This easy Butter Mochi Recipe is a little taste of home. It’s a favorite snack in Hawaii. It’s soft and full of yummy butter and coconut flavors. It is making a great sweet snack for every occasion and is sure to impress also on the holidays. On top, it is a gluten-free pleasure.
Hawaiian Butter Mochi Recipe
For those of you who are looking for a quick and easy Butter Mochi Recipe, then you’ve come to the right place. This recipe was given to me from my sister, and it’s one of the best recipes around. I grew up chowing down on Butter Mochi cake after soccer games, swim meets, and family parties.
This was the dessert to make when I grew up in Hawaii, and it’s still a favorite today. I generally wait until I’m visiting family in Hawaii to make it, but sometimes I’ve got cravings and I made an entire 9×13 pan of this all for myself!
What is Mochi?
Mochi is a Japanese pounded rice dessert, and you can find it in various flavors and sometimes stuffed with candy, fruit, or ice cream. Heck, Whole Foods has a mochi bar in most of their stores. But we go homemade, because this is the best!
Not into too much butter?
You can vary the amount of butter in it. I’ve found that some people liked a more cake-like consistency and others really love that butter flavor. You can add up to two cups of butter if you prefer a more buttery and gooey texture. Reduce the butter, like I did, to 3/4 cups butter for a less greasy, more firm texture. You’ll find the right consistency for you and your family.
What is Glutinous Rice Flour?
To make Mochi, you need Glutinous Rice Flour. Check your International Markets for it. I used Mochiko Brand that I easily picked up in Hawaii. Or, Bob’s Red Mill has a sweet rice flour that you can use. Rice flour is gluten-free, so this is a gluten-free dessert.
Looking for some other recipes that use glutinous rice flour?
Try these Italian Cookie Sandwiches, Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pancakes, or you can make this gluten-free pizza crust.
Aloha from Hawaii! Here comes how to make my mochi butter cake. Go eat some ono grindz!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks of butter ¾ Cups
- 3 cup of Sugar
- 1 box Mochiko Flour (Glutinous Rice Flour) 16 oz
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 Eggs
- 12 oz Coconut Milk
- 2 cup 2% Milk
Instructions
- Soften the butter and mix with sugar. Slowly add in 1/4 of the Mochiko Flour, baking powder, vanilla, and 2 eggs. Add in another 1/4 of the flour, 2 eggs and coconut milk. Alternate in another 1/4 flour and half the milk until all flour and milk is added and mixed in until smooth.
- Pour into a 9×13 pan and cook at 350 °F for 1 hour.
- Let cool completely. Cut with a plastic knife, or wet your knife between cuts.
Nutrition
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Equipment
Recipe Video
Images, text and all other content Copyrighted©Karyn Granrud, Susanne Queck and Wunderlander Verlag LLC, or ©Pro Stock Media via Canva.com. Unlicensed republishing permitted. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn on qualified purchases.
mmm! This looks delicious!! You have so many delicious recipes on your blog and I certainly am enjoying browsing it! I'm now following your blog 🙂
If you have a few minutes to spare, feel free to check out my blog and follow if it tickles your fancy! 🙂 I'm a lover of food photography and post mostly that on my blog!
Have a great day!
neha
neha made
I really want to try this now! 🙂
It's a unique dessert. I hope that you enjoy it.
This looks super delicious – pinning now!
Linda
Thanks for the pin. Always appreciated. It was delicious!
This looks delicious!
As I really love butter, this is a cake I just must try 🙂
It's not a cake in the traditional sense. It's a thick, sticky "bar". There is nothing light and fluffy about it. The glutinous rice give it a dense and almost rubbery texture. Think more of a rich fudgey brownie vs. a cake brownie.
you are from hawaii!? that's one of my fav vacays ever! have an awesome time. I have a bag of sweet rice flour because i said i'd do mochi (love them)–so thanks for sharing! nice!
I love mochi as well. I've always been scared of making myself, but this turned out good 🙂
Somewhat, sort of similar to Gooey Butter Cake – which is a specialty from my hometown, St. Louis! Have a wonderful vacation…
Love this! Thanks for sharing! We would love to have you link up with our party!
http://baked-inthesouth.blogspot.com/2012/07/made-it-by-monday-link-party.html
Okay, those look gooey delicious! I've never had butter mochi before. I'm intrigued! Have a great time at home!
