Lina Takahashi Eats
Butter mochi cake is a classic Hawaiian-style dessert made with sweet rice flour that gives it a chewy, mochi-like texture. This butter mochi cake recipe is naturally gluten free, incredibly fluffy, and lightly crisp around the edges. My version is based on my mom’s handwritten recipe and features matcha swirls and pockets of chocolate chips for extra depth and flavor.
This recipe makes a large butter mochi cake, so feel free to halve it if needed. That said, it’s so good that you may be glad you made the full batch.
My mom has always written her recipes on random notecards and sticky notes, and I love stumbling across them in unexpected places. During a trip to Colorado, I found her recipe for this incredibly fluffy butter mochi cake and immediately knew I had to make it.
What makes her butter mochi cake unique is the matcha swirl mixed into the vanilla batter, which adds an earthy note that pairs beautifully with the chocolate chips throughout the cake. It’s gluten free and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser every single time.
I personally love eating this butter mochi cake fresh out of the oven while it’s still warm, but it’s just as good once cooled. As it sets, the chewy mochi texture becomes even more pronounced, giving the cake a slightly different but equally delicious bite.
Below are additional notes on some of the key ingredients used in this butter mochi cake recipe.
I like using Mochiko by Koda Farms, but any glutinous rice flour will work. When I made this particular cake, I only had half a box of mochiko and used regular rice flour for the remaining half.
Using rice flour results in a slightly fluffier cake, while a 100% mochiko butter mochi cake will be more dense with a stronger mochi-like texture once cooled. Both versions are delicious, so feel free to experiment and see which texture you prefer.
You could substitute coconut milk with cashew cream, but I highly recommend sticking with coconut milk. It pairs beautifully with vanilla, matcha, and chocolate, and it contributes significantly to the fluffy texture of the butter mochi cake.
If you are using half rice flour and half mochiko, you may be able to omit the milk. If you are using 100% mochiko, adding milk (or a dairy-free alternative) helps keep the batter from becoming too thick.
Melt the butter just until all solid pieces disappear. If the butter becomes too hot, you’ll need to let it cool slightly to avoid cooking the eggs when mixing. I recommend microwaving the butter in 30-second increments and stirring between each interval.
I love using vanilla bean paste because of the flavor and the visual appeal of the black specks throughout the cake. Vanilla extract or vanilla oil can also be used, but the vanilla flavor will be less pronounced. I’ve also been enjoying bourbon vanilla extract from Trader Joe’s lately.
Chocolate should always be measured with the heart, but if you need a starting point, sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips over a thin layer of batter in the baking dish before adding the rest of the batter. Dark, milk, or white chocolate all work well in this butter mochi cake.
When baking this butter mochi cake, I use what I call the crumpled parchment paper method. Crumple a large sheet of parchment paper, wet it thoroughly, wring it out gently, and press it into the baking dish.
This method makes lining the pan much easier and adds a bit of moisture that helps keep the cake fluffy.
I used a 9×9 square pan and a 9x5x3 loaf pan because I love corner and edge pieces. If you prefer, you can bake the entire batter in one large pan, such as a 9x14x2-inch pan. For thinner cakes baked in larger pans, reduce the baking time by 5–10 minutes to prevent overbaking.
There are so many ways to customize this butter mochi cake recipe.
If you love matcha, you’ll enjoy this version, but hojicha (roasted green tea) is an excellent substitute and arguably even more fragrant.
You can also:
Have fun experimenting and making it your own.
If you make this butter mochi cake, I would love to see it. Tag me @takahasheats on Instagram or send me a photo. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this recipe 🤍
I made this for my family’s Christmas gathering and it was a hit! Instead of the matcha swirl, I added some pandan extract and it was delicious!! The texture of the cake was perfection – soft and bouncy. It was an easy recipe to follow as well! Will definitely be making this again!
Hi Clara! Thank you so much for making this recipe at your family’s Christmas gathering — that just made my day! Adding pandan extract sounds SO good! What a great idea!
So yummy! I added a black sesame paste to make a matcha + black sesame swirl.
Okay YUM!! That sounds absolutely delicious!! I want to add in a black sesame swirl next time, too!
I saw your insta and thought it looked simple enough so I saved it. This past Sunday (Feb 9) I made it with my daughter and it was absolutely delicious! It was a hit with the party! It was so good I made it again on Wednesday and one more time today!
Thank you and your mom for the recipe!! I prefer chocolate so I substituted the matcha for chocolate powder as you mentioned and this is a staple now!
Hearing this absolutely made my day!! I am so glad you and your daughter enjoyed it! Also, I LOVE that you made it with cocoa powder — one of my favorite substitutions 🙂
Hi Lina, just came across this and am eager to try. Two things: what size baking dish? And I’ve never seen a recipe ask me to wet parchment paper before. Is this to prevent sticking and would a coating of rice flour not do?
I have made it with a 9×13 baking dish or a 9×9 baking dish and another smaller oven-safe dish. What is great about this recipe is that you can really use whatever baking tin you have! I do recommend something at least larger than 9×9 to prevent it from being too thick (since it will then require you to bake it for much longer) but most baking dishes should work! Let me know if you have any questions about your baking dish size!