Looking for a fun cooking project with your children? Try Mochi ice cream! The popular Japanese dessert is easier to make than you think. Imagine your kids smiling faces when they bite into their favorite ice cream inside the soft mochi shell.
Sweet little rice dumpling balls with creamy ice cream filling, mochi ice cream is the cool treat of the summer! After making its first debut in Hawaii in 1994, it didn’t take long for this unique and delicious treat to become the trendy frozen dessert item that took the world by storm.
In the US, you can find mochi ice cream at Costco, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and of course, at Asian grocery stores. The original brand of mochi ice cream, Mikawaya, offers many creative flavors such as green tea, chocolate, and mango, making them so fun to eat.
But did you know you can make mochi ice cream at home? If you enjoy making ice cream at home, this is a super fun project to tackle as a family. It’s relatively simple, so let’s make this sweet dessert truly your own today.
Table of Contents
What’s Mochi Ice Cream?
Mochi ice cream is small, round shaped confection made of sticky rice dumpling with an ice cream filling. The rice dumpling is called mochi (餅), a traditional Japanese pounded rice cake made of mochigome (糯米) —a short-grain glutinous rice—known for its sticky, elastic, and chewy texture.
As a mochi-loving child, I loved eating Yukimi Daifuku (雪見だいふく), which is a vanilla ice cream wrapped in gyuhi, a type of mochi. It was a popular Japanese dessert back in the 80s and I was addicted to it.
In the early 1990s, a Japanese American named Frances Hashimoto, who was the former president and CEO of Mikawaya, expanded on the idea of traditional mochi sweets and invented mochi ice cream.
This handheld and super kawaii (cute) dessert is indeed a delicious result of fusion creation! When you bite into the pillowy and delicate sweet rice dough with its creamy ice cream filling, it’s happiness in the mouth! The dreamy combo is what makes mochi ice cream so irresistible, and it’s hard to stop at one!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour) – I used shiratamako as it yields the best texture. You can now buy shiratamako on Amazon. If you can only find mochiko, you can use it. More on the sweet rice flours below.
- Water
- Sugar
- Potato starch or cornstarch – I used Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch
- Ice cream of your choice – store-bought or homemade
Glutinous Rice Flour: Shiratamako vs. Mochiko
There are two different types of Japanese glutinous rice flours used to make mochi: shiratamako (白玉粉) and mochiko (もち粉).
Both flours are known for their stickiness and chewy texture and are used to make Japanese pastry and sweets. However, the flours do differ in texture and flavor.
When it comes to making best-tasting mochi, I always prefer using shiratamako as it is easier to work with and has a better elasticity and consistency. Amazon and Japanese grocery stores sell shiramtako. However, if you can’t find it, you can find mochiko sweet rice flour by Blur Star Brand.
As part of my recipe testing process, I’ve made mochi ice cream with both kinds of glutinous rice flour to see the difference. When I asked my friends for their feedback, the majority agreed that the texture and flavor of mochi ice cream made with shiratamko are far superior. So if you can get shiratamako at a Japanese grocery store or online, I highly recommend it.
To learn the difference between these two types of glutinous rice flour, please hop over to shiratamako page to read more details.
Important Tips for Making Mochi Ice Cream
I know you probably don’t believe me when I say it’s not that hard to make … but you have to trust me! If you follow my tips below, you CAN make decent mochi ice cream even at the first try!
DOs:
- Keep your kitchen cool when you are working with ice cream.
- Get this cookie scoop (portioning scoop) for creating the same portions and nice half-round-shaped ice cream for mochi filling.
- Use a generous amount of potato/corn starch on your hands and working surface to prevent sticking.
- Use a cookie cutter (or small bowl) to cut out mochi into a round shape. A round shape (instead of square cut) seals the mochi neatly and avoids an excess amount of mochi on the bottom.
- And here’s the secret tip! Wear thin latex gloves to insulate warm hands from ice cream and to prevent your hands from sticking to mochi.
DON’Ts:
- Do not take shortcuts until you are comfortable with making mochi ice cream.
- Do not expect to make a perfect shape of mochi ice cream for the first few trials. Working fast is the most important when dealing with ice cream.
Cooking Mochi with a Steamer or Microwave
Both steaming and microwaving methods work well, and it’s really a personal preference. I usually make it with the microwave because it only takes 2.5 minutes to cook mochi. My microwave is 1200W; make sure to adjust your microwave setting accordingly.