Thanks Dorthy. I'm having a great time! It's a good local dessert that all the kids here love. If you have any Hawaiian friends in California, ask them about it.
I am so excited! I love throwing luau themed meals and get-togethers but I always struggle on a good luau dessert. Looks like I've found one! Can't wait to try it.
Fruit desserts are always popular for luaus. This is more Japanese because of the rice flour. Coconut desserts are good as well.
This cake is ready to be put on my plate. It almost looks real and it certainly looks delicious. Thanks for linking it up.
This looks amazing! Can't wait to try it!
This looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday 🙂
I've never heard of such a thing but it sure does look delicious! 🙂
That looks delicious! Have a great visit back home.
These sound so delicious and I am on a wheat free diet. Can't wait to try them. I will pin this and please share your recipe on my foodie friday party today.
As far as a wheat free diet, this is great. As a low-calorie diet, this is NOT it. Think of super thick pound cake with no "fluff" to it. It is a thick bar type dessert. Try it and let me know what you think, but don't expect a cake texture.
Hi Karyn,
What a lovely dessert, I wish this serving was mine right now, it looks delicious. Hope you are having a great week and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
I just bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill sweet rice flour. Now I just need to pick up coconut milk 🙂 Can't wait to make it 🙂
I used Silk brand coconut milk. I did not have a can of coconut milk that the recipe called for. I love to use the coconut milk in smoothie 🙂 It's so good.
This looks soooo good. It's going on my "must try" list. Thank you so much!
This looks so buttery delicious!! I'd love to have you link this up to Tasty Thursdays on The Mandatory Mooch. It's a new linky party starting today. Hope to see you there. Thanks, Nichi
http://mandatorymooch.blogspot.com/2012/07/tasty-thursdays-1.html
i made this but i used 6oz instead of the full 16oz box and it came out really watery. u shoudl fix your instructions because it says 1 (6oz)
Oh no! I'm so sorry for the typo. Yes, it should be one pound, 16 oz, of the rice flour. I've corrected the error. Thank you for letting me know.
I also tried this recipe for my daughter’s hawaiian themed birthday and it came out watery because the recipe still says 6 oz of mochiko. I will have to make another run to the store to get another box. Hopefully this time it’ll come out yummy in time for her party!
FYI it still shows 1 (6 oz) instead of 16 oz of mochiko. Luckily I had ignored the measurement and just used the whole box but you really should fix it so people don’t get stuck with watery butter mochi. Thanks!
Thanks for letting me know. I just updated the post.
How much time is needed to cool? Does it solidify more after time?
I think i left mine to cool overnight. It should cool completely on the counter in 4 hours or so. It will be firm enough to handle, but it won’t get hard unless its in the fridge. It’s best served soft.
This looks great, but just EXACTLY how much butter should I use to make this? I want it to turn out to be the best it can be and with the option of two different amounts of butter, I’m a bit confused. Thank you.
OOPS! I initially missed the paragraph about the amount of butter to use and found the answer myself after reading through the post again. Sorry…
Yes, you can use as much or as little as you like. I’d start at 3/4 cups and go up from there. The more butter you add, the more oily it will be, but the butter flavor is also that much more!
I’ve never heard of mochi before. This looks so yummy though. I can’t wait to try it! I’m always looking for more gluten-free desserts.
I’m not a GF baker, but this recipe always turns out great! I love it!!
The ingredient list states 2 C 2% milk but the instructions read 1 C milk. I used 1 cup but just wanted to clarify. Mahalo for the recipe!
I hope it turned out ok for you. It should be 2 cups of milk TOTAL added in. In the instructions I listed it as 1 C milk meaning half the milk followed by some flour then the remaining milk and last of the flour. I’ve adjusted the instructions to clarify that. Please let me know if you have any issues with the recipe. It probably came out thicker than normal.
I was desperately searching for a mochi cake recipe because it is far to expensive to fly to Hawaii to bring home a premixed version, nearly as expensive as buying it on the internet and paying for shipping cost.
