sorry Clare, I’m not sure how that happens. I bake these every year so it’s really strange to me to hear this. Plus there is only 1 tablespoon of butter in the recipe for flavor, that’s only a small slab of butter for 20 small cupcakes, so I don’t know how they would be sitting in a pool of butter. Are you sure you use the correct measurement for butter?

          Reply
          • clare

            December 13, 2021 at 9:56 pm

            no worries! I’ll give it a try again! not sure if it’s because I oiled the pan too much.. last question..do all the ingredients need to be at room temperature? thank you so much for your help! 😉

          • Trang Doan

            December 14, 2021 at 7:49 am

            Yes, room temperature. Let me know how it goes the next time. Hopefully it will work out 🙂

    • Georgia Blue

      February 01, 2022 at 6:27 am

      It actually sounds like it might not be done baking – perhaps it would be help to try leaving in longer. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but usually when making butter mochi I only take it out of the oven once the edges start to come apart from the pan or are really nice and brown.

      Ovens can be quite different from another, so it would account for the difference considering you were meticulous in following the recipe.

      Reply
  3. Amy Li

    April 18, 2021 at 2:00 pm

    5 stars
    I love this recipe! I just made it and it turned out great! I added a dash of black sesame seeds on top of the mochi batter before putting them in the oven. I baked them at 375F for 14 minutes. I actually scooped 21 mini cupcakes instead of 20 mini cupcakes from your recipe. The sides of the coconut mochi turned out golden in color and there weren’t much crumbs when I did the toothpick check in the center of the mochi. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

    Reply
  4. JACKELIN SLACK

    April 14, 2021 at 5:10 pm

    So tasty, Trang! I doubled the recipe because I knew they would be popular. My only change was that I used 1/2 the amount of sugar. I made sure to lightly push the batter into the cups to avoid of any air pockets that others experienced, and that seemed to do the trick. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
  5. Milli

    October 03, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    Is it possible to add fruit to this recipe?

    Reply
    • Trang

      October 05, 2020 at 6:41 am

      I think fruits might release too much juice making it too watery when baked.

      Reply
    • Kal

      November 13, 2021 at 1:51 pm

      Hi! I don’t think you should add fruit to the batter itself due to fruit releasing stuff that makes it watered down but maybe add it on top some pineapple on top sounds really good lol 🙂

      Reply
  6. Priscilla

    July 28, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    Hi! Thank you for this simple yet tasty recipe! Everyone loved it! The only problem I had was after taking them out of the oven, they all deflated and sunk in. What is the reason for that?

    Reply
    • Trang

      July 29, 2020 at 8:52 am

      Hi Priscilla, did you beat the batter too much? I haven’t run into this issue personally but I do see pictures from readers sometimes and noticed this. I usually make this recipe by hand and not in a mixer or electric mixer. Make sure to use good baking powder, one that hasn’t expired yet.

      Reply
  7. Angelique

    May 15, 2020 at 3:11 pm

    5 stars
    If I were to add 1 can of evaporated milk how much of rice flour should I add?

    Reply
    • Trang

      May 15, 2020 at 6:00 pm

      Hey Angelique, this is a really big modification to the recipe and unfortunately, I can’t really give you an exact answer. When you change the liquid ratio, you also need to change how much eggs to add because the eggs bind the ingredients together, the amount of sugar, and other additional ingredients. Without testing this, I don’t know what else will need to change. But my Hawaiian Butter Mochi uses evaporated milk and coconut milk, it’s made in much larger quantity, maybe this would be more in line with what you’re looking for.

      Reply
  8. Sarah

    May 04, 2020 at 2:19 am

    Hi! Look forward to trying this! Do you use the canned coconut milk which is thick and very coconuty or the more watery coconut Luik that comes in half gallon containers and is more watery?

    Reply
    • Trang

      May 04, 2020 at 8:28 am

      HI Sarah, I use canned coconut milk.

      Reply
      • G

        August 22, 2021 at 2:26 pm

        Made it but it deflated too. Plus it formed a meringue like crust on top. It was good but didn’t look the same as yours. It was also sticky that you cant really take it out clean on the parchement paper. Any idea what i did wrong? The egg i used was straight from the fridge.

        Reply
        • Trang Doan

          August 22, 2021 at 3:39 pm

          Sounds like you may have too much liquid or not enough flour. Sometimes when you measure with measuring cup, it can give different weight. If you have a scale, try to use the weight measurement for the flour (3.2 oz or 91 grams). I don’t usually use paper liner for these, I just butter the cupcake pan really well and use a butter knife to loosen them. They are stickier than your regular cupcakes because of the sweet rice flour, so it’s normal for them to stick to the paper if you use liner.

          Reply
  9. Robin Krieger

    January 25, 2020 at 2:01 pm

    I love this mochi recipe and am so glad to have found it. thank you. Yes they are chewy and the added baking powder lightens the texture so they are a softer chewy than regular. I adjust the amount of sugar for my desired sweetness. Often I use coconut sugar. I love the flavor of coconut milk, eggs, ghee and vanilla. I delight in the custard flavor in something I can hold in my fingers!

    Reply
    • Trang

      January 26, 2020 at 4:40 pm

      Thanks Robin, I’m glad you like these!

