Baked Ube Mochi Donuts (Small Batch)

Ube Mochi Donuts can be easily baked at home in the oven. Enjoy this lightly sweetened chewy donut with a condensed glaze. Made from scratch with ube halaya jam and ube extract. The sweet rice flour will make the donuts chewy on the inside and a light crisp on the outside. These will serve great at a party or can be easily enjoyed at home.

Why make these?

Quick & easy to bake. The donuts can be easily whipped up in under 1 hour. If you are in a pinch to satisfy a donut craving but don’t want to leave the house here is the perfect recipe. It will also fill your house with a sweet aroma similar to a vanilla marshmallow.

Purple donuts. Not many things come out baked purple. These ube mochi donuts will catch anyone’s attention once they lay their eyes on them. The best thing about this recipe is the purple color can be adjusted to your preference. If you want light lavender colors donut use half the suggested amount of ube extract. If you want a deep dark purple double up the ube extract amount.

Small batch recipe. This recipe will yield 6 donuts. The perfect amount for a 6 cavity donut mould. Or if you are only baking for 2 or a small family of 4-6 this recipe is perfect to make to enjoy the same day and/or to have a few for the next day.

Why we love this recipe?

Chewy mochi-like. Mochi is a unique texture food. It versatile to incorporate different flavors like ube, strawberry and matcha. The list is endless, to be honest! 

Ube flavored. The donuts are flavored with be halaya jam and ube extract. It has become more common to see ube and even Trader Joe’s has ube waffle/pancake premix on their shelves.

Unique. Ube flavored baked goods are rare to find in bakery shops. This recipe tastes great and is comparable to any unique flavored donut you will find in bakery shops. 

What is ube?

Ube has become more mainstream and is more commonly seen on many dessert menus now. Sometimes it is snice to be able to whip up a little sweet dessert at home without having the hassle to trek out and look for these ube desserts. In many smaller towns it is harder to find.

So what is ube? It’s a tuber and commonly called a sweet purple yam. It’s commonly seen in many desserts such as Ube Horchata, Ube Brownies, Ube Souffle Pancakes, Ube Pancakes, Ube Crinkle Cookies and Ube Milk Bread. 

What is mochi?

Mochi is made with short-grain glutinous rice or mochigome. It is pronounced MOE-Chee.

It is popular in Japan and tastes like rice. It has a unique texture and is sticky, stretchy and chewy. 

Mochi donuts originated in Japan and were popularized by Mister Donut. They introduced deep-fried pon de ring donuts. Which are little balls of mochi stuck together in a ring shape and deep-fried.

I tried mochi pon de ring donuts for the first time when I travelled to Hawaii and can’t stop thinking about them.

In my Ube Mochi Waffles recipe, I also use sweet rice flour and ube flavors to create a chewy and fluffy ube flavors waffle.

What does an ube mochi donut taste like?

These donuts have a lightly sweet and earthy flavor. If I had to tell you what ube tastes like the closest thing I could think of is a marshmallow. The donut also has coconut milk so the coconut flavor is also a perfect complement to the ube.

What makes a mochi donut different?

Mochi donuts are a hybrid between a chewy mochi and a cake donut. The use of glutinous rice flour will make a chewy donut versus using all-purpose flour.

Ingredients, variations and adjustments

Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour. Glutinous rice flour and sweet rice flour are the same. In my experience, I have only used Blue Star Koda Farms Mochiko Sweet Rice flour and it always makes a great mochi donut. Added bonus: It is gluten-free.

baking powder. The baking powder is used to increase the volume of the donuts. It also helps with the texture and keeps is airy.

salt. Enhances the ube and coconut flavors in the donut.

brown sugar. Brown sugar is best for this recipe because it keeps the donuts moist and soft.

unsalted butter. Use room-temperature butter it will mix easier in the stand mixer.

egg. eggs at room temperature will help bind the sugar in the mixer.

coconut milk. The coconut milk adds richness and coconut flavor. If you won’t have coconut milk you can use whole milk as well. I have personally not used anything other than coconut milk for this recipe.

