Deliciously soft and chewy, effortless and naturally gluten free mochi doughnuts made entirely of rice flour. ?
So… you guys are probably aware of my doughnut obsession by now. I embarked on a quest to make the best possible gluten free doughnuts a long time ago and I’ve discovered many great and interesting recipes along the way, but today I have a whole new one for you! And of course it’s with my all time favourite gluten free flour (again): glutinous rice!
This is something I had been wanting to try for ages just because glutinous rice flour has such a wonderful elastic texture compared to all other gluten free flours. In fact it’s a wonder there aren’t more gluten free recipes making use of this very special ingredient (I talk about it a little more here, for those interested). It just seemed like it would work and well, little did I know that it’s already a thing in Asia…
Say hello to mochi doughnuts! ?
What are mochi doughnuts?
Well, as the name suggests, imagine if a mochi and a doughnut had a baby together and that’s exactly what you get. A deliciously soft, melt in the mouth doughnut that comes surprisingly close to the ‘real thing’, but with a chewier mochi-like bite. ?
And they’re not even specifically made as a gluten free alternative either; just a perfectly valid and accidentally gluten free way to make doughnuts.
As a bonus, they’re incredibly quick and easy to make (I swear!). The dough is easy to handle, not too sticky at all and unlike the ‘normal’ kind, mochi doughnuts don’t use yeast so there is no sitting around waiting for the dough to rise either. ?
You can also make them into filled doughnuts instead of rings.
For these, simply skip the hole in the middle when shaping them up with a cookie cutter and fry them a little longer to compensate (1 to 2 minutes extra). I also recommend making them smaller to avoid ending up with a raw uncooked center. It might take some practice to get it right so start with one and adjust the size if needed. ?
For the custard filling, I used canned Ambrosia Devon custard which I warmed up in a saucepan and thickened with a bit of cornflour, but you could also make some pastry cream from scratch {recipe here}. And for the icing, I stuck to a quick basic icing using icing sugar and milk with a touch of cocoa powder.
⛔️ But as a disclaimer, expect the texture to be a lot more mochi-like for these than the rings.
NOTE: glutinous rice flour (also known as sticky rice, sweet rice or mochiko) is quite different from normal rice flour and the two can’t be used as a substitute for the other so make sure you get the right one!
Mochi Doughnuts Recipe:
- 230g glutinous rice flour (2 cups) *DO NOT substitute with normal rice flour
- 55g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
- 8g baking powder (2 tsp)
- Pinch of salt
- 150g whole milk
- 35g unsalted butter
- 1 large egg (50g)
- Vegetable oil (to deep fry)
FRYING TIME (per batch): about 4 minutes
FOR A SIMPLE ICING:
Icing sugar
Milk
Flavouring of your choice (I used banana essence which was delicious!)
Optional: food colouring
NOTE: Best eaten fresh. And don't reheat leftovers! They are much better cold or at room temperature. Otherwise the heat messes up the texture and turns them all gloopy.
Directions
- Combine the dry ingredients into a bowl.
- Then add the milk, egg and butter (softened in the microwave first for 20-30 seconds) and mix with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer (with dough hooks attachments) until the dough comes together.
- Cover your hands with a bit of flour (to prevent sticking) and knead the dough until you have a smooth ball.
- Dust your work surface and rolling pin with a bit of extra glutinous rice flour as well a light sprinkle on top of the dough and roll until about half an inch thick.
- Cut out the doughnuts with a cookie cutter and cut a small hole in the middle. Repeat with the leftover dough. ⛔️ Note that the thicker and wider the rings are, the more mochi-like/chewy they’ll be so adjust according to your taste. For filled doughnuts, simply skip the hole in the middle and use a smaller cookie cutter; you don’t want them to be too big or you risk ending up with a raw uncooked center. I recommend starting with one as a test and adjust the size if necessary.
- Pour about 2 inches of cooking oil in a pan and heat it up to 165C (330F) (using a food thermometer to keep track). Then when you reach the right temperature, turn the heat down to medium/low.
- Add a few doughnuts (be careful not to overcrowd the pan – I do 4 at a time) and cook for about 4 minutes, flipping them from time to time, until they turn a nice golden brown colour. For filled doughnuts, increase the cooking time by 1 or 2 minutes extra to compensate.
- Fish them out and let them cool down completely on a rack before adding the icing.
- For filled doughnuts, poke a hole into them with a chopstick or skewer and move it about inside the doughnuts to make some room for the filling. Once completely cool, add your choice of filling to a piping bag with a long thin nozzle and fill your doughnuts. DISCLAIMER: don’t fill these in advance. They’re best eaten right away otherwise the filling mixes with the glutinous rice flour and it all get a bit too gooey!
- For a simple icing, mix some icing sugar with a tiny bit of milk (only a teaspoon at a time – you really don’t need a lot) as well as any flavouring and food colouring you’d like. Then dip the doughnuts in and place the back on the cooling rack until dry.
Enjoy!
Thank you for this receipt. I have allergies to Yeast, normal flour, milk and chicken eggs. So Can i sub in almond milk, and egg substitute to this receipt.
Could I bake them in the oven instead?
Hi! Unfortunately these doughnuts really have to be fried and cannot be baked. The texture of glutinous rice flour comes out very different when baked. I actually tried baking these once just out of curiosity and it really didn’t work so I wouldn’t recommend it! hehe
Hi does it work with an air fryer?
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I tried it with the air fryer out of curiosity, they were okay, not great. They did not puff up very much… they were flat and crispy/chewy.
Unfortunately these really have to be deep dried to have the right texture! 😉
I thought this was supposed to be a gluten-free mochi doughnut, if so then why is this in the ingredients: “230g glutinous rice flour (2 cups)”
Despite the confusing name, glutinous rice flour is gluten free! It’s just a type of rice. 🙂
These look amazing! Can they be air fried ?