These vibrant purple sweet potato treats are a love child between pancakes and mochi - fluffy, sweet, and slightly crispy on the exterior like pancakes, and chewy, stretchy, and tender like mochi! They're naturally gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free.
Mochi is one of my all time favorite Asian dessert, the chewy, sticky, stretch texture is just so satisfying and addicting, and of course, it's NOT TOO SWEET just like most Asian desserts which is also another big reason I love them. But that's not all, they're also super simple to make and require the most humble ingredients - I made these mochi pancake bites with only 2 ingredients! Plus the optional sesame seeds for topping.
All you need is purple sweet potaotes and glutinous rice flour. About these two ingredients, first of all, purple sweet potatoes are NOT the same as ube! They're two completely different vegetables, ubes are a little lighter in color and less sweeter, usually a little drier in texture as well, whereas purple sweet potatoes have a rich purple color, juicier flesh, and a much sweeter taste.
As for glutinous rice flour, don't be fooled by the name, it is naturally gluten-free! It's only named glutinous rice flour because it's made from sticky rice, also known as sweet rice. I would not recommend subsititue glutinous rice flour (or sweet rice flour, some manufacturers might lable it differently) with regular rice flour because the texture would not be nearly the same.
Watch the video below to follow the super easy process and don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Tiktok where I share more of my plant-based life ^^
INGREDIENTS:
2 purple sweet potato, measure 2 cups mashed1 cup glutinous rice flour, plus a little extra for dusting
Cooking oil
Optional -
Black and white sesame seeds
Sugar or other sweetener as needed
TO MAKE:
- Preheat oven to 405°F;
- Clean off the dirt on the purple sweet potatoes, wrap in foil, bake for about an hour until a fork can easily pierce through, adjust the time depending on the size of your sweet potatoes, bigger ones take longer to bake through and vice versa;
- Peel the sweet potatoes and transfer the flesh to a large bowl, careful don't burn your hands!
- Mash the sweet potatoes with a forker or a mash till smooth and no lumps left;
- Add in the glutinous rice flour, stir to combine until a soft dough forms, the dough should be soft but not too sticky, if it's too dry, you can add a splash of plant milk, if too wet, add more flour;
- Slightly dust your work surface with a thin layer of glutinour rice flour, transfer the dough mixture onto the surface, knead with your hands until the dough is smooth, for about 10 minutes;
- Flatten the dough, divide into 8 equal portions, roll each portion into a ball;
- If topping with sesame seeds, sprinkle some sesame on a plate, press one ball of dough onto the sesame and form a small and thick pancake, repeat the process for all 8 balls;
- If not topping with sesame, just flatten each ball with your palm;
- In a nonstick pan, heat a small drizzle of cooking oil, pan fry the pancakes over medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes each side until golden crispy;
- Serve hot or cold, I like them both ways but they're crispier when hot, enjoy!
