Cocoa Mochi

Being from Hawaii, I grew up eating mochi. But, I had never eaten Cocoa Mochi until now. Seriously, "Cocoa Mochi, where have you been all my life?" My mom had a recipe for it, but she herself had never made it. My family, however, was eager to try it, and, since I was on vacation and had a lot of time to bake, I was elected to break this recipe in.

The recipe was extremely easy to follow. The only thing I noticed is that the mochiko flour tends to clump a lot when you add it to the wet ingredients. Obviously, you can't bake it like this because the lumps will turn hard in the oven and it just won't be very good. I solved this problem by pressing the batter through a strainer. It was quick work and the batter became smooth as silk.

After baking them, we took a taste. They were chewy, chocolatey, and ever so good. Think of brownies, but in a mochi form. My family absolutely loved them and promptly began to devour the batch. My sister took them to work with her and her co-workers loved them. I made another batch that same night and my mom took it to work with her. She said that her co-workers wiped them out.

So, the next time you have a chocolate craving, you could turn to the old stand-bys like cake or brownies. But, seriously, with a recipe like this, why would you? Kick things up a notch and satisfy that craving with Cocoa Mochi.


Cocoa Mochi

2 c. mochiko (rice) flour
1 (12 oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs

Combine the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs and cocoa powder. Add the coconut milk. Add the evaporated milk. Combine the baking soda with the mochiko flour and add to the wet ingredients. Upon adding the dry ingredients and stirring, you will find that the batter is very lumpy. Push the batter through a strainer to remove all the lumps. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan (or even better, a pan lined with parchment paper) and bake at 350F for 1 hour.