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Try this Hawaiian butter mochi recipe for a chewy, buttery, fudgey dessert with crisp, crunchy edges. A Hawaiian favorite, this butter mochi is highly addictive!
The first time I had Hawaiian butter mochi was on a trip to Maui and I happened across these in an outdoor market. Initially I thought they were blondies and was curious why there were so popular but then I saw the words “butter mochi” written on top and I knew I would love them as I’m a huge fan of mochi.
What is Hawaiian Butter Mochi?
Hawaiian butter mochi is a popular sweet treat made with mochiko flour, sugar, eggs, and coconut milk. If you’ve never had it before, it’s chewy, fudgy, sweet, coconut-y, and surrounded by the crunchiest crust you can imagine. The best way I can describe it is like an extra fudgy brownie with crunchy edges and a chewy center. 
What is Mochiko?
Mochiko is a sweet rice flour, also called glutinous rice flour, milled from short-grain sticky rice into a fine powder. It looks like regular flour, but once baked it turns chewy and stretchy in a way no other flour can replicate. It’s widely used in Hawaiian, Korean, Japanese, and Southeast Asian recipes.
Look for Koda Farms Blue Star mochiko, the brand most Hawaiian bakers reach for. You can find it at Japanese and pan-Asian grocery stores, often in mainstream markets in the international aisle, or online.
Can I substitute shiratamako or regular rice flour? No. Shiratamako is processed differently and gives a softer, bouncier result that turns butter mochi too custardy. Regular (non-glutinous) rice flour won’t give you any chew at all. Stick with mochiko for the texture this recipe is built around.
Hawaiian Butter Mochi Recipe Tips:
The trick to getting these butter mochi chewy is to let them cool completely. I waited a good 3 hours until they were cool enough to achieve the right texture. It’ll be worth the wait. If you eat them before they’re cool, the texture won’t be firm enough and you’ll miss out on all that chewy, fudgy texture. Just let them cool on a wire rack and you’ll notice them firming up.
How to Make Hawaiian Butter Mochi
I used a mini loaf pan and muffin pan because I wanted more of those crunchy edges. I’m definitely a lover of those crispy, crunchy corner/edge pieces when it comes to any baked good so what better way to capitalize on that than a using these rectangular mini loaf pans. You get 4 edges in one piece – winning!
These butter mochi don’t rise that much so feel free to fill them up. You’ll see a bit of rise from the baking powder and egg but not enough to overflow the pan.
Look at those edges! I wish you could hear how crunchy and crispy the top edges are. It’s literally like biting into a crunchy cookie. The edges are nice and hard, but the center will still be too soft to fully enjoy these, so remove them from the pan and let them cool.
This Hawaiian butter mochi recipe is perfect for get togethers or parties. They’re perfect at room temperature and everyone loves it when I bring them to get togethers. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Microwave them for about 10 seconds to soften up or reheat them in a toaster oven. Let them cool before enjoying.
Butter Mochi Variations
One of the best things about butter mochi is how easily it takes to add-ins. A few readers have shared their favorites, and these are worth trying:
- Fold a spoonful of red bean paste into the center of each piece for a nod to Japanese wagashi.
- Press fresh mango or blueberries into the batter before baking.
- Sprinkle shredded coconut on top for extra texture and a toasted, caramelized crust.
- A few drops of pandan extract turn the batter fragrant and pale green.
- For a richer flavor, brown the butter before adding it to the wet ingredients.
I hope you enjoy this Hawaiian butter mochi recipe! Please share, rate, and comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Gummy usually means it hasn’t cooled fully. Butter mochi needs to cool completely, at least 2 to 3 hours, before the texture sets into a proper chew. Cutting it warm gives you a dense, gummy interior. It can also happen if the batter is under-baked, so make sure the edges and surface turn deep golden brown.
Over-baking dries it out, and low-quality mochiko cut with regular rice flour makes it heavy. Use 100% glutinous rice flour and pull it from the oven once the surface is golden and set.
