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Mochi cookies are a cross between a buttery cookie and soft, chewy mochi. With a sweet and sticky mochi filling, these cookies are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Mochi is a Japanese treat made of glutinous rice flour, sugar, and cornstarch. It has a soft and stretchy texture with a bit of chew. Classic mochi tastes similar to sweet rice, but it comes in every flavor you can dream up, including chocolate, strawberry, matcha, and cookies & cream.
This mochi cookie recipe is the ultimate cookie mashup - a buttery cookie surrounds soft and stretchy mochi for a sweet surprise. It's easy to customize too! You can flavor the mochi filling with matcha powder, raspberry jam, ube extract, or dried fruit powder.
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These mochi stuffed cookies are addictively delicious. It's hard to stop at just one, which is just fine with me! If you love classic mochi or mochi ice cream, you're going to love this chewy cookie recipe!
👩🍳 Why This Recipe Works
- Perfect for mochi lovers
- Endless flavor combinations
- Delicious treat
- Easy to make, easy to customize
- Mochi filled cookies, gooey mochi in every bite!
- Sweet filling with a chewy texture
- Best mochi cookies ever!
🥘 Ingredients
- Butter: Cookies need fat for texture and flavor. Butter keeps the cookies moist, soft, and chewy. For a dairy-free version, use vegan butter sticks.
- Brown sugar: To sweeten the cookies! White sugar or coconut sugar can also be used. I haven't tried maple syrup or honey in this recipe, but I'd imagine that would work too.
- Egg: Eggs bind the cookie dough and provide structure. Without eggs or an egg substitute, the cookie would just fall apart.
- Vanilla Extract: Don't underestimate the power of vanilla! Just a little bit enhances a cookie with its sweet vanilla flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Flour also provides structure. How thick or a thin a cookie is depends on the amount of flour it has. These Japanese rice cookies have the perfect amount of spread.
- Baking Powder: A leavening agent causes the cookies to rise in the oven. Without it, cookies would be overly dense.
- Glutinous Rice Flour: Not to be confused with regular rice flour, sweet glutinous rice flour or mochiko flour is a sweet rice flour made from short-grain rice that has a high starch content. It's essential for classic mochi and can be found at your local Asian grocery store.
- Powdered Sugar: To sweeten the mochi without making it grainy.
- Milk: To absorb the rice flour and powdered sugar.
📖 Variations
- Matcha Mochi Cookies: Add a teaspoon of matcha powder to the mochi filling before you microwave it. Matcha cookies are one of my faves!
- Ube Mochi Cookies: Add 1/4 teaspoon of ube extract and purple food coloring to the filling mixture before you microwave it.
- Mochi Chocolate Chip Cookies: To make soft chocolate chip cookies with gooey strands of mochi as a filling, just add mini chocolate chips to the top of the cookies before baking. You can even use white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips if you like!
- Chocolate Mochi Cookies: Stir cocoa powder into the filling mixture before you microwave it.
- Mochi Pandan Cookies: Add 1/4 teaspoon of pandan extract to the filling.
🔪 Instructions
Preheat Oven, Cream Butter & Sugar: Preheat your oven to 340 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes.
Add Egg: Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Form Cookie Dough, Chill Dough: Add the dry ingredients and beat until a cookie batter forms. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Make Mochi Filling: Whisk the filling ingredients in a microwave-safe medium bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes.
Let Cool: Remove the plastic wrap and mix well. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
Divide Filling: Divide the mochi dough and roll into 12 equal-sized balls.
Cut Cookie Dough: Roll the cookie dough into a log and cut into 12 equal sized pieces.
Wrap Mochi Filling: Take one piece of cookie dough and flatten it into a disc shape. Place a mochi ball in the middle and carefully wrap the cookie dough around it. You don't want any holes for the filling to leak out. Place the cookie on the prepared baking sheet.
Repeat & Bake: Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. Bake the mochi cookie dough balls in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
Let Cookies Cool: Carefully remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
❓ Recipe FAQs
What do mochi cookies taste like?
These cookies taste like delicious soft and chewy cookies surrounding sweet and chewy mochi! The mochi has a chewy texture and can be flavored any way you like.
How should I store mochi cookies?
Let the cookies cool to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days. They are best enjoyed within 24 hours of being made. Avoid refrigerating the cookies, since the mochi filling will harden.
Can you overcook mochi?
Yes, it's important not to overcook the mochi. It should only take two minutes in the microwave. Just let the mochi cool for 5 minutes and it will set up like it's supposed to.
Can I freeze mochiko cookies?
Yes! These Japanese rice cookies with mochi filling freeze well. Let them cool to room temperature, then place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw before enjoying, or microwave in 15-second increments until slightly warm.
💭 Expert Tips
- Allow the mochi filling to cool completely before shaping it into balls.
- Using kitchen gloves, lightly spray your hands with spray oil before shaping the mochi filling. This makes it easier to shape!
- Chilling the dough prevents the cookie dough from spreading too much while it cooks.
- Do not over cook the cookies as they will start to crack on top.
- When covering the filling with cookie dough, make sure to cover all the gaps and cracks to create a smooth outside coating.
- Cookie dough can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead of time.