Popular Mochi Ice Cream Flavors
For homemade mochi ice cream, you can choose to use high quality store-bought ice cream or make your own ice cream (if you’re up for it). There are endless flavors, but in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with the classics. Here are some of the popular flavors:
- Matcha Green Tea – My personal favorite and I have a homemade matcha ice cream recipe here.
- Azuki Red Bean Ice Cream – This is also my favorite. See my red bean ice cream recipe here.
- Vanilla – My son’s favorite
- Chocolate – Find my dark chocolate ice cream recipe.
- Sweet Mango
- Strawberry – My daughter’s favorite. Or try my strawberry cheesecake recipe.
- Cookies and Cream
- Coffee – Find my coffee ice cream here.
- Dulce de Leche
What’s your favorite? Will you make mochi ice cream from scratch? Or do you have a favorite store-bought brand? Please share in the comments below!
More Delicious Mochi Recipes You’ll Love
- Daifuku (Small Mochi with Red Bean Paste)
- How to Make Mochi with a Stand Mixer
- Green Tea Mochi
- Strawberry Mochi
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Mochi Ice Cream
Video
Ingredients
- ¾ cup shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) (or use mochiko; see the measurement below; now you can buy shiratamako on Amazon)
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup sugar (do not omit sugar as the moisture in the sugar helps mochi stay softer)
- ½ cup potato starch or cornstarch
- ice cream of your choice
If you substitute shiratamako with mochiko…
Instructions
- Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires 4+ hours of chilling and freezing time.
- Gather all the ingredients. Equipment you will need: 12 aluminum/silicone cupcake liners, a medium cookie scoop (smaller than an ice cream scooper), a rolling pin, and a 3.5 inch (9 cm) cookie cutter or a round bowl/glass cup.
- Using the cookie scoop, scoop out ice cream of your choice into aluminum/silicone cupcake liners. The ice cream will melt quickly so I recommend freezing them immediately for a few hours or until ice cream balls are completely frozen solid.
- Once the ice cream balls are frozen solid and ready, you can start making mochi. Combine ¾ cup shiratamako (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) and ¾ cup water in a medium bowl and whisk all together. Tip: To use mochiko instead of shiratamako, substitute ¾ cup mochiko (glutinous rice flour/sweet rice flour) in the above step.
- Add ¼ cup sugar and mix well until combined.
- Microwave Method: If you’re using a microwave to cook mochi, cover the bowl with some plastic wrap (do not cover too tight). Put the bowl in the microwave and heat it on high heat (1000w) for 1 minute. Take it out and stir with a wet rubber spatula. Cover again and cook for 1 minute. Stir again, cover, and cook for 30 seconds to finish cooking. The color of mochi should change from white to almost translucent.
- Steaming Method: If you’re using a steamer, cover the steamer lid with a towel so the condensation won’t drop into the mochi mixture. Put the bowl into a steamer basket and cover to cook for 15 minutes. Halfway cooking, stir with a wet rubber spatula and cover to finish cooking. The color of mochi should change from white to almost translucent.
- Cover the work surface with parchment paper and dust it generously with some of the ½ cup potato starch or cornstarch. Then transfer the cooked mochi on top.
- To prevent from sticking, sprinkle more potato starch on top of the mochi. Once it’s cool down a bit, you can spread the mochi into a thin layer, about ⅛ inch (3 mm), with your hands or with a rolling pin. Make sure to apply potato starch on your hands and the rolling pin. I recommend using a rolling pin because it’s easier to evenly spread out.
- Transfer the mochi with parchment paper onto a large baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until the mochi is set.
- Take out the mochi from the refrigerator and cut out 7–8 circles with the cookie cutter.
- Dust off the excess potato starch with a pastry brush. If you find some sticky part, cover the area with potato starch first then dust off. Place a plastic wrap on a plate and then mochi wrapper on top, then lay another layer of plastic wrapper down. Repeat for all wrappers. With leftover mochi dough, roll into a ball and then flatten into a thin layer again and cut out into more circle wrappers (I could make about 12 mochi wrappers).
- Now we’re ready to form mochi ice cream balls. On the work surface, place one sheet of plastic wrap with a mochi layer on top. Working quickly, place a scoop of ice cream into the center of the mochi wrapper. Pinch the four corners of the mochi layer together to wrap the ice cream ball. Repeat with the remaining mochi wrappers and ice cream balls.
