Bear-Shaped Chocolate Mochiko Muffins (Gluten-Free)

4.25 from 8 votes

Bear-Shaped Chocolate Mochiko Muffins (Gluten-Free)

Adorable bear muffins made with mochiko (glutinous sweet rice flour)! They're made in one bowl and are super easy and fast to make.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Decorating Time20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Asian

Servings: muffins

Calories: 225kcal

Author: Bianca Fernandez

Cost: $5.31

Ingredients

For the mochiko muffins:

1 c mochiko sweet rice flour, see notes (160g, $1.23)
½ c granulated sugar (100g, $0.19)
¼ c cocoa powder, sifted (25g, $0.44)
¼ c black cocoa powder, or sub regular cocoa powder, sifted (25g, $0.44)
1 tsp espresso powder ($0.05)
1 tsp baking powder ($0.07)
¼ tsp salt ($0.01)
½ c chocolate chips (85g, $0.87)
1 ¼ c milk, see notes (300 mL, $0.62)
2 eggs, see notes ($0.35)
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled (56g, $0.62)
1 tsp vanilla ($0.42)

For the decorations:

melted white and dark/milk chocolate
black royal icing (see notes) OR chocolate dyed black with oil-based food coloring

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

For the muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C. Line a cupcake tray with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together together the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add the butter and vanilla, then mix until uniform.
While whisking, stream in the milk and continue mixing until combined.
Add in the dries: mochiko flour, cocoa powders, espresso powder, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips. Fold batter with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until there are no dry spots remaining.
Use a muffin/ice cream scoop or spoon to add batter to each cupcake liner, with each liner being about 3/4 full.
Bake for 20-30 minutes. The mochiko muffins will be done if you stick a cake tester in the middle and it comes out clean. Additionally, the top of the muffins should spring back when gently poked with your finger.
Cool mochiko muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack and let them cool completely before decorating

For the bear decorations:

Set up your piping bags to add your melted chocolates into them. Alternatively, you can use ziploc bags, fill them, and cut the tip to create a small hole.
For the ears, use melted dark/milk chocolate to pipe small circles onto wax paper. Once that hardens, use white chocolate to add the inner ear.
After the ears harden, use melted chocolate as your glue and stick on ears on top of each muffin.
Use melted white chocolate and pipe on the snout onto the muffin.
Add a small dot of black-colored chocolate or black royal icing to create the nose. Use the same color for the eyes.
And now you're done! Enjoy!

Notes

To store these muffins, place them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

I used this recipe for the vegan royal icing and I skipped the optional vegetable glycerin. It actually makes a lot of royal icing, so I already had a bunch of it stored in my freezer! It only takes about 10 minutes for it to thaw.

Mochiko sweet rice flour: Make sure you are using mochiko, which is different than regular rice flour.

To make these dairy-free: Substitute the butter for vegan butter and use alternative milk. Additionally, use vegan chocolates.

To make these egg-free: I've used JustEgg as a substitute and it worked out great!

Nutrition