ReCPY: Mochi + Muffin = MOffin
I once saw a recipe on Tastespotting using rice flour instead of regular flour to make muffins. I tried making them and gave them all away, without even try one. The lucky person who tasted it told me I should sell them.
A long time has passed since then, and I decided to make them again. Unfortunately I couldn't find the recipe there, so I Googled around, but nothing in English was convincing enough. Once I started searching around in Japanese, I found a lot of comments saying, "Any Japanese person who live in the US knows this recipe, it's a fusion of American and Japanese dessert."
I was not one of these people. I had never heard about baking cake with rice flour.
It's very easy to make MOffins, especially since rice flour doesn't lump up like regular flour. Also, there are some extra perks:
A.) It's gluten-free for those who have weird allergies.
B.) The texture is brilliant since it's crunchy outside, and chewy inside.
C.) It's not sticky and won't get tough like mochi. Very easy to transport. A win-win situation.
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
100cc oil (little less than half a cup)
2 cups milk
150 gram sugar (little over half a cup)
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. matcha powder
1 can of prepared red beans
1 box of rice flour. This is the best kind.
You can play with sugar amount since red beans also contain a lot of sugar.
METHOD
Mix everything except for red beans.
Tip 1: Mixing eggs with oil first makes your life easier.
Tip 2: When adding matcha powder, use a tea strainer or something, otherwise they tend to lump up too much.
Pour half the batter into muffin cup, add about teaspoon of red beans, top it off with more batter. Bake for about 30 minutes at 375˚F.
I don't like mochi, but this is absolutely awesome. Plus you don't have to worry too much about over/under mixing the batter either. It's definitely a fool-proof way to impress your guests or great as a baked gift.
It looks like an under-cooked muffin, but it's just the mochi texture that gives that impression.
I will also try out other flavors (regular muffin, such as blueberry, chocolate chips, etc.) to test if it will work with this texture. Yamahomo's MOffin shop might open up somewhere soon. Stay tuned.
