Hella Good Ube Mochi Muffins-Mochi Madness

I have been looking for a dessert/cookie recipe using Ube for a while when I came across a recipe for Butter and Ube Bibingka/Mochi on Mark Hella Cooks.  I adapted his Bibingka/Mochi and made muffins, delicious and gorgeous. Just a bit of ube extract gave the batter a vibrant purple that is so whimsical and appealing.

Did I Get Ahead of Myself?

Are you asking what the heck is Ube?  It just dawned on me this is not your dash to the corner store item.  First, ube is similar to a sweet potato BUT it’s PURPLE, so swag, purple food.  It is used in a lot of Asian desserts, particularly Filipino ones. It is mild-flavored, kinda nutty, kinda vanilla-y.  Aside from fresh purple yams (hard to find), it comes as a powder, jam, and extract.  On a recent visit to the Asian Art Museum in the City, I inhaled a delicious Ube Snickerdoodle from Sunday@  the Museum, cafe.  Ever since I have been perusing the internet for ube cookie recipes.  No cookie yet but luckily I found Mark Hella Cooks Ube Mochi recipe. It is easy, delicious, and eye candy worthy.  I made muffins so everyone could have their own little dessert with crispy edges, yum.

Ube-by, Baby, Making Cookies For A Cause

I wanted to include the muffins in my little box of cookies for Ukraine.  The world is upside down right now and I just can’t sit on the sidelines and watch.  So I do what I can by fighting the things I hate with the things I love.  I baked cookies for donations to World Central Kitchen and Sunflower of Peace. My tiny part. #BakersAgainstRacism, #BakersforUkraine

I put together individual boxes of cookies, a first for me, to share with friends and co-workers.  Everyone was so generous, it reminded me that most folks are decent, kind, and caring.  How is it that just a few are actually responsible for so much hate and suffering in the world?  Most folks just want to live their lives and be happy.

Each box included tried & true cookies, comfort cookies, my family favorites.  Here are the Cookies for Ukraine Box.

• Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookie, a slice and bake chocolate sable with chunks of chocolate and a smattering of Fleur de Lys.
• Christina Tosi’s Corn Cookie, imagine sweet, buttery, corn on the cob as a cookie. 🤯
• Jesse Szewczyk’s Chewy, Toasted Sesame Cookies, delicious, toasted sesame oil amplifies the flavor, a stunning cookie.
• Salted Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies adapted from Epicurious and David Lebowitz. A nice twist to the proverbial CCC.
• Italian Jam Crostata with homemade berry jam, a buttery shortbread-like crust topped with your choice of jam, crumble and almonds.
• Not Your Mama’s Rice Krispy Treaty this is what you get when you double the butter and brown it and then finish it with dark chocolate sprinkles, Demerara Sugar and Maldon Salt. Even more SNAP, CRACKLE and POP.

Purple Yam All In My Brain

Rounding out the cookie box, are these incredibly easy and delicious Ube Butter Mochi Muffins.  Mochi has become my best friend when I need a gluten-free treat.  Made with glutinous sweet rice flour, the texture is chewy, a bit dense in a good way, and totally addicting.  If you have tried Third Culture Bakery or Mochi Donuts, or Manju, you will love these.  If you like to start with the classic butter mochi muffin try this one.  It is by far the most popular recipe on 3Jamigos.

The muffins can be made in one bowl, that’s how easy they are.  The method in the recipe below is from Mark Hella Cooks. Alternatively, place coconut milk and butter in a microwavable bowl and nuke for 1 minute.  Add evaporated milk, vanilla extract and eggs.  Mix well. Combine mochiko flour and baking powder then add to milk mixture.  Whisk until smooth.  Proceed with the recipe at step 3 as written.

Once you have drizzled the ube batter into the muffin tins, be careful not to shake the tin which would cause the batters to blend too much, You want to retain the marbling.

Butter or spray the muffin tin with PAM REALLY well, it determines the rise and the shape of the top of the muffin.

Enjoy!