Recipe: Mochi Brownies
Super popular, crowd-pleasing, chewy as hell
Hello readers!
For this edition of All-Purpose, I will be sharing my super popular mochi brownies with you! It is Rad Joy’s most popular pastry, and has converted many a non-sweet, non-chewy texture lover to my campaign to make people love baked goods as much as I do. They are naturally gluten-free, and you can even make them vegan, or egg-free (see notes in recipe).
I wrote about it via Rad Joy’s instagram a while back, but the inspiration for this pastry has to do with some Asian social history from my home state of California. Pre-World War 2, Japanese migrants had many farms across California, and brought major innovations to the agricultural landscape. One of those major innovations came from the patriarch of the Koda Family, who pioneered a technique of sowing rice seeds by airplane. The lasting effects of that technique is still seen today, as California grows 550,000 acres of rice, and supplies about 97% of the U.S.’ sushi rice. Due to anti-Japanese sentiment due to the war, much of this Japanese-run farmland was seized and liquidated or mismanaged while families were put into internment. The Koda Family would eventually restore their farmland, and now make the Blue Star brand mochiko flour which I think lend the perfect chew and bite for these brownies.
There are many recipes on the internet for mochi brownies nowadays, but this is one that I spent a year and a half getting right, and I thought I’d stop gatekeeping the joy that it brings… your colleagues, friends, current and future lovers, and chosen family will love you even more than they already do. Everyone will think you are a goddamn friggin’ genius. If you have any questions or choose to bake them, let me know in the comments… you’re welcome ;)
