This fast and easy donut recipe is unusual because it’s a mochi donut and it’s made with sticky rice flour. With this mochi donut recipe, you get the freshness of a donut, the chewiness of mochi and the alluring taste of matcha green tea. Mochi donuts are yeast free and gluten free and use matcha powder.
By marrying together the irresistible freshness of a donut and the addictive chewiness of mochi, you’ll end up with this intensely satisfying mochi donut. Sorry, the donut name’s not very creative… but how does “dochi” sound? This is the matcha powder recipe you’ve been searching for to go with your matcha tea to make it a complete matcha breakfast!
You can be eating these Matcha Mochi Donuts in 30 minutes — it’s a quick donut recipe!
Besides the incredible taste, incomparable texture and adorable roundness of these Matcha Mochi Donuts, this easy donut recipe is super quick to prepare and make.
Because this recipe is yeast free, you never need to wait for the dough to rise. And as there is no yeast in this donut recipe, you also don’t need to worry about other factors that generally affect homemade donut making – such as keeping the room a good temperature to allow for the dough to rise, and timing the rising and resting times.
The addictive chewiness of these mochi donuts will make it nearly impossible to stop eating this unusual matcha donut
Some yeast donut recipes require kneading of the dough, and at least 4 hours of resting. Other recipes may require proofing the dough twice!
But this is a very easy donut recipe that can be made very quickly. For these mochi donuts, you can quickly mix the ingredients together and immediately pop them in the deep fryer after shaping them.
If you’re trying to get breakfast or brunch served in the first half of the day, and looking for an easy and unusual matcha powder recipe donut, you’ll love this one. Likewise, if you want a quick donut any time of the day, this recipe is also a winner.
This unusual donut is unlike anything I have ever eaten. Mochi donuts display the best qualities of both donut holes and Japanese mochi. The mochi donuts gently crisp up on the outside, so you achieve a delicate outer skin, but on the inside, they are delightfully chewy.
Unlike a regular donut that has a heavy doughy chew, these Matcha Mochi Donuts have a marshmellow-y chew that’s light and pleasant. Once you try this type of donut, you may be hooked.
You can make mochi donuts into regular donut shapes, but I decided on donut-hole-sizes because 1) I don’t have a fancy donut cutter and 2) I was too lazy to roll out the dough, cut large circles in the dough, and then cut little holes in each of those large circles.
This easy matcha donut is crispy on the outside, but light and chewy like a marshmallow on the inside
But more importantly, one of my other reasons for making these mochi donuts into small donut holes is that you get a higher ratio of crispy-outer-skin to inside-chew with each bite. It also means more surface area for the powdered sugar and matcha to stick on, and that is definitely a good thing! Lastly, the shape also makes them more similar to Japanese mochi.
Complete your matcha breakfast with this fun matcha powder recipe for mochi donuts
One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is coming up with recipes like this one. I know these Matcha Mochi Donuts are going to be made over and over again, and every time we make them, we can invite friends over to help us finish them. Have yourself a complete matcha breakfast by pairing up these these Matcha Mochi Donuts with a cup of matcha tea!
How to make mochi donuts
I’ve been going on about how quick and easy this donut recipe is, but there are a few tips I want to share with you too.
First, you’ll need to make a mochi starter dough. This starter dough is probably not like anything you’ve ever cooked before. But it’s easy. You simply microwave sticky rice flour and whole milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds, stirring once in the middle.
Once you have the starter dough, the easy part is to mix all the ingredients together in a stand mixer. Everything will be wet and a bit sticky, but it will all come together. Don’t worry. The starter dough will help bind it all together.
Next you’ll just have to work the dough into donut holes. I do it by breaking the dough into 4 equal pieces, rolling each piece into a tube, then cutting short pieces off. This method helps get donut holes that are the same size. And it’s quick to roll into donut holes since they are already roughly shaped so when you cut the tube into pieces.
My deep fryer can hold about 8 mochi donut holes at once, so I have to fry the mochi donuts in batches. You’ll have to see how many you can fry at once, but making donuts all goes by very quickly.
Especially when you snack on them as they come out of the deep fryer. Now that’s a real treat. Enjoy this mochi donut recipe!
