Soooo it’s been a while. I had decided to be better about posting things this year (failed resolutions, anyone?). Last time I posted was before my Australia trip and now I’m posting this after my Japan trip! I never would’ve thought I’d be traveling internationally again so soon or be going to Japan.

One of the things I get most excited about before traveling is, obviously, the food. And for Japan, there’s so much to look forward to: sushi, ramen, tea, miso, black sesame ice cream, mochi, mochi, and especially mochi! In honor of my trip, here are mochi brownies. I ate my weight in mochi while traveling and I still want some more *sigh*.

Again, this recipe was found on Pinterest. Adapted from Lady and Pup’s:

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Mochi Brownies

Ingredients:
For mochi:
2/3 cup rice flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp flour (for dusting)

For brownies:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
10 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp + a dash vanilla
3 eggs
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup flour

To make the mochi: Mix the rice flour, sugar, and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl and microwave on high at one-minute intervals, taking the bowl out each time and stirring with a wooden spoon. Repeat until mixture is sticky, at least 4 to 5 minutes. It should look and feel wet. Add the vegetable oil and stir and fold with a wooden spoon until it’s completely incorporated. Continue to stir and fold with a metal spoon, scraping the dough on the sides, until the dough starts to cool and firm. After your arms become too heavy and the spoon won’t mix any more, set the bowl aside and let the dough cool completely.

For the brownies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment paper (important).

Melt the chocolate and butter (microwave is easiest). Add melted chocolate to the sugars, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Then add the flour and mix until just combined.

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Dust the mochi dough with the flour and distribute small globs of the mochi on top of the brownie batter. Use a spoon to press and fold the mochi into the batter until they are completely covered.

Bake for 22-28 min. Remember not to overcook! I always check at 20 min.

Let the brownies cool completely (about an hour), remove from the pan and paper and cut into squares.

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I said a couple posts ago that I always double 8×8 brownie recipes but for this one, you don’t want to double! The mochi is hard enough to mix as is. What I did instead is used an 8×8 and a 9×9 pan (all that I had on hand) and doubled the brownie batter only and made the mochi twice (two separate bowls). Then I split the brownie batter between the two and added the mochi and voila! Double the brownies and not too much extra trouble.