These chewy little Green Tea Mochi cakes are made with sweet rice flour, coconut milk and flavored with matcha green tea. They are soft, sweet, delightfully chewy and are just the perfect bite size!
These green tea mochi are exactly the same as my popular coconut mochi except they have a hint of matcha green tea which makes them the perfect pairing for a creamy matcha latte.
This green tea mochi recipe is different from Japanese mochi as it is a baked mochi recipe, but they’re still delicious and chewy! They are the perfect mash up of Hawaiian butter mochi with Japanese flavor.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- These little cakes are made with rice flour instead of wheat flour making it chewy and gluten free, so they are a great alternative for those who can’t tolerate gluten.
- This recipe is a small batch, yielding just 18-20 mini mochi muffins.
- It is super easy to whip up with just a couple of mixing bowls and a hand whisk.
- They bake up quickly in under 15 minutes, and you can enjoy these in just under 30 minutes!
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips for each ingredient:
- Butter – I used unsalted butter but you can use salted butter in a pinch. Since it is such a small amount, you don’t have to worry about it making the mochi too salty.
- Sugar – I just used regular granulated sugar this recipe.
- Egg – just 1 large egg is enough for these.
- Vanilla – I used just a splash of pure vanilla extract for additional flavor.
- Mochiko – mochiko is a brand of sweet rice flour. You can use any brand of sweet rice flour but make sure it is either sweet rice flour or glutinous rice flour because regular rice flour is not the same and will not yield the same results.
- Salt – I use just a pinch of kosher salt, you can use sea salt or table salt.
- Baking powder – this will help the baked mochi rise.
- Matcha powder – I always use culinary matcha powder for all my baking recipes. I typically get it from a Japanese grocery store, but the Amazon version linked here is the exact brand I use. There is no need to use a more expensive version. But make sure you’re not using a matcha green tea mix which is typically already sweetened.
- Coconut milk – make sure to use canned coconut milk. This has higher fat content than the stuff in the carton and gives the mochi their richness. If you need to make a substitution, I recommend evaporated milk, half and half, or cream.
How to make green tea mochi
The following instructions, step by step photos and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, beat together egg, coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.
Next, mix together Mochiko, sugar, baking powder, matcha powder and salt in a small mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and whisk until a smooth batter forms.
Divide coconut mochi batter into a greased mini muffin tin. Fill each muffin cavity to about ¾ way full.
Bake at 375°F for 13 – 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
Baker’s Tips
- How to measure sweet rice flour – fluff the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it.
- Don’t worry about over mixing – unlike regular cake or cupcakes, since sweet rice flour doesn’t contain gluten, you don’t have to worry about the mochi getting too tough due to over mixing.
- They don’t rise a lot – the mochi will rise a little bit but because the texture will be very dense, it doesn’t rise as much as regular cupcakes do so don’t panic if some come out flat.
- Increase the amount of matcha powder for a stronger green tea flavor. I used just 1 teaspoon of matcha powder and the matcha flavor is mild. If you would like a stronger flavor, simply increase to 2 teaspoons or to your taste.
Storage
Room temperature: store Mochiko cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days. These little cakes will still be soft for up to 5 days to a week but they will start to lose their elasticity and become drier. Reheating them can revive them and make them taste like fresh.
Freezer: you can also freeze matcha mochi for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat in the microwave to soften and warm them up before serving, they will taste like they’re freshly baked.
FAQs
If you’ve kept your baked mochi over 5 days or just thawed it from frozen, wrap it in a damp paper towel and reheat in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. This will revive it and make it taste just like freshly baked.
No, you cannot! Sweet rice flour gives these gluten free mochi their chewy texture. Wheat flour will not yield the same results.
Yes, this recipe can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. Make as much as you wish. However, it can be quite tedious to bake so many mini mochi muffins. If you aren’t able to bake everything on the same day, you can refrigerate the batter overnight and continue baking the next day.
