These baked cinnamon sugar mochi donuts are so chewy and easy to make. Simply mix the batter in one bowl, transfer to a donut pan, bake, and coat with melted butter and cinnamon sugar! Plus, since they’re made with mochiko (sweet rice flour), they’re gluten-free!
Note: this blog post was updated October 2024 to include a new recipe video, photos, and helpful information!
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The mochi donuts are baked, not fried! No need to heat up a bunch of oil and discard it. The batter is poured into a donut pan and baked right in the oven.
- You can mix the batter by hand. You won’t need a stand mixer, and you won’t even need to knead the dough! I mixed everything with a silicone spatula.
- It’s a crowd favorite! I brought these mochi donuts routinely to my physical therapist’s office, since he is gluten-free. The whole office (and his family) loved them every single time!
Ingredients
To make the cinnamon sugar mochi donuts from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Mochiko, the key ingredient of this recipe, will give the donuts a chewy texture. Since mochiko is made of sweet rice flour, the donuts are gluten-free!
- Brown sugar adds a sweet molasses flavor and moisture to the mochi donut batter. You can use light or dark brown sugar.
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- Instead of table salt, you can use fine sea salt, too.
- Any type of milk works, like whole, 2%, almond, soy, etc.
- After baking, the donuts are brushed with melted unsalted butter and dipped into a cinnamon sugar mixture.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tip
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
How to Make Chewy Mochi Donuts
Step 1: Mix brown sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
Step 2: Stir in milk until fully combined.
Step 3: Stir in all dry ingredients until no dry spots remain.
Step 4: Transfer mochi donut batter to greased donut pan, filling cavities a little over ¾ of the way. Bake at 350°F/177°C for 25-30 minutes, or until donut springs back when poked. Cool donuts in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack.
Step 5: Brush mochi donut with melted butter.
Step 6:Fully coat mochi donut in cinnamon sugar. Repeat for remaining donuts and enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“I’ve never had a gluten-free donut this delicious. I can’t even tell!” – my physical therapist 🤗
Did you try this recipe?
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Cinnamon Sugar Mochi Donuts (Small-Batch)
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Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing batter
- 1 bowl or plate for dipping donuts in cinnamon sugar
Ingredients
For The Mochi Donuts:
- ½ cup (110 g) brown sugar packed; light or dark
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled; or neutral oil like canola or vegetable
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla paste or extract
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
- ½ cup (122 g) milk whole, almond, soy, etc.
- 1 cup (150 g) mochiko
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5 g) table salt or fine sea salt
For Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
Instructions
For the donuts:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C. Lightly grease donut pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together ½ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 1 egg until smooth. Mix in ½ cup milk until fully combined.
- Add all dry ingredients: 1 cup mochiko, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon table salt. Stir until no dry spots remain.
- Transfer the donut batter into a container with a spout, like a large measuring cup. Alternatively, you can use a spoon or ladle. Pour or spoon the batter into each cavity, filling each one a little more than ¾ of the way.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until donut springs back when poked. Cool donuts in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack.
For the cinnamon sugar topping:
- In a medium bowl or plate, mix the ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Using your pastry brush, lightly brush melted butter all over one mochi donut. Then, dip mochi donut in cinnamon sugar, making sure to coat all sides.
- Repeat with remaining donuts and enjoy!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
Will any glutinous rice flour work or does it have to be mochiko?
Hi Alysa! I’ve only tried this specific recipe using mochiko. However, I’ve swapped mochiko with other glutinous rice flours in different recipes and they turned out fine. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
I love how these are baked and not fried! Do you think they could possibly be made egg-free? Thanks!
Hi Huiwen!! <3
Yes, you can definitely make them egg-free. I've tried flax egg, chia egg, and JUSTEgg before, and all turned out great. I even tried omitting the egg completely and just added an extra splash of milk. They were good, too!
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try!
Of course!! Yay, I hope you enjoy! <3
Thanks for this recipe…It is my “go to” easy, delicious dessert recipe that my friends enjoy and ask for. I recently made a batch using a different brand (Shirakiku) v. Koda Farms b/c my local HMart didn’t have Koda Farms in stock and was only selling the Shirakiku brand (I suppose due to supply chain issues).
I followed the recipe as always and the batter was unusually runny. I was extremely nervous that it would not turn out right. The donuts came out fine, but they were flat. I will try again using a bit more of the mochiko and maybe even add more baking powder.