Butter Mochi Recipe vs. Trader Joe’s Mochi Mix

When I first posted a picture of Trader Joe’s mochi cake mix on Instagram, I had at least 10 people ask me how it was. I hadn’t even bought it! But due to popular demand, I went back, bought the mix, and made my own butter mochi from scratch to compare it side by side. Keep reading to see my review of Trader Joe’s mochi, plus my homemade butter mochi recipe. I’ll let you decide which one is best!

Overall Trader Joe’s Mochi Cake Mix Review

Overall, Trader Joe’s mochi cake was pretty dang good. In terms of taste, I would say it was very similar to my custard mochi recipe. The texture, however, was more dense and chewy, similar to chi chi dango. You can see in the photos that it doesn’t rise very much when baked in the 8×8″ pan, as directed in the instructions. It was also VERY easy to make: just add water, eggs, melted butter, and bake.

Comparison to Homemade Butter Mochi

My homemade butter mochi from scratch is the most basic mochi cake recipe, from which you can make endless variations, like my chocolate butter mochi. The flavor is less creamy than my custard mochi or Trader Joe’s mochi cake, but the texture is lighter and more cake-like. Additionally, my butter mochi recipe takes up a whole 9×13″ baking pan and ends up being twice as tall. Making butter mochi from scratch is only marginally more difficult than using the cake mix. You just have to add in the baking powder, coconut milk, and evaporated milk yourself.

The thing I like best about my butter mochi recipe is that you can really adjust the flavor to your liking. You can reduce the amount of sugar by half a cup or switch out some of the sugar for brown sugar (that’s what I did to make the mochi in these photos), you can add some cocoa powder to make the chocolate butter mochi, or you can increase or decrease the amount of salt to your liking. I’m thinking of trying to use browned butter next time for a browned butter, brown sugar mochi, doesn’t that sound good?

Benefits of Trader Joe’s Mochi Cake Mix:

• You don’t need to go to an Asian grocery to find mochiko.
• You can make it with ingredients you probably already have at home.
• 8×8″ size is good for less people.

Benefits of Butter Mochi from Scratch:

• Can feed more people (9×13″ pan).
• Has lighter, fluffier texture.
• Can adjust the recipe as needed.
• Still very easy to make.

Overall, in a side-by-side comparison, both Jeremy and I preferred the homemade butter mochi. BUT, we both agreed that the Trader Joe’s mix was still very good and would be helpful if we were in a pinch to make a last minute dessert without going to the grocery store. I’ll leave my recipe down below and let you decide which one to make!