Red bean butter mochi uses Japanese red bean paste for an even softer, squishier mochi texture. Plus, get some extra fiber in your dessert! Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
People unused to Asian desserts always do a double take when they learn that Japanese people love to eat beans as a dessert. And I get it, as someone who grew up in America. But beans as desserts is such a great idea! Think of the fiber! I’ll let my kids eat as much red bean paste as they want! And since I’m the Mochi Mommy, of course I had to make a red bean butter mochi.
What is Butter Mochi? What does Butter Mochi Taste Like?
Butter mochi is a cake made from mochiko, a type of Japanese rice flour. It has origins in Hawai’i, but it’s unknown who exactly invented it, or even if it came from Japanese or Filipino cuisines, or both! Butter mochi usually gets baked in a 9×13″ rectangular pan, making it great for sharing. It’s not fancy or fiddly. Just mix and bake. It tastes like a regular cake, but with a denser, bouncier texture, thanks to the mochi flour.
I frequently get the comment from some bakers complaining that their butter mochi is not chewy. Ultimately, butter mochi is a cake. It’s not chewing gum. Nor is it mochi, which is made from pure, densely pounded rice. So if that’s what you’re looking for, consider trying a mochi recipe like chi chi dango.
What are Japanese Red Beans (Azuki)?
Japanese azuki beans look like smaller kidney beans with a darker, redder color. In Japanese cooking, you can use the beans whole or mashed in a paste. When made into a paste, you usually add some sugar as a sweetener, as red bean paste is a common dessert topping or filling.
What Do Azuki Beans Taste Like?
Azuki beans taste similar to kidney or pinto beans, but with the added sugar in red bean paste, the texture and flavor resembles a soft marzipan. If you’re familiar with other Asian cuisines that frequently use sweetened beans in dessert, you’ll likely enjoy azuki beans. However, if you are used to beans solely as a savory dish, you may find azuki to be an acquired taste.
Types of Red Bean Paste and Where to Buy Them
You can buy both dry azuki beans and premade red bean paste in Japanese markets. When you make red beans into a paste, it’s called “an” in Japanese. Like with peanut butter, you can make red bean paste varying degrees of smooth or chunky. For a smooth red bean paste, look for “koshi an.” For chunky red bean paste, look for “tsubu an.”
You can make red bean paste at home from dry beans, but it does require some time and effort. It is also cheaper than buying premade paste. I like making homemade red bean paste when I will use it as a topping or filling for desserts where you really taste the red beans separately from the rest of the dish. For this recipe where the beans get baked into the mochi, store bought red bean paste works fine. I used koshi an when making the batch for these photos, but you could substitute a chunkier red bean paste if you like.
More Butter Mochi Flavor Variations
Looking for more butter mochi flavors? Check these out!
- Matcha Butter Mochi
- Black Sesame Butter Mochi
- Ube Butter Mochi
- Chocolate Butter Mochi
- Classic Hawaiian Butter Mochi
Red Bean Butter Mochi
Ingredients
- 8 oz mochiko about 1 3/4 cups or half a box
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 oz Japanese smooth red bean paste (koshian)
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- 4 oz butter, melted 1 stick
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 drops red gel food dye optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8×8" baking dish.
- Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring well to ensure no dry lumps of flour remain.
- Pour into your prepared baking dish and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow butter mochi to cool before slicing and serving. Leftover butter mochi can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days or kept in the freezer for a few months.
Video
Notes
- You can double this recipe and bake it in a 9×13″ baking dish for one hour.
- I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale to measure your mochiko. Differences in the amount of mochiko may result in differences in the thickness of your batter, which will affect bake time.
- Feel free to substitute ogura an (chunky red bean paste) for the koshian if you’d like to have pieces of red bean throughout your butter mochi, as opposed to a smooth texture.