Vegan Mochi Waffles Recipe

Vegan mochi waffles are made with glutinous rice flour instead of wheat, which gives them a crisp shell and a chewy, stretchy centre. Six ingredients, no eggs and no dairy, and they cook in about five minutes in a hot waffle iron. Despite the name, glutinous rice flour contains no gluten at all.

What is mochi?

Mochi is a rice cake eaten across Japan and, in various forms, through China and Southeast Asia. Traditionally it is made by steaming glutinous rice and pounding it until it turns into a smooth, elastic mass. Home versions usually skip the pounding and use glutinous rice flour mixed with water and sugar instead, which is what happens here. Although mochi is eaten year-round, it carries special significance for the Japanese New Year.

What makes mochi waffles chewy?

Vegan Mochi waffles are dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and gluten-free. The chew comes from the starch in the flour rather than from gluten. Glutinous rice is high in amylopectin, a branched starch that turns sticky and elastic when it is cooked, and that is what gives mochi its pull.

MindShift Mentors · 7 nights free

It’s 9pm and you’re not even hungry

The kitchen light goes on anyway. Fifteen minutes of guided audio a night, aimed at the pattern rather than the willpower.

Try 7 nights freeThat’s me, most nights

The flour to use is mochiko, a sweet rice flour milled from mochigome, a Japanese short-grain glutinous rice. It is also sold as gyuhiko or daifukuko. If you cannot find glutinous rice flour, a mix of regular rice flour and tapioca flour gets you part of the way there, though the chew will be softer and less springy.

For the milk, almond or coconut milk both work. Coconut milk brings the most flavour and a slightly richer texture.

Ingredients

• 1 cup glutinous/sweet rice flour (about 160 g)
• 2 tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 10 tsp vegan milk of choice (about 50 ml), plus extra as needed
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Brands of sweet rice flour absorb liquid quite differently, so keep the milk carton beside you. You may well need noticeably more than the amount listed to reach a thick batter, and that is normal.

Instructions

Prepare a batter by adding glutinous rice flour, salt, baking powder and sugar into a bowl and whisk to mix everything well. Sifting the dry ingredients is worth the extra minute, as rice flour clumps.

Add 8 tsp of the milk along with the vanilla and mix. Add the remaining 2 tsp, and more milk a teaspoon at a time, until the batter comes together.

Getting the consistency right is the whole game. The batter must be of dropping consistency and not flowing consistency. It should be thick enough that it falls off the spoon in a lump rather than a stream, and it should not spread far enough to touch the top plate of the waffle maker, otherwise your waffles will steam and go soggy. Mochi waffle batter looks thinner and whiter than a regular waffle batter.

Do not be tempted to add extra baking powder. Too much and the waffle puffs up and turns fluffy in the middle, which is the opposite of what you want here. A teaspoon of cornflour added to the dry ingredients will make the crust crisper.

Heat the waffle iron thoroughly and grease it lightly, as rice flour batters like to stick. Drop in a quarter of the batter and cook for around 5 minutes until the crust turns golden and crisp. Cook until the outside is genuinely crisp, not just set.

Serve them hot with ice cream, fresh fruit, whipped coconut cream or sweet red bean paste.

New flavour ideas for vegan mochi waffles

Whisk matcha powder, coffee powder or cocoa powder into the dry ingredients for a flavoured sweet waffle. For a savoury version, leave out the sugar and vanilla and add vegan cheese and jalapenos, which gives you something close to a Japanese cheddar waffle. Matcha mochi waffles are lovely with caramel sauce and coconut yoghurt, and berries on top work with almost any version. These waffles are lightly sweet, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.

These waffles are special because of their following features:

• Very simple and easy to prepare
• Delicious in taste
• No oil in the batter
• Vegan
• Crispy on the outside and delightfully chewy and soft on the inside

Tips and tricks for making great vegan mochi waffles

The texture of the batter matters more than anything else. A sifter is recommended for the dry ingredients so no clumps form. Coconut milk brings more flavour and body than other plant milks, though any of them will work. Let the waffle iron come fully up to heat before the first waffle goes in, since an underheated iron is the main cause of a pale, chewy-all-the-way-through result.

Important notes

The recipe is gluten-free as written, as long as your rice flour and baking powder are certified gluten-free.

Favourite toppings include syrup, icing sugar, fruit, berries and whipped coconut cream.

Use whichever non-dairy milk you like. Soy, oat, almond and coconut all behave much the same in this batter.

What can you put on mochi waffles?

Fresh berries like blackberries, blueberries and strawberries are the easy choice. You can also drizzle on chocolate sauce or peanut butter, or dust the waffles with icing sugar, cocoa powder, coconut flakes or slivered almonds. Fruit syrup, flavoured syrup or plain maple syrup all suit them.

Recipe Variations

• Matcha Mochi Waffles: add 1 tsp of matcha powder to the dry ingredients and whisk it well.
• Chocolate Mochi Waffles: add ¼ cup (about 25 g) of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients, then add ⅓ cup (about 80 ml) of melted chocolate and whisk it well.
• Red Bean Mochi Waffles: add ⅔ cup of sweet red beans to the batter and whisk it well.
• Strawberry Mochi Waffles: add 1 cup of chopped strawberries to the batter and top the waffle with berries or strawberry syrup.
• Vegan buttermilk Mochi Waffles: stir 1 tsp of lemon juice into the plant milk and let it sit for 5 minutes before mixing it in.

Types of Vegan Mochi Waffles

Fruity mochi waffle: flavours used in this waffle are strawberry, banana and lemon.

Unique mochi waffle: flavours used in this waffle are matcha, red bean and ube.

Other mochi waffle: flavours used in this waffle are chocolate, almond and coconut.

Vegan mochi waffle questions

Can I use regular rice flour instead?

Not on its own. Ordinary rice flour has a different starch make-up and will give you a waffle that is crumbly rather than chewy. If glutinous rice flour is unavailable, blend roughly three parts regular rice flour with one part tapioca flour, which gets you closer to the stretch. The result is good, but it is not quite mochi.

Why did my mochi waffles turn out soggy?

Usually the batter was too loose, so it spread and touched the top plate and steamed rather than crisped. It can also be an iron that was not hot enough, or waffles pulled out too early. Give them the full 5 minutes and look for a deep golden crust before you lift the lid, and resist opening it partway through.

How do you store and reheat mochi waffles?

They are best straight from the iron, when the contrast between crisp and chewy is at its peak. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Reheat them in a toaster, an air fryer or a dry pan to bring the crust back. A microwave will warm them through but leaves them soft all over.

Where do you buy mochiko?

Most Asian grocers stock mochiko or another brand of glutinous rice flour, usually in a small box or a plastic bag labelled sweet rice flour or glutinous rice flour. Larger supermarkets often carry it in the international aisle. Check the packet says glutinous or sweet rice, since plain rice flour sits right beside it and looks identical.

These vegan mochi waffles are a good weekend breakfast and an even better snack. Mix the batter, drop it into a hot waffle iron and you have crisp, chewy waffles in under 10 minutes.

• Dairy-Free Mochi Waffles
• Egg-Free Mochi Waffles
• Gluten-Free Mochi Waffles
• How to make Mochi Waffles
• Mochi Waffles Ingredients
• Mochi Waffles Recipe
• Mochi Waffles Topping ideas
• Vegan Mochi Waffles