

Mochi muffins are not directly related to Japanese confections, though. I found it in Japantown in San Francisco but it’s relatively easy to find in any Asian grocery store or online. Mochi muffins and mochi-based Japanese confections couldn’t be any more different really, but have one thing in common: mochiko, also known as glutinous rice flour or sweet rice flour. Daifuku mochi (red bean paste wrapped in mochi), mochi ice cream, or simply mochi coated with kinako (roasted soybean powder), to name just a few. You are likely very familiar with muffins, but what is mochi? Mochi is a sweet, chewy Japanese rice dough used in a lot of traditional Japanese confections. And later on, I finally managed to taste the real deal and obviously I was not disappointed. They are soft and chewy on the inside, an unusual but surprisingly pleasant texture, like biting into a cloud, and crispy on the outside. Suddenly I realized what the hype was (and still is) all about. I finally settled on one and added a few twists, including matcha green tea, because - let’s be honest - this is a tea blog after all AND everything looks and tastes better with matcha. Out of exasperation, I decided to look up a recipe on the internet that would yield something similar to the descriptions I had read in the press. When they first became readily available a few years ago, I could not manage to get my Tea Squirrel paws on any Third Culture Bakery mochi muffins for a long time and I had no idea what they would taste like.

Their rise to stardom has been a quiet one, yet strong and steady, so much so that Third Culture Bakery, the Berkeley bakery that invented them, registered a trademark for The Mochi Muffin®.

Whether you can get them or not before they sell out, that’s a totally different story. A good substitute is a cup of chocolate chips.Mochi muffins have become so popular in San Francisco and the Bay Area that I challenge you to find a café or tea house where they’re not on the menu. My favorite kind of chocolate to use is Baker’s chocolate bars.

Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the muffins.Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness and moisture to the muffins.You can definitely taste the difference! Melted butter also works, but it’s just not as good. I chose to use browned butter for this recipe because it adds so much more flavor to the muffin. Butter – Adds a nuttiness and richness to this recipe.If you choose to use whole milk, make sure to use only 3/4 cup of whole milk. I tested this recipe with coconut milk and whole milk, and found that coconut milk yields the best results. Coconut milk – Coconut milk helps make these muffins made with mochi flour really moist.Mixed wet ingredients Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
