Pecan Pie Butter Mochi Recipe
Nov 04, 2024 • Updated Jan 07, 2025
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If you’re a fan of classic butter mochi cake but also crave the rich, caramel flavours of pecan pie, this pecan pie butter mochi is a little more fun with a chewy, bouncy texture and a crunchy brown sugar pecan pie topping! This recipe is easy to follow and delivers on texture, taste, and nostalgia all at once.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Easy Butter Mochi Recipe
Not only is this dessert naturally gluten-free (like my easy pumpkin mochi), thanks to mochiko which gives the mochi its unique chewiness, but it’s also vegan-friendly, using silken tofu and vegan butter to keep things plant-based without sacrificing its rich flavor.
Best of all, this no-bake has simple ingredients and easy steps so there’s no need for complex baking techniques. Just mix, bake, and enjoy a cozy, holiday dessert that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
What is Mochi?
Japanese Mochi is a traditional food made from glutinous rice flour – a special type of rice flour made from sticky or “glutinous” rice, also known as sweet rice flour or sweet rice. Despite its name, glutinous rice flour is entirely gluten-free. The term “glutinous” simply refers to its sticky, glue-like consistency when cooked. Mochi has a sticky, chewy, and dough-like consistency and is popular in desserts like the one I’m sharing today.
You can find mochiko or glutinous rice flour at Asian markets or Asian grocery stores, and even Safeway or Whole Foods in the ethnic/Asian section. I recommend the Koda Farms brand, it’s a family-owned Japanese brand my grandma always uses. It’s also so important to note that you cannot replace mochiko rice flour with regular white rice flour or other rice flour, it must be this sweet, glutinous rice flour to achieve the right texture! You can also order it on Amazon!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Butter Mochi
- Silken tofu: This acts as an egg substitute, lending a creamy texture and subtle flavour.
- Vegan butter: Adds a buttery depth to the mochi. Coconut oil can work if you need an alternative.
- Organic cane sugar: You can substitute this with coconut sugar for a deeper flavour.
- Glutinous rice flour (mochiko): Essential for that chewy mochi texture.
- Baking powder
- Vanilla bean paste: Vanilla extract works as a substitute but will create a slightly different flavor and texture.
- Kosher salt
- Brown sugar
Pecan Topping
- Raw pecans
- Maple syrup
- Brown Sugar
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
See the full recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts and instructions.
How to Make Pecan Pie Butter Mochi
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. On a sheet pan, mix together all pecan topping ingredients and bake for 7-8 minutes, until the syrup has mostly dried and crystallized. Remove from the oven, set aside, and let cool. Once cooled, roughly chop the pecans into smaller pieces. Line a 10×10 square baking pan with parchment paper, then grease with vegan butter or coconut oil.
Step 2: First, we’re going to break down the silken tofu. You can do this in a food processor, or blender, or simply pass through a sieve to get a nice, smooth liquid! I like to blend mine with one can of coconut milk. Next, melt the vegan butter over low heat in a saucepan. Once the butter is mostly melted, add the sugar, coconut milk, tofu, and vanilla bean paste, and whisk gently until evenly combined. Don’t whisk too vigorously – avoid creating too many bubbles! Set the wet ingredients aside.
Step 3: In a large bowl, sift together your dry ingredients — glutinous rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until completely smooth.
Step 5: Bake in the oven for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and it appears to have crunchy edges. Let cool completely in the pan or on a wire rack, then cut into small squares. Traditionally, it is cut into 24 pieces!
Step 6: Serve as is or with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Secrets to Success
- Parchment paper is your best friend when working with sticky mochi, making it easy to remove the squares after baking.
- Make sure you use mochiko flour. Regular rice flour won’t give you the chewy texture that makes mochi unique.
- A smooth tofu blend is key to a creamy, cohesive batter. This is essential to prevent lumps in the final mochi.
- Mochi can be tricky to slice while warm so let it cool COMPLETELY before cutting.
Serving Tips
- After letting the mochi cool completely, cut it into 24 squares for the perfect bite-sized treat. Arrange them on a cute holiday plate and sprinkle a few extra chopped pecans on top.
- Serve each square with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream or coconut ice cream.
- A dollop of coconut whipped cream or homemade maple cream on each square adds a little extra decadence.
- For those with a sweet tooth (it’s me, hi!), a drizzle of maple syrup over the mochi squares adds a lovely, earthy sweetness that pairs so well with the pecans.
- The great part about mochi is that you can flavor them in dozens of delicious ways. For example, other common flavours include ube, chocolate, and fruit or berry flavors.
Storage Tips
- Pecan pie butter mochi is best served fresh but if you have leftovers, I recommend storing them at room temperature in an airtight container. It will be good for 1 – 3 days.
- For longer storage, store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Make sure to bring to room temperature before eating!
Recipe FAQs
Definitely! You could try a walnut or almond topping if you prefer, or leave it out altogether for a more traditional butter mochi base. The topping adds crunch and flavour, but the mochi will still be delicious on its own.
More Original Recipes
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Pecan Pie Butter Mochi Recipe
Ingredients
Butter Mochi
- 3-5 oz silken tofu
- 1/4 cup vegan butter or use coconut oil
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 2 cans full-fat coconut milk or evaporated coconut milk
- 1 lb glutinous rice flour (mochiko)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 tsp salt kosher
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar for sprinkling on top
Pecan Topping
- 8 oz pecans raw
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- For the pecan topping, mix all ingredients on a sheet pan and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until most of the syrup has dried up and crystalized. Set aside and let cool while you prepare the mochi butter batter. Once cool, roughly chop the pecans into smaller pieces.
- Line and grease a 10×10 square baking pan with parchment paper, then vegan butter or coconut oil.
- First, we're going to break down the tofu. You can do this in a food processor, blender or simply pass through a sieve to get a nice, smooth liquid! I like to blend mine with one can of coconut milk.
- Next, melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Once the butter is mostly melted, add the sugar, coconut milk, tofu, vanilla bean paste, or extract, and whisk until evenly incorporated. Don't whisk too vigorously–avoid creating too many bubbles! Set the wet ingredients aside.
- In a large bowl, sift in your dry ingredients — glutinous rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Add your melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until completely smooth.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour, until the surface is golden brown. Let cool completely, then cut into small squares. Traditionally, it is cut into 24 pieces!
- Serve with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream, if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
- Parchment paper is your best friend when working with sticky mochi, making it easy to remove the squares after baking.
- Make sure you use mochiko flour. Regular rice flour won’t give you the chewy texture that makes mochi unique.
- A smooth tofu blend is key to a creamy, cohesive batter. This is essential to prevent lumps in the final mochi.
- Mochi can be tricky to slice while warm so let it cool COMPLETELY before cutting.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
