Hawaiian butter mochi is a sweet, chewy and stretchy dessert that’s impossible to resist! I used olive oil instead of butter and honey to replace some of the sugar to add a floral note to this classic Hawaiian recipe.
Warning: This dessert is so good that I suggest you keep it stored in the back of the fridge to avoid late night snack attacks.
I’m not kidding, I made this dessert for the first time a couple of weeks ago and the three of us (my mother is visiting from Japan for the next few weeks) devoured the entire pan in just 2 days!
This Hawaiian sweet treat hits all the right spots for me because it’s not too sweet and has that irresistible bouncy and chewy mochi texture that I love so much.
But since the original recipe contains a lot of butter and sugar, I decided to omit the butter and use high quality extra virgin olive oil instead. I also cut down on the white sugar by using a little honey.
And guess what? It came out tasting even better than the classic Hawaiian version!
So here’s my healthier version of butter mochi and I sincerely hope you love it as much as I do!
What is mochi?
Before we get to the recipe, let me quickly explain what mochi is to those of you who aren’t familiar with the food. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made with short-grain japonica glutinous rice. It’s made by pounding the rice until it turns into a sticky dough that’s then formed into balls, rectangles and other shapes.
Every January 1st, mochi makes its appearance in the traditional ozoni soup all over Japan because it represents good fortune and happy marriages.
Is mochi gluten-gree?
Yes!
Mochi is made of glutinous rice (mochigome rice) which is naturally 100% gluten-free.
What does mochi taste like?
Mochi tastes like white rice.
It’s a little sweet and has a starchy after taste. The texture is very chewy, smooth and eventually melts in your mouth.
How to make butter mochi
Now that we’ve covered the basics of what mochi is, let’s make some butter mochi!
I’m super excited to share this recipe with you because it’s so incredibly yummy. Butter mochi is so easy to make that anyone can succeed at baking this dessert!
You will need 10 ingredients for this recipe:
- Mochiko flour (I’ll explain what it is in a minute)
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Eggs
- Honey
- Vanilla extract
- Evaporated milk
- Coconut milk
- Extra virgin olive oil
Mochiko flour
All the ingredients are easy to find except for the first one – Mochiko flour. It’s actually not that hard to find but you will have to visit your local Asian grocery store or Japanese supermarket to find it. Or you can order Mochiko flour on Amazon.
Mochiko flour is sweet rice flour made with short grain sweet rice. This ingredient is essential to making butter mochi because it’s what gives the dessert its stretchy texture.
How to make butter mochi
Only four quick steps are needed to making Hawaiian butter mochi (also called Japanese butter mochi and coconut butter mochi):
- Greasing a pan.
- Mixing the ingredients together.
- Pouring the batter in the pan.
- Baking.
I wasn’t kidding when I said that anyone could make this recipe!
A butter mochi recipe your entire family will love
Substituting butter for high quality olive oil and sugar for honey is something I often do to healthify my desserts. Most desserts in Spain and Greece are made using olive oil instead of butter so there’s no reason why we can’t do the same here in America.
I personally don’t see any difference in taste or texture whenever I make the switch and I’m always glad I did!
Maybe next time I’ll try making a vegan version of this dessert by swapping eggs for flaxseed eggs, honey for maple syrup, and evaporated milk for almond milk. My guess is the nuttiness and sweetness of the almond milk will blend beautiful with the other ingredients and add an extra layer of yum.
Stay tuned!
But for now, this Hawaiian butter mochi recipe is what I’m planning to take with me upstate this weekend!
Other yummy desserts and snacks:
- French stuffed baked apples
- Vegan peanut butter cookies
- Pumpkin oatmeal cookies
- Healthier chocolate espresso cookies
- Homemade baked apple chips
- Healthy vegan banana bread
Did you like this Hawaiian Butter Mochi Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comment section below!
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Hawaiian Butter Mochi Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 pieces 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Hawaiian
Description
Hawaiian butter mochi is a sweet, chewy and stretchy dessert that’s impossible to resist! I’ve substituted the butter for olive oil and some of the sugar for honey to add a floral note to this classic Hawaiian recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 box (16oz) Mochiko Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 can (14oz) coconut milk
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Gease a 9×13 inch pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, vanilla extract, evaporated milk and coconut milk. Slowly whisk in extra virgin olive oil.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir well, until the batter is smooth (it’s okay if there are a few small lumps).
- Add batter to the greased pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour, until the edges are golden brown.
- Take the pan out of the oven and let cool to room temperature.
- Cut into bite size pieces and serve.
Notes
This healthier Hawaiian butter mochi dessert will keep refrigerated for up to 5-7 days. Microwave for 20-25 seconds to get the chewy texture back once it’s been refrigerated.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
- Calories: 353
- Sugar: 26.6 g
- Sodium: 119.1 mg
- Fat: 14.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 51.5 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 6.6 g
- Cholesterol: 46.5 mg
Love this recipe. Is it possible for me to use an egg replacer and if so, do you have a suggestion? My kids are egg allergic.
Hi Jessica! You could use flaxseed eggs which are very easy to make. To make one flaxseed egg (which is the equivalent to one egg) mix one tablespoon ground flaxseed with two tablespoons water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and use like you would use an egg.
It came out perfect!. Love the EVO instead of butter and honey and less sugar. Its a winner. The tray was gone within hours!
I really enjoy viewing your site and very interesting recipes. I have not made the mochi thing yet but since I have a quart of home grown of passion fruit puree,
I was wondering how much I should add to give it a nice Hawaii product. Of the
listed liquid ingredients which ones and how much of all, or selected , fluids can
I substitute with the passion fruit puree? If this adjusted recipe turns out
successfully, I will email the revised recipe to to share.
Thanks, Roy Oshita.
Hi Roy!
That’s a tough question to answer since I have never used anything other than water… I would suggest using a little less water than listed in the recipe, making the mochi, and then slowly add passion fruit puree. Let me know how it turns out, I’m curious! 🙂
How would you substitute the evaporated milk? I’d like to try almond milk instead, however would you use the same measurement? I know fat is an important part, hence the dairy, however I’d much rather go down the plant-based route.
Hi Chelsea, I think using almond milk would work and I would try using the same measurements as well 🙂
What can I substitute coconut milk with? Thanks.
Butter Mochi is a staple at our house and every pot luck I go to since I live in Hawi, Hawaii. Think I will give you version a try for Mahjong this week
That’s great Nancy, I really hope you will like it!! 🙂
Sounds great. How do I substitute butter for olive oil?
Can I substitute Mchiko flour wth glutinous rice flour?
Hi Wynn, I haven’t tried other brands of rice flour but I think it would work since it’s made from the same type of rice. Let me know how it turns out!
I use 1 stick butter, partially melted in the microwave. And if you want to use sugar instead of honey, use 2 cups granulated. Aloha!
Mahalo Liz! 🙂