This recipe uses coconut milk plus water. You can swap the water for evaporated, whole, or oat milk for a richer result. Full-fat coconut milk gives more coconut flavor than lite.
Bake in a mini loaf pan or muffin pan instead of a single large dish so more surface caramelizes. The smaller the piece, the more crisp edges you get.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. After that, refrigerate or freeze. To bring back the crisp crust, reheat in a toaster oven on convection for 3 to 5 minutes rather than the microwave.
Yes. Wrap individual pieces and freeze for up to 2 months. Let a piece thaw at room temperature, or microwave briefly to soften.
Yes. Mochiko is made from rice, so butter mochi is naturally gluten-free. Check that your baking powder and other ingredients are certified gluten-free if that matters for you.
Chewy Hawaiian Butter Mochi
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 3 cups Mochiko sweet rice flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 13.5 oz lite coconut milk
- 1 ½ cups water
- 7 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a nonstick mini loaf pan or muffin pan thoroughly, including the corners and up the sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and salt until no lumps remain.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the coconut milk, water, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until the batter is smooth and pourable, with no streaks of dry flour.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans, filling each well nearly to the top. The mochi rises only slightly, so it won't overflow.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the surface and edges are deep golden brown and the center feels set when lightly pressed. In a 9×9 baking dish, bake for about 1 hour.
- Remove the pieces from the pan and set them on a wire rack. Cool completely, 2 to 3 hours, before serving. This is what firms them up into the chewy texture, so don't cut them warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I’ve made these a couple of times now and they always turn out so delicious and mouth watering. It’s impossible to only eat one at a time! Question on how to store these so that they stay crispy? Mine always soften up when stored…
Thank you Iris! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! To keep them crispy, you can wait for them to completely cool off and keep them in an airtight container so they don’t absorb any moisture. Even keeping them out can make them soft as they absorb moisture from the humidity in the air. Otherwise, you can pop them in the toaster oven for a few minutes right before serving to crisp them back up. That’s how I get them to re-crisp. 🙂 Hope that helps!
How long would you put it in an oven to get them to crisp up again?
Would you put the oven on the same temperature that you used to make them?
Hi Erica! I usually use the ‘toast’ setting in my toaster oven until the mochi is crispy again (and sometimes ‘toast’ it twice). I always keep an eye on it since my toaster oven can get quite hot. If you don’t have a toaster oven, you can certainly do what you suggested, reheat at the same temperature. I would check on it after 3 – 4 minutes, depending on the size of the mochi pieces. Hope that helps!
I was wondering if I could substitute all-purpose flour instead of Mochi flour? I have never used Mochi flour and therefore do not have any on hand.
Hi Kate! Unfortunately this recipes requires sweet glutinous flour so I wouldn’t substitute with regular all purpose flour. The consistency and flavor will be very different. A popular brand is Mochiko if you happen to see it at the store. It’s found in the Asian food aisle or Asian grocery stores. 🙂
Looks great and will try the recipe. For the butter, did you use salted or unsalted? Assuming unsalted but just want to be sure. Thanks!
Hi LP! I used unsalted butter in this recipe. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi. Can we make these into chocolate mochi cake? How much cocoa powder to add? Or do you have a separate recipe for it? Thanks
Hi Eileen! Unfortunately I don’t have a chocolate version for this but that’s a great idea! I’ll add this to my list of recipes to try out.
Hi Jamie!
Can I use a glass baking dish for this and make it into a loaf instead?
Hi Stacey, I haven’t tried baking this in a glass dish so can’t say for sure but I don’t see why you couldn’t. You’ll definitely have to adjust the baking time and temperature depending on the size of the loaf. Also glass and metal transfer and hold onto heat differently. Glass is slower to heat up but retains heat for far longer than metal pans. Hope this helps!
This was so delicious! Didn’t expect the coconut flavour to come through so much! However, my batter turned out very wet, almost like crepe batter. I still ended up baking it but it didn’t develop that cake-like crust on the outside at all. It was squishy like traditional mochi all the way through. Any idea why this might have happened/ do you have the measurements by weight?
Thanks and looking forward to trying this again!