Matcha Mochi Donuts (GF)
Print RecipeIngredients
Starter dough
- 1/4 cup sticky rice flour (30 grams)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk (30 milliliters)
Main donut dough
- 1 3/4 cups sticky rice flour (225 grams)
- 1/2 cup whole milk (120 milliliters) (plus more, as needed)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (35 grams) - melted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Matcha powder
For the dusting
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (30 grams) (icing sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Matcha powder
Instructions
To make the starter dough
- In a small microwavable bowl, mix together the sticky rice flour and whole milk. Heat it in a microwave on high for 30 seconds. Give everything another quick stir, and heat for another 15-20 seconds, until the dough is cooked through. It will look opaque and feel firm, but springy to the touch. Set aside to cool for several minutes.
To make the main donut dough
- Using a stand mixer with the dough hook on low speed, mix together the sticky rice flour, whole milk, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, egg, baking powder, Matcha powder and starter dough, until everything is well mixed and the starter dough is completely incorporated. The dough will be wet and sticky, but it shouldn't "glue" itself to your hands when you touch it. If needed, add in more milk by the teaspoon (I added in 2 more teaspoons).
- Dust a work surface with sticky rice flour, and transfer the dough onto the surface. Cut the dough into four pieces. Roll each piece into a long tube, about 1/2-inch to 1-inch in diameter, depending on how large you want the mochi donut holes to be. I used a variety of sizes between 1/2-inch to 1-inch. Cut each tube into about 15 pieces equal pieces.
- Using the palms of your hands, roll each piece into a ball, and place on a plate that is lightly dusted with sticky rice flour. You should get roughly 60 donut holes.
- Heat oil in a deep fryer to 330°F/165°C. Without crowding the pot, carefully place in several donut holes. The donut holes will immediately sink to the bottom for the first 30 seconds, then they will flat back up. Fry, rotating as needed, until the donut holes are puffed up and lightly golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack to drain. Repeat with the remaining donut holes, making sure that the oil stays at a consistent temperature. (See notes below for a quick tip.)
To serve
- In a small bowl, make the dusting sugar by mixing together the powdered sugar with the Matcha powder. Once the donut holes have cooled, sift the dusting powder over all the donut holes, rotating if desired.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Tip for quickly transferring the donut holes into the deep fryer: Place about 6 donut holes on a small sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the entire sheet of parchment paper, with the donut holes on top, into the deep fryer. Carefully remove the parchment paper using tongs once the donuts have floated up.
Dayna Hoskin says
I found the end result to be a little gritty in texture, maybe due to the rice flour? Did I make a mistake somewhere or is this normal for these donuts?
Thankyou.
Tina Jui says
Hi Dayna, it’s likely due to the brand of rice flour as I find some rice flour brands are finer than other brands. I can’t remember the brand I like, but it’s a Japanese brand from the local Asian grocery store. Hope this helps!
Lela says
I was wondering can you substitute coconut milk instead of using whole milk?
Tina Jui says
Hi – I haven’t tried it before, but am curious too! Please do let us all know if you give it a try.
Carla says
These look fabulous. I have two questions:
1. How can I make these without a microwave and
2. How can I make one day and serve the next? You recipe says to consume emmefiately.
Sharon says
Wow your photos are gorgeous! They are making me want to make these doughnuts right now!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I would definitely not be stopping with one here. So it is definitely a good choice you have made them bite size. Wonderful recipe!
Lisa says
You are right…they are adorable! But most importantly these sound so delectable!!! I bet my family would polish these off in no time!
Tina Jui says
Haha, don’t forget to stash some away for yourself as you make them..! The trouble I have is that everyone always eats as I am cooking.. and when I finish making these.. there’s none left for me ;D
Vicky @ Avocado Pesto says
Looove the sound of these and totally support your reasoning for making these small donut holes! I love matcha but have never heard of teapigs before so heading over to check them out now!
Tina Jui says
I’m a huge donut hole fan. Hopefully I have some new converts ;)
Catherine says
Dear Tina, I am a big fan of this matcha donuts. They sound wonderful…I have to pick up some matcha and try these soon. Pinning for later dear. xo, Catherine
Cheska says
Hi! Do you think I could make these without frying them? More specifically, in a baby cakes donut maker or baked It looks delicious, but I don’t want to use up all that oil to fry. Thanks :]
Tina Jui says
Hi Cheska, I haven’t tried to bake this recipe, but my friend Bonnie has a beautiful baked mochi donut recipe on her site: http://www.thirstyfortea.com/recipes/mini-mochi-donuts/ Hope those work out for you!