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Close up image of glazed mochi doughnut on a speckled white plate with a spoon of glaze next to it

Mochi Bread Donuts

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5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Rising Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 40 minutes
Yield 15 donuts
Category Breakfast/Dessert
Cuisine Japanese
Author Lauren Grant

Description

This mochi donut recipe is from the cookbook The Art of Escapism Cooking. They're soft, yet chewy thanks to the use of bread flour. Not a regular doughnut, nor a cake doughnut, these are in a league of their own.
Reprinting writes granted for promotional purposes by William Morrow publishing.

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Ingredients

Mochi Bread Dough

  • 1 cup (117g) sticky rice flour*
  • 1 cup (235g) water
  • 3 cups (410g) bread flour, more as needed
  • 1 large egg plus 1 tablespoon egg white
  • 3 tablespoons (46g) granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons instant dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon (13g) unsalted butter

Doughnuts

Instructions

Make the dough

  • In a small saucepan, whisk the sticky rice flour and water until smooth, then cook it over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. It will appear lumpy at first, then eventually it becomes a big glob of sticky goo. When it does, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine the sticky rice goo, bread flour, egg and egg white, sugar, yeast and salt. Knead on low speed until the mixture comes together into a sticky dough (the dough may seem dry at first, but do not add water.
  • Add the butter, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl to help the butter incorporate evenly, and knead for 7–8 minutes, until the dough is extremely smooth and elastic. The dough should be sticky, but only sticking to the bottom of the bowlas the machine is running, leaving a thin opaque film on the sides of the bowl. It is too wet—sticking everywhere as the machine is running—add 1 tablespoon of bread flour at a time and knead again until it looks right. 
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled, 2 to 3 hours. 

Shape the donuts 

  • Dust the working surface with flour, then roll the dough into a large sheet about ⅜ inch (1cm) thick. Use a 4-inch (10-cm) dough doughnut cutter to cut out donuts. You can do it with or without doughnut holes. 
  • Cut out a 5-inch (13-c) square of parchment paper for each doughnut. Transfer the donuts onto the squares, set them aside on large sheet pans, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let them rise again until doubled (this will mostly show in thickness instead of width), 1 ½ to 2 hours. 

Make the glaze and topping 

  • Meanwhile, combine the honey, butter, and sea salt in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has come to a simmer and the butter is melted. Set aside to let cool to room temperature and thicken. 
  • Mix the cardamom and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. 

Fry the donuts

  • When the donuts are proofed, add 1 ½ inches (4 cm) of canola oil to a deep frying pan. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 325°F/160°C. 
  • Life one parchment paper with a doughnut on it and gently lower it into the frying oil (including the parchment). Use a fork or chopsticks (I used tongs) to press the parchment paper down do the hot oil can flood the bottom of the doughnut, which will release it from the parchment. When the parchment is free, remove with tongs. Fry until one side of the doughnut is golden brown, about 1 minute, then flip and fry until the other side is golden brown, about 1 minute more. 
  • If it takes way faster or slower than 1 minute for each side of the doughnut to brown, the oil, is either too hot or too cold. Adjust accordingly. 
  • Use a slotted spoon or spider to lift donuts up out of oil; draining and setting on a wire rack to cool. Repeat to make the rest of the donuts.

To serve

  • Drizzle the salted honey over the warm donuts and dust with cardamom mixture (a little goes a long way). Enjoy immediately.

Notes

Special equipment: stand mixer with a dough hook, rolling pin, 4-inch donut cutter (I used a round 4-inch cutter and a small ¾-inch cutter. 
A note on mochi bread dough: If you prefer a softer doughnut, you can substitute all-purpose flour for half of the bread flour in this recipe.
*Rice flour vs. sticky rice flour: they are two different products! Rice flour is made from Asian short-grain rice, whereas sticky rice flour is made from sticky rice (sometimes called glutinous rice, but fyi it's gluten-free). They have entirely different applications and characteristics and cannot, under any circumstances, be substituted for each other.
**A note on green cardamom: You probably won't be able to find ground green cardamom for purchase. Grind the whole green cardamom pods in a spice grinder until finely ground (you’ll need about 10 cardamom pods’ worth for the grinder to work.)

Nutrition

Serving: 1doughnutCalories: 262kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 4gFat: 9.5gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 68mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7g
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