Hi Jen! Glad you liked the flavor of these! 🙂 The batter should be thicker than crepe batter so I’d reduce the liquid next time. It should be more like pancake batter. The crust can be affected by a few things – oven temperature, the type of coconut milk used, variations in measurement, relative humidity, or even altitude so it’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason why. I’ll be sure to write down the measurements by weight next time I make this and update the recipe. Maybe I’ll update with a video since it’ll be easier to judge the consistency of the batter. Hope this helps!
I just made this recipe by following all the directions and they are AMAZING!! My whole family loves it!
Wow thanks Alexandra!! So happy to hear your whole family loved it! It’s a favorite of mine too! 😀
Second time making these! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, my husband’s first words on tasting the first batch were “See, that’s even better than I had imagined, it’s all over now.”
In deference to us being the only two in our household, though, I cut the recipe in ⅓ this time as it still makes 7 muffin-size mochi!
Thank you Tanya! I’m so glad you and your husband like the recipe! 🙂
Hello! Is it possible to sub regular milk instead of using coconut milk?
Hi Bryanna! Yes absolutely you can substitute regular milk instead of coconut milk. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Could I substitute the Mochiko flour for glutinous rice flour instead?
Hi Ashbey! I believe glutinous rice flour is the same thing as Mochiko flour (Mochiko is the name of the brand), so you can certainly substitute it. Just be sure not to use rice flour. You want either glutinous rice flour, Mochiko flour, or sweet rice flour (these are all the same thing). 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Hi, just wondering if you can freeze these?
Hi Sue! Absolutely you can freeze these. To reheat, I like to stick them in my toaster oven until they’re warmed through and then wait until they cool. You can also microwave them but I find they turn out a little too soft for my liking, but they still taste good!
My son found the recipe and was all, can we bake these? So we’re making plans to have a bakefest during spring break! Looking forward to this SO much!
Can you use regular coconut milk?
Hi Katherine! By regular coconut milk, do you mean the canned full fat coconut milk? If so, you can absolutely use that but the mochi will come out richer from the added fat.
If you mean the coconut milk that comes in the carton (i.e. So Delicious or Silk brand), I haven’t tried that but I don’t see why you couldn’t use it. The batter will be lighter and more watery since the coconut milk from a carton is usually a thinner consistency from my experience. 🙂
These look incredible ! I’m all about that gooey center so I’m sold! I’ll definitely try these in a mini muffin pan!
WOW! These look so delicious! And that texture is gooey perfection. I can’t wait!! Thanks so much for sharing.
Yay! I am so happy to find such an awesome recipe to make for my niece. She is a huge Mochi fan and with Christmas just around the corner you have me inspired. Thank you so much!
Absolutely delicious!! This turned out great both times I made it and with both the regular cupcake pan and mini cupcake pan. It’s a keeper and a win for my family (hubby and my two toddlers love it). I made it for a party and it was a hit! Everyone is asking for the recipe. We prefer the cupcake pans instead of the casserole dish so we get more of a crunchy texture in every bite. Thanks for that awesome suggestion!
Thanks for sharing a great recipe, Jamie! Can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes.
Thank you so much for the kind words Vickie!! Yay I’m so thrilled that everyone loved it! This recipe definitely gave me the crunchiest butter mochi I’ve ever had. So glad you tried this! 😀
Hi! Did you need to adjust the baking time at all for the mini cupcake pan?
I want this so bad!! What a fun idea and sounds so delicious !
How many mini loaves does the recipe make?
Hi Paul!
These make about one and a half pans worth of butter mochi using the mini loaf pan from Wilton. You can see which one I linked to in the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve seen mochi coated ice cream before, but this is my first time seeing it on its own. It looks so tender and moist. Save one for me.
So curious about this. I’m going to make it this weekend. I love crispy, chewy things and the texture of mochi is one of my favourites.
Awesome! I’m the same way, I love crispy & chewy textures in my food too! I have a vegan coconut mochi recipe coming up soon if you want to try that one too. I hope you enjoy it this weekend. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