Ube butter mochi is a delightful, chewy dessert that combines the vibrant flavor of ube, a purple yam popular in Filipino cuisine, with the chewy texture of butter mochi. It’s quite a crowd-pleaser and great to make for a group of friends or family. It’s quite simple to make and only requires a couple of key ingredients.
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✅ Why Make This Recipe
Good for ube lovers – If you love ube, this ube butter mochi was made for you! Paired with delicious coconut flavor, this ube butter mochi is irresistible.
Chewy texture – This recipe utilizes key ingredients to make for an especially chewy texture, making for a great delicious butter mochi.
Great for groups – This batch can make 12 delicious pieces of ube butter mochi, which is great to share at your next gathering or to show your friends some love! I know my friends gobbled this up in a snap.
💭 What is Ube?
Ube is a purple yam commonly used in Filipino cuisine, particularly in desserts and drinks, such as my favorite ube latte. It gained popularity in the United States, including in Trader Joe's products like pancakes.
Ube is often compared to taro, another root vegetable, but they have distinct flavors and appearances. While taro has a light purple or grayish hue, ube is characterized by its vibrant purple color and a sweeter taste. Both are versatile ingredients in various culinary applications. Learn more about the differences of these two plants here.
📋 Ingredient Notes
To make the ube butter mochi, you’ll need the following key ingredients:
- Ube Extract – Gives the ube flavor to the butter mochi and its beautiful purple hue
- Mochiko Rice Flour – Mochiko rice flour is a glutinous rice flour commonly used in Asian cuisine known for its sticky and chewy texture when cooked. There is no substitute for this ingredient so I would prioritize getting this ingredient. You can find this at most Asian grocery stores, on Wee (an Asian grocery delivery platform), or online.
- Coconut Milk – Coconut is commonly paired with ube desserts and for good reason. Coconut milk enhances the ube flavor, creating a truly delicious and harmonious combination.
- Butter – The base of the butter mochi
- Vanilla Extract – Adds another layer of complexity of flavor to the butter mochi
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
📖 Substitutions and Variations
Top with coconut flakes or nuts – If you want to add a pleasing crunch, top with coconut flakes or crushed macadamia nuts.
Substitute Heavy cream with milk or half and half – If you don’t have heavy cream, you can also substitute it with milk or half and half. Just be aware that this will result in a less chewy mochi.
Substitute ube extract with ube halaya – You can also substitute ube extract with ube halaya - you will likely need to reduce the amount of sugar used since ube halaya already has plenty of sugar. To substitute, mix about 6 ounces of halaya into the batter.
🔪 Step by Step Instructions
Prepare the ingredients and oven – Weigh out the ingredients with a food scale and gather everything. Preheat the oven to 375F.
Melt the butter – Melt the butter in a mixing bowl by microwaving it for 30 seconds at a time until melted.
Add in the milk and extracts – Add in the coconut milk, heavy cream, ube extract, and vanilla extract. Mix everything together thoroughly. Let the mixture cool off a bit before adding the eggs.
Add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly – Add and crack the eggs in one by one, being sure to mix the egg thoroughly before adding the next egg.
Add the dry ingredients – Add the mochiko rice flour, baking powder, and sugar. Mix everything together, scraping down the sides with a spatula.
Prepare for baking – Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper. Pour the mixture into the pan and flatten with a spatula or knife.
Bake – Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool and serve – Let the ube butter mochi cool at room temperature for at least an hour, ideally longer, before cutting and serving.
💭 Recipe FAQs
No, you can not. Substituting mochiko rice flour for mochi is not recommended as mochiko is essentially the main ingredient in making mochi. Mochi requires additional ingredients such as water, sugar, and sometimes sweet rice vinegar to achieve its distinct chewy and elastic texture, making it a more complex composition than simple mochiko rice flour alone.
You can store the butter mochi in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
I would not recommend storing it in the fridge, as some people report the texture changing, resulting in a hardened butter mochi.
Yes, you can freeze it, just be sure to wrap each mochi individually with parchment paper. Just be aware that freezing the butter mochi will likely change its texture.
💭 Expert Tips
Use a kitchen scale – Given the precise measurements needed to ensure the mochi is the right texture, I would highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients.
Parchment paper – To make the cleanup process easier and easier to take out the mochi, line the baking tray with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can grease the pan with butter.
Use the toothpick method – To ensure the butter mochi is done cooking, check by poking it with a toothpick and see if it comes out clean.
Let the mochi solidify – Let the butter mochi solidify for at least an hour, ideally overnight. This will let the texture set in and solidify, resulting in a pleasing chew.
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🍳 Recipe
Ube Butter Mochi
Equipment
- 1 9x9 Baking Ban
Ingredients
- 8 oz Mochiko Rice Flour (½ box)
- 1 cup Granulated white sugar
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Heavy Cream
- 200 ml Coconut Milk (1 can)
- 3 oz Butter
- 2 teaspoon Ube Extract
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients and oven – Weigh out the ingredients with a food scale and gather everything. Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Melt the butter – Melt the butter in a mixing bowl by microwaving it for 30 seconds at a time until melted.
- Add in the milk and extracts – Add in the coconut milk, heavy cream, ube extract, and vanilla extract. Mix everything together thoroughly. Let the mixture cool off a bit before adding the eggs.
- Add the eggs one by one, mixing thoroughly – Add and crack the eggs in one by one, being sure to mix the egg thoroughly before adding the next egg.
- Add the dry ingredients – Add the mochiko rice flour, baking powder, and sugar. Mix everything together, scraping down the sides with a spatula.
- Bake – Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool and serve – Let the ube butter mochi cool at room temperature for at least an hour, ideally longer, before cutting and serving.
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