Yours is THE BEST.
I have struggled each new year making manju, the traditional Japanese treat for luck in the new year. This year we are having your mochi cake. I believe I will be luckier!!
I’m so glad you found the recipe! It’s a NYE tradition that I miss.
I really want to make this but I’m allergic to coconut. Is there a good substitute for coconut milk, like can you use almond milk?
I don’t think so. You want that coconut flavor in this dessert. Also, the almond milk won’t be nearly as thick as the coconut milk. It’s the full fat coconut milk in the can, not the “milk” you pour on cereal. I’d suggest a different recipe.
To Sarah regarding coconut allergy: Mochi is a very forgiving dessert. YES, by all means use almond milk or any other milk substitute as well as the ‘milk’ you pour on cereal. I live in Hawaii and make this all the time with many successful liquid variations. Also, the recipe provided on this website may be quite yummy, but is overkill on sugar. My recipe consists of the following amounts: 1 block (1/2 C) butter, 1 C sugar (not 3 cups), 3 eggs and 1 can of coconut milk or evaporated milk (in addition to all of the other ingredients listed).
I just came back from Hawaii where I tried michi for the first time and lived it. Now I have to make it here at home.
I’m headed back home in 10 days and I’m looking forward to eating all the mochi! There’s an awesome place in Hilo that has mochi stuffed with brownies! OMG!
I’m waiting for mine too cool. Mistakenly put 1-1/2 CUPS butter instead of sticks! We’ll see what happens. I’m not opposed to eating it with a spoon, if I have to!
I’m sure it turned out great. It may be a bit more oily, from all the butter, but it’ll taste GREAT!
How would Ido this in an Instant Pot?
Honestly, I haven’t tried. You’d have to cut the recipe in half in order to get it into a smaller pan – or use two pans. It might cook similar to the cheesecake (https://pintsizedbaker.com/instant-pot-classic-cheesecake/)… but I don’t know for sure. If you try it out, please let me know what you did and time worked best. Thanks!
I was nervous when I was mixing it because it seemed really wet. I used a 13oz can of coconut milk and 2 cups of whole milk. I opened the oven after 60 minutes and the cake was super puffed up with like bubbles. I turned the oven off and opened the door and just let it sit for about 20 minutes before I pulled it from the oven and thankfully the cake had flattened back out. The cake turned out great and I’ll definitely make this recipe again. Thank you!!
Yes, it will be liquidy before baking. I love it and I’m so happy that you made it.
Do I need to put another on the inside of the pan so I doesn’t stick? Or does it not stick to the pan when it cooks?
I don’t understand. One pan is all you need. There’s so much butter in this recipe that I’ve never had it stick.
Do you grease the pan?
nope. All that butter in the glass pan works wonders!
How many days is it good for?
Do I refrigerate it? Can I freeze it?
I have never froze it so I don’t know about that. In my family it lasts about 3 days. I cover and leave it on the counter. When it’s in the fridge it gets a lot more gummy.
Excited to see how mine comes out, just popped it in the oven. Thank you for having a recipe to satisfy my craving.
Thank you, Karen! This turned out just like hana buttah days’kine! Also- would you share where your pretty kapa-print wooden coasters come from in the butter mochi shots. Mahalao
Thanks so much for the nice comment. I honestly don’t remember where the coasters came from. They are wooden and have the initials “rc” on the back of one. I’m sorry I can’t be more help. There are no other markings on them.
I just made this for an untraditional Thanksgiving dessert and my mochi loving family loved it! Thank you for the recipe! I ended up only using two cups of sugar and one stick of butter. I would definitely make this again!
I’m so glad you and your family loved it. My family loves it too! Enjoy!
My mochi loving family loved this cake! I used only one stick of butter and two cups of sugar, as I was running , and it was so delicious! I would make it again!
It’s very good. I added 3/4 cup of shredded coconut to it, because I love coconut. I grew up on the island
This is the simplest and best butter mochi recipe! I changed it up and used 1 cup of butter and changed out the regular milk to evaporated milk and everyone loves it. I even made an Asian (ube) version. I added some ube jam and ube food color.