- When mochi gets sticky, put some potato starch on the sticky area and seal the opening. Quickly cover with the plastic wrap and twist to close. Place each mochi ice cream into a cupcake pan to keep the shape. You will need to work on one mochi ice cream at a time in order to keep the ice cream frozen at all times. Put mochi ice cream back into the freezer for at least 2–3 hours. When you’re ready to serve, keep them outside for a few minutes until outer mochi gets soften a little bit.
To Store
- You can keep the mochi ice cream in the freezer for 2–3 weeks. Be careful with freezer burn and make sure to store without air.
Hi there just a quick question. Would it be ok to use part milk and part water for the mochi dough ? If yes what do you suggest half and half?
Thank you 😊
Hi Alice! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We do not recommend replacing the water amount with milk for this recipe. The texture of Mochi would be different.
We hope this helps!
Hi! It’s my friends birthday in a few days and she has been talking about mint chocolate mochi for years now and i wanted to get it for her birthday but i couldn’t find the flavor absolutely anywhere! I found this recipe and i’m so excited to try it out! one question though, if i was to add food coloring to the dough to make it more like the one she had years ago, when would i add it? thanks!💗
Hi Kelsey! Happy Birthday to your friend! and Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
To add the food color, you can add them at Step 3.
We hope this helps to create the Mint Chocolate Mochi! 🙂
Hello Nami! I just finished the mochi dough and have put it in the fridge. I have one question: how long can I keep it in the fridge before I assemble it with the ice cream? I might not have time today and I’m wondering if I can do it tomorrow
Hi Ellie! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
You can keep the mochi dough in the fridge for 1~2 days, but recommend using it as soon as you can and transfer it to the freezer as Mochi ice.
This mochi dough contains sugar and will keep the softness in the fridge. However, if it gets hard to assemble, please put them in the microwave for few seconds to soften. We hope this helps!
Thank you, and thank you for replying so quickly! This helps a whole lot. Luckily I was able to do it the same night. I’ll be using this information for future reference. I’m eager to try more of Nami’s recipe since this one worked out so well. The mochi was perfect!
Hi Ellie! Nami and JOC team are so happy to hear your Mochi Ice Cream turned out perfect!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback! We hope you continue to enjoy many recipes from our site!
Happy cooking!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for a wonderful cook-blog!
I can’t find shiratamako, but I have kirimochi. Can I boil the kirimochi and use it as a substitute from step 7?
Hi Karin, Thank you very much for your kind word to Nami! She is so happy to hear you enjoy her blog! Thank you!🥰
Yes. Kirimochi can be a substitute. Instead of boiling, you can use a microwave as well.
These are delicious! I love mochi but they’re way too expensive. I’ve made them twice now, and there’s a few things I slightly modified/noticed. I didn’t have cookie scoops or cutters, so I just used a tablespoon as my scooper and a cup to cut out the mochi. I found that with the cornstarch, the mochi stickiness was no issue (although I found I really hate the feeling of cornstarch on my fingers-yuck!!)-the ice cream was the killer part. Get ready to move fast. You have about 5 seconds to put the ice cream in the mochi and seal it before it starts sliding all over the place. Admittedly, the ones I couldn’t close (and immediately ate :P) were the most delicious. Try to keep the ice cream out of the top area where you’re sealing it. The second time around, I didn’t bother to pre-scoop the ice cream, as I found that my ice cream didn’t get harder when frozen separately. Also don’t make the scoops too big!! I way overestimated how much I could fit in the mochi, so they started to tear. I also rolled the mochi too thin the first time-you want it thinish, but not about to tear. And I would use creamy ice cream with no chunky bits-better texture. Anyway, love the recipe!
Hi Michelle! Thank you very much for trying the JOC recipe and sharing your cooking experience and tips with us!
We are glad to hear it turned out delicious and you enjoyed Homemade Mochi ice cream!☺️
Hello,
Can we just replace the ice cream with red bean paste?
Hi Ketty, Sure! Here is the recipe with red bean paste, called Daifuku. https://www.justonecookbook.com/daifuku/
We hope this helps!
Hi Nami!
Thank you for your recipe, I managed to find Shiratamako but on the instruction it says 200g mixed with 180mls of water and your recipe says 100g with 180mls of water.. so Im confused hehe. Please help! 🙂
Hi Trish,
Thank you for trying this recipe!
To make this Mochi ice cream, you need 100 g of Shiratamako and 100 g of potato starch/cornstarch for 180 ml of water.
