Chewy Pumpkin Butter Mochi

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Butter mochi is already one of my favorite desserts to mess with, so giving it a fall glow-up with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice was a no-brainer. This pumpkin butter mochi keeps everything I love about that chewy, custardy Hawaiian classic and just wraps it in cozy fall flavor, so every square has the same stretchy, mochi-meets-cake bite with warm spice running all the way through. Chewy center, lightly crisp golden crust, and it might be the easiest showstopper you bring to Thanksgiving. One bowl, a whisk, a pan. That’s the whole move, and it’s SO good.

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It also made my list of 36 Easy Asian Desserts, alongside a bunch of other favorites.

What Makes This Pumpkin Butter Mochi So Good

It’s all about that texture. Butter mochi lives in this perfect middle ground between chewy mochi and soft cake, so you get a dense, stretchy, almost gummy center wrapped in a golden crust that crisps up at the edges. Add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and it goes off the chain, like fall in chewy square form. Fair warning, a pan of this vanishes CRAZY fast.

I first made this with Eggland’s Best eggs for a partnership, and good eggs really do pull their weight in a recipe this simple. It’s the same chewy sweet rice flour base as my banana butter mochi, just swapped over to a warm, spiced pumpkin flavor for the season.

What Makes Butter Mochi Chewy?

The chew comes from sweet rice flour, also sold as mochiko, which is milled from glutinous rice. Despite the name, glutinous just means sticky, so it’s naturally gluten free. That starch is what gives butter mochi its signature dense, stretchy bite instead of the light crumb you would get from regular flour. If you want to go deeper on the ingredient, The Kitchn has a clear breakdown of sweet rice flour versus regular rice flour.

Can I Use Pumpkin Pie Filling Instead of Pumpkin Puree?

No, stick with plain pumpkin puree here. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, so it throws off the sugar and spice balance and can make the mochi too wet. You want 100% pumpkin puree so you stay in control of how sweet and spiced it gets. Canned pure pumpkin is exactly what you’re after.

Tips for Making Pumpkin Butter Mochi

1. Sift the dry ingredients in

Whisk the sweet rice flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together, then sift them into the wet mix. Sweet rice flour loves to clump, and sifting is the difference between a silky batter and a lumpy one.

2. Whisk until truly smooth

Give the batter a real whisking until there are no streaks. A smooth batter bakes into that even, uniform chew you want all the way through.

3. Don’t underbake it

Bake until a deep golden crust forms on top, about an hour. Butter mochi needs that full bake to set the chewy interior. Pull it too early and the center stays soupy instead of stretchy.

4. Let it cool all the way before cutting

This is the hard part. Butter mochi firms up as it cools, so give it a good hour or two before slicing or you’ll get gummy, torn pieces. For a breakfast spin on the same pumpkin and mochiko combo, my pumpkin mochi pancakes hit that chewy note in the morning.

Storage & Leftovers

Pumpkin butter mochi is legit best the day it’s made, when the crust is still crisp and the center is at its chewiest. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for up to two days, or in the fridge for up to four. If you refrigerate it, let the pieces come back to room temperature or warm them for a few seconds in the microwave so they soften up again. If you want another fruit-forward version once the pumpkin season winds down, my mango butter mochi uses the same base with a tropical twist.

Equipment

• 9×13 baking pan
• Large mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Fine-mesh sieve
• Parchment paper

Ingredients

• 14 oz Coconut Milk (1 can)
• 12 oz evaporated milk (1 can)
• 30 oz pumpkin puree (2 cans)
• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 cups sweet rice flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, evaporated milk, pumpkin puree, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder, and sweet rice flour. Sift this dry mix into the wet ingredients through a fine-mesh sieve, then whisk until completely smooth.
3. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper and pour in the batter.
4. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a golden brown crust forms on top.
5. Let it cool for 1 to 2 hours, until completely cooled and set, then slice into squares and enjoy.

If you’re bored of pumpkin pie but still want that flavor on the table, this is the swap. Same warm spice, except the texture is chewy instead of soft, which is a much more interesting thing to eat at the end of a big meal.

It cuts into neat squares and travels well, so it’s an easy one to carry somewhere for the holidays. 🙌

If you bake this pumpkin butter mochi, leave a star rating on the recipe card and drop a comment to tell me how it went. It really helps other readers find the recipe!

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