ube extract. Ube extract is the ingredient that makes the donut purple. I use ¾ tsp of the ube extract and the donuts come out deep purple. Ube extract can be found at Asian supermarkets near all the spices and other artificial flavor extracts.

ube halaya jam. Ube halaya jam is a jam made with sweet purple yam. It can be purchased in Asian supermarkets near all the canned fruit and jarred sweetened. I use the kababyan brand but any ube halaya jam will work with this recipe. An alternative is to make your own ube puree with fresh sweet purple yam. I have not personally made these waffles with fresh purple yam so I wouldn’t know how to make it.

vanilla extract. Vanilla extract will enhance all the flavors of the other ingredients in this recipe. Especially the ube. Using artificial vanilla extract is fine as well.

Kitchen Equipment for this Recipe

Donut pan. A donut pan is a must for this recipe to get that round shape with a hole. They have 6 cavities and 12 cavities donut pans. 

KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Using a stand mixer speeds up the prep work and my KitchenAid Stand Mixer makes baking much more enjoyable because it’s so easy to use.

Mixing Bowls. These mixing bowls are great for baking. There is a small, medium and large bowl.

How to make Ube Mochi Donuts

Mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl combine the sweet rice flour, baking powder and salt.

Mix wet ingredients. In the stand mixer bowl whisk the butter, brown sugar and egg until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, ube halaya jam, ube extract and coconut milk until well combined.

Combined dry and wet ingredients. Slowly pour half the dry ingredients and mix at low setting on the stand mixer. Gradually add the remaining half and mix. Do not over-mix the batter.

Preheat Oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease the donut pan. Spray with a neutral oil spray in each of the donut cavities. Using a spatula scoop the batter into each of the donut cavities. Fill each one until it’s 90% full and use the spatula to remove any air bubbles.

Bake. Bake on the middle rack for 12-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Make the glaze.  In a medium bowl whisk ¼ cup of confection sugar with 1 tbsp of whole milk and add the remaining ¼ cup of confection sugar. Add 1/2 tbsp of whole milk and whisk until it’s smooth. Once the glaze is smooth consistency add the ube extract and whisk until well incorporated. The glaze should have the same consistency as glue.

Glaze donuts. Once the donuts have cooled dip the top of the donuts (This would be the side that was facing down in the donut baking pan) and flip it up. Place the glazed donuts back onto the cooling rack. Let the first coat of glaze harden slightly. I give it 5 minutes and dip the donuts once again to get a thicker layer of glaze.

TIPS for this recipe

Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour. This is the only brand of sweet rice flour I use. I have not tried to use glutinous rice flour to make this so I won’t know if it will turn out the same.

Fill the donut cavities 90%. Filling the donut cavities to 85%-90% full will make a nice donut shape when you remove them from the mould. When they are too full the donuts come out shaped like a wide bell. If this happens take a pair of scissors and cut the wider edges off. 

Oil the donut cavities. This will make it easier to take out of the mould.

Use Spatula to fill the batter into the mould. The consistency of the batter will be thick. I used my spatula to spoon and fill in the donut cavities. Make sure to get all the air bubbles out before baking.

Double-dip the donuts into the glaze. In order to get a nice coat of glaze the donuts will need to be dipped twice. The first dip of glaze gets absorbed into the donut. 

How to Serve

The donuts will go great with a cup of coffee or pandan milk. If you are enjoying this in the fall try it with this Pumpkin Spiced Latte with Vietnamese Coffee

How to Store

Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Take them out at least 1 hour before eating to bring them to room temperature.

Recipe FAQ

Can these be frozen?

Short answer is no. The mochi donuts are meant to be eaten within three days and freezing them will change their texture of the mochi donuts. 

Can the batter be stored if I want to make it ahead?

Yes, the batter can be made ahead of time. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Take it out so it comes to room temperature before baking it. At least 2 hours on the counter.

Why isn’t the top of the donuts rising?

Don’t worry the donuts won’t rise like your traditional baked desserts. These will bake and rise slightly and when removed from the oven it will deflate

Why did the donuts come out like a bell shape?

The donut mould was filled too much. 85%-90% full will ensure you don’t’ waste batter and have to cut the donuts into a donut shape.

If you make this recipe, and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments at the end of the post.

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