Pumpkin Mochi - Baked, Vegan, Gluten-free Fall Dessert Recipe
Chewy, warm, sweet pumpkin mochi filled with molten brown sugar filling or melted cheese filling. This easy recipe can help you to use up all the leftover from your Halloween pumpkin carving.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
For making pumpkin mochi dough
- 300 g pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin puree, which was 100% pumpkin. You can also use homemade pumpkin puree by steaming the pumpkin and smashing it.)
- 60 g brown sugar (Can be substituted with cane sugar.)
- 260 g glutinous rice flour (Can be substituted with regular rice flour, but not with flour or cornstarch.)
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder (Optional)
For the filling
- 5 tbsp brown sugar (Optional. You can also mix 50% brown sugar with 50% chopped nuts.)
- 5 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese (Optional)
Other
- 1 tbsp oil (To be brushed over the mochi doughs before baking. You can use melted butter or vegetable oil.)
- 1 cinnamon stick (To make faux pumpkin stems. You can also use cloves, sunflower seeds, or pocky sticks.)
Instructions
- Add pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and cinnamon powder to a large bowl, stir until fully mixed.
- Add glutinous rice flour to the mixture, mix and knead all the ingredients together with your hands for about 5 minutes, until it forms a dough. (The dough shouldn't be sticky or dry. You won't be able to stretch this dough like stretching a bread dough. As long as this dough feels smooth, it's ready to go.)
- Divide the pumpkin dough into equal 10 pieces. Each piece should weigh about 61g. Roll them into balls.
- Take a dough ball, use your palms to flatten it into a 4” circle. (Make sure the wrapper is no less than ½'' thick, otherwise the wrappers may leak when baked.) Add 1 tbsp of brown sugar or mozzarella cheese in the middle of the wrapper. Seal the wrapper, roll the dough into a ball.
- Gently press the ball down a bit, in this way you will get a 2.5'' diameter x 1'' thick flat pumpkin shaped dough. Use the back of a small knife to press 3 to 4 crossing lines on the top side of the mochi dough to mimic the pumpkin's pattern. (I pressed 3 lines on cheese flavor mochis, and 4 lines on brown sugar flavor mochis. So that I would be able to tell them apart after they are baked.)
- Preheat the oven to 340 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place the pumpkin mochi doughs on the baking sheet. Brush vegetable oil or melted butter all over each mochi dough to prevent cracking (don't forget the bottom side). Bake at 340 °F for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Transfer the baked pumpkin mochis to a serving plate. Cut a cinnamon stick into 1'' pieces. Insert a piece of cinnamon stick into the crossing point of the lines as a faux pumpkin stem. Serve hot/warm.
Video
Notes
How to store pumpkin mochi:
These baked pumpkin mochis can be stored in an air tight container under room temperature for 2 days.Do not store them in the fridge, otherwise they will turn dry and hard.
- Freeze the premade pumpkin mochi dough:
If you want to make them in large batches or send them to your friends, you can wrap each uncooked mochi dough individually with food wrap, and store them in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.When you are ready to enjoy them, take them out from the freezer, remove the food wrap, and steam them over medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes minutes until soft and fully cooked. There is no need to defrost before steaming.
Do not bake, pan fry, or air fry frozen pumpkin mochi, since they are very likely to crack and leak.