Chocolate-Butterscotch Butter Mochi with Coconut
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 cups mochiko sweet rice flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup butterscotch chips
- 1 12- oz can evaporated milk
- 1 13.5- oz can coconut milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¼ cup unsweetened dried coconut also known as dessicated coconut
Instructions
- Butter a 9x13 inch pan. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together mochiko, sugar, baking soda and cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and both chips together until melted and smooth, stirring frequently. Allow to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Whisk in the chocolate mixture until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until the center of the pan is set and when the tip of thin knife is inserted into the middle of the pan it comes back basically clean with no raw batter.
- Cool completely, in pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with coconut, slice.
Notes
- Store at room temperature in a covered container.
- If your chocolate/butter mixture is too hot and it cooks the eggs a bit when you whisked it in, Strain the whole mixture through a sieve, discard the solid bits and then pour it into the prepared pan.
I made these during a particularly difficult time this weekend (detailed here if you are interested) and if I can do that, you can totally make them in just a few minutes today.
I think butter mochi is one of Hawaii’s tastiest sweet treats and since we are all staying home right now (or should be) it’s a good excuse to make them at home. Apparently in Hawaii, they are sold all over and are at every bake sale but here in Baltimore, we have to make them ourselves anyway so why not now? They are sort of the Hawaiian equivalent of a brownie or blondie but with a texture closer to–but not quite– that of Japanese mochi. I can’t find a super clear history of them but they seem like sort of a mash-up of dango, bibingka and of course, mochi to me but made even easier (gotta appreciate the American love of convenience) with easy to find shelf-stable ingredients like canned milk and coconut milk and the fact that it is made in a huge pan so you can just slice and serve it. So simple!
Using the right flour is key. They have a slightly chewy, bouncy texture and to get that, you need mochiko sweet rice flour. It’s the same flour you use to make mochiko chicken so I always have some on hand. This recipe calls for about a box of flour. Make sure that if you don’t use Koda Farm’s mochiko sweet rice flour, the rice flour you use is (mochiko) sweet rice flour and not just “rice flour”. Sweet rice flour is made with short-grain, sweet glutenous rice and you need it to get the correct texture. There are other brands out there but I do highly recommend Koda Farm’s Mochiko Rice Flour. It’s very easy to find here, even Safeway has it.
Traditionally butter mochi is plain/vanilla flavored but I went wild and added chocolate and butterscotch because every non-chocolate dessert I eat just makes me wish for chocolate. I’m really not in the mood for making something I don’t 100% want to eat. I decided to top them with a fine layer of coconut to bring out the flavor of the coconut milk, which really gets covered up when you add chocolate and butterscotch. It also makes them a little easier to eat because they are slightly sticky, especially the next day when it’s so hot and humid out.
They are very rich so I recommend cutting them into small squares and using them to buy friends and make your neighbors like you so you don’t end up eating a whole pan yourself. Or eat them all yourself, I don’t judge. I don’t think they would freeze well and they only keep for a few days at room temperature so bear that in mind.