More matcha recipes
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📖 Recipe card
Green Tea Mochi
Equipment
- Mini Muffin Pan
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup Mochiko (sweet rice flour, 100 g)
- ½ teaspoon rounded baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Matcha green tea powder (culinary grade)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- A pinch of kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup coconut milk (114 g)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted, ½ oz, 13 g)
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Extra butter or nonstick spray for pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Prepare a mini cupcake pan by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Mop up excess oil or butter and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, add mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix with a whisk to distribute evenly.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add egg, coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla, whisk to combine.
- Add the mochiko mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and whisk until combined and smooth. You will get a somewhat runny batter.
- Use a cookie scoop to divide batter into each cupcake cavity, fill it to about ¾ way full. There should be enough batter to fill 18 – 20 mini cupcakes.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 13-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. When the pan is cooled to the touch, use a butter knife to loosen the coconut mochi from the side, place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store green tea mochi in an airtight container, and consume within the week.
- How to measure sweet rice flour: fluff the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it.
Nutrition
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Should the coconut milk be melted and at room temperature? The canned coconut milk I have is solid and at room temperature now.
Yes, it should be melted and at room temperature. Some brand of canned coconut milk can be solid at room temperature, you can tell if you shake it and don’t hear any sloshing. If you already open the can, melt the whole thing because when it solidifies the coconut cream will be a part that’s solid and the coconut water will still be liquid, you want to mix them. Another way, for next time, if you haven’t opened the can, run it under hot water or submerge it in a bowl of hot water.
Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar? I’ve made these multiple times and they’re delicious but I wanted to have it less sweet for the kids. Thank you!
Hi Sandy, I haven’t tried but I think you can, this recipe is pretty forgiving.
Hello! If I don’t have any coconut milk, could I just sub in 1/2 cup of normal milk?
Coconut milk has higher fat content than regular milk, you might do better to sub half and half (half milk half cream, or unsweetened coffee cream) if available. Otherwise milk will work but it may make the batter slightly more watery, perhaps use a little bit less and see what the consistency of the batter looks like first. It’s not super thick but it should be somewhat viscous.
Would you just double the recipe to fill a regular sized muffin tin?
This recipe should fill about 10-11 standard-size muffin cups. You may need to bake a little longer to get the inside to cook through.
just tried this, simple and yummy!!
For the tablespoon of butter melted, would that be about 1/4 or 1/5 stick of unsalted butter?
Hey Eva, usually the butter stick would have the mark for tablespoon on the wrapper for easy portion, but 1 tbsp is 1/8 of the stick.
Suggested bake time for a regular cupcake pan?
Try 20 – 25 minutes, make sure to check with a toothpick so you don’t overbake. Let me know how long it ends up taking you, I’d love to know.
What’s the bake time if doubling the recipe to put in a square or rectangle baking dish? Thanks!
I don’t know the exact time since I’ve never baked this particular recipe in a larger pan, but I would guess it could be 20-30 minutes. I would keep an eye on it and check the doneness at 20 minutes and let it bake longer if needed. If it jiggles still, keep baking, if it doesn’t jiggle anymore, check with a toothpick to be sure.
I loved this recipe! I just made it in my dorm’s kitchen and doubled it to put in a flat tray because we don’t have any muffin trays- I think I may also have added more matcha powder – but they’re a total hit! People keep coming back to take more. I definitely plan on making this again, maybe trying to put in nuts?
So glad you love it!! I suggest folding in some coconut flakes or chopped macadamia nuts if you want to add some mix-ins.
do these need to be kept in the fridge?
No, they shouldn’t be kept in the fridge unless you plan to keep them for longer than a week. They will harden up in the fridge so it is best to eat them before then. However, in the case you do need to store them in the fridge, wrap them in a damp paper tower and microwave for 10s to soften them up.
Love! Made numerous times
Thanks Helena! Glad you love the recipe 🙂
For the measurement of mochiko (3.2 oz 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon of Mochiko), does that mean 3.2oz or 1/2cup + 2tbsp + 2tsp. Or 3.2oz and 1/2cuo + 2tbsp + 2tsp?
Sorry for the confusion, it’s 3.2 oz weight if you have a scale or use cup/spoon measurement if you don’t have a scale.
Wonderful.