Yes, my romance with mochi muffins continues.

Right next door to Shuei-Do, my favorite manju shop in Japantown, San Jose, is a Poke Shop, Aloha Fresh.  As much as I like Poke, I love going for their butter mochi.  They kick it up a notch by offering different flavors like guava, lilikoi, or a brownie macadamia nut version …all are absolutely onolicious.  Butter Mochi at Aloha Fresh is limited to the weekends but lucky for me and you, Shuei-Do also makes a yummy Butter Mochi. Between the two – you are covered for your mochi fix.

But what if you can’t get to Japantown?

You can make your own AND it’s pretty darn easy.

Mochi desserts run the gamut from chewy, bouncy, creamy to moist, a little chewy, and cakey (is that a word?) texture.  I wanted a tropical flavor, buttery, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside treat.  A recipe for Blood Orange Mochi Muffins from Cooking Therapy served as inspiration.  In place of blood orange juice, I used Guava Nectar.  The muffins were delicious and I plan to try different nectars like Hawaiian Sun’s POG, passionfruit, orange, and guava juice next time.

The batter comes together quickly, this is almost one bowl, one wooden spoon, easy territory.  The addition of butter is that Hawaiian tweak that makes it so delicious.  Fill well-greased muffin tins about 3/4 full.  Bake for 45 minutes, or a little longer for a crispier edge.  It will lose that crispness with time though.  Store at room temp for 2-3 days max.  Pop them in a toaster oven to crisp them a little bit.  Do not refrigerate.  You can freeze them without the icing.  Thaw and crisp in the oven.  These muffins are moist, chewy, a little squishy, yummy, and addictive.

Ice, Ice Mochi

Making the icing is easy.  Whisk the dry ingredients with coconut milk, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and juice.  The icing should be loose enough to dip each muffin top into but thick enough to adhere to the surface with only a bit of dripping. After dipping one muffin you can adjust the sugar or liquid for the right consistency.  Sprinkle topping of your choice, coconut shreds, orange zest, sesame seeds, or a bit of flaky salt.  Let the muffins sit for a couple of minutes so the icing can set, then serve.

Love mochi?  Here are more recipes using sweet rice flour!  Butter Mochi Muffins, Peanut Butter Mochi, and Chocolate Mochi Donuts.

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4.75 from 4 votes

Tropical Mochi Muffins

A delicious, gluten-free mochi muffin, chewy, moist, and flavored with guava nectar and citrus.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian-American, Hawaiian

Keyword butter mochi, mochi muffin

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter melted, if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt to dry ingredients
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup coconut cream or full fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs room temperature
• Zest of 1 orange preferably Cara Cara oranges
• 1 cup guava nectar substitute mango, passion fruit, or tropical fruit blend nectar or orange juice (Cara Cara)
• 2 cups sweet rice flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Guava Icing

• 2 tbsp Guava Nectar Substitute mango, passionfruit, or tropical blend, or orange juice.
• 2 tbsp coconut milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange optional
• poppy seeds, shredded coconut, black sesame seeds, orange zest garnish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 12-cup standard muffin tin.
• Sift the sweet rice flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.
• Add melted butter, sugar, and coconut milk to a large bowl. Mix until combined.
• Add the vanilla extract and eggs. Mix until combined.
• Add the guava nectar and zest. Mix until combined.
• Into the wet ingredients. Mix until a wet batter forms. It should be a pretty loose consistency.
• Scoop batter into the muffin pan. Tap the muffin pan 1-2 times on a flat surface to get rid of the air bubbles.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes until the edges start to brown. For a crispier edge, bake 45-50 minutes. Don't go much longer as it may make the inside drier and a little tougher.
• Cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan before removing.

Icing

• While the muffins cool, make your icing. Place powdered sugar In a small bowl. Add coconut cream or milk, nectar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Stir with a whisk until completely blended.
• When muffins have cooled, remove from pan. Dip the top of each muffin into the icing and place on a wire rack. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, shredded coconut. The consistency of the icing should be thin enough to dip but thick enough that it doesn't all run off the muffin top. A little bit will roll down the side of the muffin. That's okay!
• The icing is optional. If you don't use it, sprinkle the muffins with sesame seeds or flaked coconut before baking.

Notes

This recipe can be easily halved!  

Icing is optional.  

I like using coconut cream instead of milk.  I think the muffins are little denser, richer and chewier with cream instead of milk.  Don't use lite coconut milk.

Play with flavors.  Any nectar or juice would work.  If you can find Hawaiian Sun Juice Drinks they have a variety of flavors including island favorite, POG (Passionfruit. Orange and Guava).