      Reply
      • Dawn

        March 16, 2021 at 8:02 pm

        5 stars
        I’ve made these multiple times! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My 10 year old son requests this all the time. My 12 year old niece just requested I make this for her birthday party. I’ve followed this to the “T” and comes out perfect every single time.

        Reply
  10. noosh

    January 14, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    can i make this in a tray instead? i don’t own a muffin pan

    Reply
    • Trang

      January 14, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      One batch will probably fit in a 9″x5″ loaf pan, but too small for an 8″x8″ square pan, you might want to double the recipe if using a bigger pan. The baking time will need to be increased when you baking in a tray, 20 – 30 minutes, possibly, but watch your oven and check doneness with a toothpick.

      Reply
      • Jade

        March 22, 2021 at 2:23 pm

        4 stars
        I’ll have to try again, my first attempt I think the baking powder was old or the coconut milk wasn’t right. Do you mix the thick stuff in the canned coconut milk back into the liquid before adding it to the recipe?

        Still delicious♡

        Reply
        • Trang Doan

          March 23, 2021 at 3:20 pm

          Yes, you have to shake the can to make sure the cream and the water in the coconut milk are completely mixed before using.

          Reply
          • Stefsnir

            June 13, 2021 at 4:52 am

            Hey Trang,

            can I also use not sweetend riceflour?

            Whats the difference?

            Thank you!

          • Trang Doan

            June 13, 2021 at 3:52 pm

            Hi Stefsnir, sweet rice flour is a type of rice flour, it is made from glutinous rice or sticky rice. It’s not the same as regular rice flour. If you have ever had Thai mango sticky rice, that’s the rice that sweet rice flour is made from. It gives that chewy texture when baked in this recipe. Make sure when you buy rice flour, look for Mochiko, or sweet rice flour, or glutinous rice flour in the name and packaging.

  11. Carine

    September 14, 2019 at 9:13 pm

    They are currently in the oven and as i started cleaning up the bench i found the melted butter… hopefully they’ll still turn out ok. If not, try again.

    Reply
    • Trang

      September 15, 2019 at 9:21 pm

      How did they turn out Carine? I hope still delicious!

      Reply
  12. Julie Lee

    August 21, 2019 at 9:18 pm

    Does “3.2 oz 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon of Mochiko (sweet rice flour)” mean 3.2 oz AND 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of Mochiko? Or is is 3.2 oz OR 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of Mochiko?
    Can’t wait to try to make these!

    Thanks! 🙂

    Reply
    • Trang

      August 22, 2019 at 7:37 pm

      If you have a scale, measure out 3.2 oz by weight, OR use the cup/tbsp/tsp measurement if you don’t have a scale. Let me know how it turns out 🙂

      Reply
  13. AT

    May 12, 2019 at 9:53 am

    Hi! These look SO delicious. I started making them this morning, but I noticed in the oven just now that they started cracking and puffing up. Any thoughts on why this happened?

    Reply
    • Trang

      May 12, 2019 at 2:03 pm

      Hi there, that sounds like not enough liquid, wondering if you may have added too much flour?

      Reply
  14. Tee

    November 04, 2018 at 5:37 am

    Hi! I’m thinking of making these in bulk for the holidays and am wondering if you have Ryan’s aunt’s original recipe? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Trang

      November 04, 2018 at 2:00 pm

      Hi Tee, I’m so sorry I don’t have the original recipe anymore. I haven’t made that particular one for years. I usually just double or triple this recipe for the holidays since I usually make tons of other things. But if you want to use the entire box of mochiko which is typically 16 oz, just multiply all the rest of the ingredients by 5! I believe that’s about how I scale it up and down. Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any trouble with it.

      Reply
  15. Kalena

    April 22, 2018 at 5:12 am

    Thanks for the butter mocha/Babinka nod for us in Hawaii. Will try these like the individual bite size servings. But as an FYI you can try Nutiva organic steam pressed coconut oil. It has a higher flash point to organic cold pressed Virgin coconut oil and a neutral taste. They sell it here at our Costco besides their Kirkland organic cold pressed oil. You can find it it on Amazon too. Try it! I was like you didn’t like the taste in all my stuff but in baking Mochi it’s fine. But gotta have butter too And we add some grated coconut for texture too.

    Reply
    • Trang

      April 23, 2018 at 7:14 am

      Kalena, thank you for all the tips! We tried butter mochi while in Oahu, and my husband is obsessed, I’d definitely need to try and make it one day, very very soon. This little bite size one is a family recipe from his aunt. It’s is a lighter kind of mochi 😉

      Reply
  16. Caitlin A.

    February 07, 2015 at 7:54 pm

    5 stars
    These were SUPER delicious (and easy), and I’ll be making them over and over. Great recipe!!!

    Reply
    • Trang

      February 09, 2015 at 6:12 am

      Thank you Caitlin! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂

      Reply
  17. Thalia @ butter and brioche

    January 15, 2015 at 2:30 pm

    5 stars
    I never have tried or made mochi before! They just look so delicious and addictive though – so I have to try out the recipe!

    Reply
    • Trang

      January 22, 2015 at 10:42 am

      Thalia, I hope you do try these, they’re so easy and yummy!

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Trang and welcome to my blog. This is where I share recipes from my kitchen. From cookies to cupcakes, to pies and ice cream, to treats for your fur babies, I hope you’ll find something you like and stay a while. Read More…

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