I hope this helps!
I am very excited about this recipe and hoping my second try will be easier. First, I want to tell you that I began with half the recipe because it is very difficult to get Shiratamako so I didn’t want to use up the entire package in my first attempt (I had it sent from overseas).
Here were the two problems I had. Using half the recipe, when I added the water to the sugar/Shiratamako mix, it immediately balled up and did not look as liquid as your photo. I proceeded to microwave it according to the instructions and it turned translucent but was pretty much a ball in the bowl. Then I had difficulty rolling out the ball to a thin enough layer. I even tried pounding it with a mallet but it stayed relatively thick.
I hope you have suggestions for these two problems. I am preparing this in the Caribbean , so the kitchen is quite warm. Thank you so much.
Hi Ivy!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe from the Caribbean!
We’re sorry to hear that your first try did not work for you.
We recommend increasing the water amount a little bit and making the mixture more liquid at Step 4 (try one teaspoon first.) We are not sure how you measure your ingredient, but using the scale is the best choice.
Also, you may want to double-check that your Shiratamako is made from glutinous short-grain Japanese rice. There are also rice flour and glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour) using long-grain rice from other countries, but they are not substitutions to Shiratamako. The textures and flavors of these rice flours are not suitable for making Japanese sweets.
I hope your next try will be successful! 😊
Thank you very much for answering so quickly. After I wrote to you I realized that I made a mistake with the amount of water I used, so my fault entirely! I will be making another batch and I’m sure it will be better.
Hi Ivy,
My pleasure!
We hope it will be better next time! Good luck!☺️
Hi, can I use brown rice flour instead I don have the other flour.
thanks!
These were easier to make than I thought! The dough was easier to manage than gyoza dough, which is fairly easy. I rolled out the dough much thinner than I was supposed to, but I think I prefer thin mochi dough. I really enjoyed making these and introducing myself to Japanese culture. Thanks for the recipe, God bless you!
Hi Seungyang! Thanks for trying this recipe. I’m so glad to hear your mochi ice cream came out well. Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Can I use this recipe and put a sweet red bean paste inside instead?
Hi Beth! Sure, that’s called Daifuku: https://www.justonecookbook.com/daifuku
Hi. I don’t have a scooper of any sort. What would you suggest to use?
Hi Natalia! How do you usually scoop ice cream from a carton? It’s really convenient to have a cookie scooper to scoop dough, meatballs, and ice cream, etc. 🙂
https://amzn.to/32yzQfD
This recipe looked a lot easier than it was. Working with Shiratamako for the first time and it was a sticky mess. And tips on how to avoid sticking to everything?
And also does the dough be hot or room temp when it is rolled out?
Hi Jackie! Mochi (anything with glutinous rice flour) sticks everywhere and that’s how it is. The only way to prevent that happening is to coat your hands/fingers or surface where mochi touches and it will be no issue. 🙂 Many people don’t realize that when you create a new surface of mochi by extending, the freshly appeared surface is also sticky. So when you try to extend/pull mochi, be ready to touch with dusted hands/surface. And work with mochi when it’s the workable temperature (but while it’s warm). I do it when it’s hot.
Amazing! And pretty easy… I just can’t tell you all how delicious these homemade mochi ice cream is. 🙂 I will definately do this again.These didnt last in the freezer. Lol. My whole family loved them, and devoured them.
Hi Lil! Aww I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hey! I just tried making this and failed terribly. The ice cream just keeps on melting whenever I put them inside the mochi. I did scoop the ice cream first and put it inside the fridge before i take them out to use. So, instead of a firm mochi, I end up with some mochi with liquid. Any ideas on how to prevent this?
Also, my kitchen is never cool enough to make mochi ice cream. Its basically summer all year long. Can I still make mochi ice cream or should I make regular mochi with fillings instead? Thanks!
Hi Zi! Thank you for trying this recipe! Maybe it is your typo, but you put the pre-scooped ice cream in the freezer, not fridge, right? Also was your dough cooled enough before wrapping? Stuffing the ice cream is all about practice. You can’t touch ice cream (obvious reason) so you have to quickly pinch and wrap in the plastic wrap so you can work on the rest of the batch.
Now sure how hot it is but I can see it could be difficult to make this if you’re new to making mochi dessert and your kitchen is not cool enough. You can practice making mochi desserts first with other fillings and be expert at stuffing mochi then try again with ice cream? It’s really all about the practice to speed up the process.