Mochi Pancakes

A light and golden outside with a soft and chewy inside are hallmarks of perfect mochi pancakes. If you’re a fan of mochi already and want to translate that sweet, chewy texture to pancakes, then this recipe is the right one for you!

Mochi pancakes are built for breakfast, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have them for dessert! Serve these gourmet treats topped with melted chocolate, fresh fruit, or drizzled with maple syrup for a truly delicious cake. 

What Are Mochi Pancakes?

Mochi pancakes are set apart from traditional all-purpose flour pancakes with the use of mochiko flour.

Mochiko flour is a kind of rice flour, but not just any old rice flour! Mochiko is a Japanese sweet rice flour made from cooked mochigome, which is a glutinous variety of short-grain rice.

To prepare mochiko, the rice is first washed in water to remove the outer husk. After that, the kernels are dehydrated and milled into a fine powder.

Mochiko flour is set apart from other rice flours because of its sweet, sticky attributes. In traditional mochi treats, it creates a chewy, soft texture, which is what it also does in this pancake recipe!

Can I Make Mochi Pancakes With Plain Rice Flour?

You can make pancakes with rice flour, but at that point, they would no longer be considered mochi pancakes. For authentic mochi pancakes, you’ll have to get your hands on some mochiko flour (which you can purchase online if need be).

Can I Make Pancakes Gluten-Free?

This particular recipe is not gluten-free because I’ve included some additional all-purpose flour. This added flour gives a bit more volume and fluffiness to the pancakes, which I’m definitely a fan of.

However, you can always swap out this extra flour with your preferred gluten-free flour, or you can even just use mochiko alone!

Do be advised that using just mochiko flour creates a very dense and chewy pancake, which may or may not be your cup of tea. Using an additional flour to help balance the chewiness of mochiko flour is, for me, the way to go. 

Can These Be Vegan?

These pancakes have milk and eggs in them, so those respective ingredients will need to be swapped out if you’re looking to make this particular recipe vegan.

You can use flax eggs as the binding agent and any preferred substitute for milk that you like.

What Do Mochiko Pancakes Taste Like?

These pancakes are soft and pillowy, just like traditional pancakes, but still hold up to various toppings.

They’re perfect for soaking up syrup or honey, but they have a nice chewiness to them, all thanks to the glutinous rice flour.

Though these pancakes may seem like they should be denser with the presence of mochiko flour, I think this recipe creates some very subtly sweet, delicate pancakes that are a great way to mix up your normal Saturday morning pancakes!

How To Make Mochi Pancakes

Step 1

Assemble your ingredients.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together mochiko flour, plain flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Step 2

In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients and stir until you have a smooth batter.

Step 3

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.

Drop ¼ cup of the batter into the heated and greased skillet.

Cook the pancakes until bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Lift and flip the pancakes and cook for another minute.

Step 4

Serve pancakes warm topped with fruit and maple syrup or honey.

Enjoy!

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