Soft and chewy mochi bread infused with mashed purple sweet potato is easy to make and is naturally gluten-free. The recipe works great with regular sweet potatoes too. Naturally gluten-free.
At this point in life I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m pretty hooked with mini cheese mochi bread. It’s all started with that recipe and since then I’ve made this purple sweet potato version and also the chocolate mochi bread loaf. With the shortages of yeast and also wheat flour (if you are still experiencing that problem), it’s great to use alternative flour like glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch/flour, which also happen to be gluten-free.
TYPE OF SWEET POTATOES TO USE
I used fresh Stokes purple sweet potatoes and also regular sweet potatoes (the orange color one). You can certainly use canned sweet potatoes too for convenience.
HOW TO MAKE NO-YEAST PURPLE SWEET POTATO MOCHI BREAD
1. COOK THE SWEET POTATO
You will need about 1 medium-large sweet potato. Peel the skin and cut into smaller pieces. If you have a pressure cooker like Instant Pot, place the sweet potato in a steamer basket. Pour 1 cup of water into a pot and put the steamer basket on top of a trivet. Pressure cook on high for 2 minutes. Release pressure immediately and mash the sweet potatoes while they are warm. You can also use a steamer and steam on the stove on high heat for 10 minutes or until they are fork-tender
2. PREPARE THE DOUGH
Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl
In another mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients
You may still have bits and pieces of mashed sweet potatoes, I don’t mind that, but if you want it all smooth you can use a blender or immersion blender
Gradually fold in the dry ingredients
You may need water or you may not. I notice purple sweet potatoes are drier compared to regular sweet potatoes. Add the liquid a bit by a bit until you can form a dough that is slightly sticky to touch but you should be able to form a dough. If the dough is too sticky before you even add any liquid, you can add a bit of glutinous rice flour
Remember, just a bit of stickiness on the dough is fine
3. SHAPING
Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them into round balls. Place on the baking sheet about at least 1-inch apart
4. BAKING
Spray some mist of water on top of the ball
Place in the oven, 3rd rack from the top and bake for about 30 minutes until the bread is crusty on the outside, but soft and no longer wet inside. If you make a larger piece, you may need to bake it for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
Remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to let them cool down completely. They are best eaten when fresh. Once cooled down, the inside remains moist and the crust is a bit harder, but still taste great
TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Purple sweet potato tends to be drier compared to regular sweet potato so you may need to add a bit of liquid to form a dough that is just slightly sticky (I didn’t have to at all, it depends on the sweet potatoes)
2. If the dough is wet even before you add any liquid, add a bit more of glutinous rice flour until you are able to form a slightly sticky dough
3. The slightly sticky dough will ensure your end product won’t be dry and hard
WILL MOCHI BREAD STAYS SOFT FOR DAYS?
They taste the best the same day you make them. The outer crust tends to harden a bit after the next days, but the inside is still soft and chewy, though the longer you keep them, the drier they will get. You can mist them with water and loosely wrap them in a foil and warm them up in a preheated oven/toaster oven or air-fryer at 350 F for 8-10 minutes.
DID YOU MAKE THIS EASY NO-YEAST PURPLE SWEET POTATO MOCHI BREAD RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
OTHER MOCHI BREAD RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
Easy No-Yeast Gluten-Free Chocolate Mochi Bread Loaf
Super Easy Mini Cheddar Mochi Bread
For baking/ kueh making: I highly encourage to weigh ingredients with a digital kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups as they are not very accurate especially when it comes to recipe that requires precision.
GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION (UNSIFTED)INGREDIENTS
Dry ingredients:
- 90 gr glutinous rice flour - 3/4 cup + 4 Tbsp
- 50 gr tapioca starch - 6 Tbsp
- 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 40 gr sugar - 3 Tbsp
Wet ingredients:
- 100 gr mashed purple sweet potato - about 1/2 cup. See notes 1
- 1 large egg
- 35 gr melted butter - 1/4 cup
- Water - as needed
INSTRUCTIONS
Cook the sweet potato:
- You will need about 1 medium-large sweet potato. Peel the skin and cut into smaller pieces. If you have a pressure cooker like Instant Pot, place the sweet potato in a steamer basket. Pour 1 cup of water into a pot and put the steamer basket on top of a trivet. Pressure cook on high for 2 minutes. Release pressure immediately and mash the sweet potatoes while they are warm. You can also use a steamer and steam on the stove on high heat for 10 minutes or until they are fork-tender
Prepare the dough:
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. You may still have bits and pieces of mashed sweet potatoes, I don't mind that, but if you want it all smooth you can use a blender or immersion blender
- Gradually fold in the dry ingredients. You may need water or you may not. I notice purple sweet potatoes are drier compared to regular sweet potatoes. Add the liquid a bit by a bit until you can form a dough that is slightly sticky to touch but you should be able to form a dough. If the dough is too sticky before you even add any liquid, you can add a bit of glutinous rice flour. Remember, just a bit of stickiness on the dough is fine
Shaping:
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them into round balls. Place on the baking sheet about at least 1-inch apart
Baking:
- Spray some mist of water on top of the ball and place in the oven, 3rd rack from the top and bake for about 30 minutes until the bread is crusty on the outside, but soft and no longer wet inside. If you make a larger piece, you may need to bake it for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
- Remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to let them cool down completely. They are best eaten when fresh. Once cooled down, the inside remains moist and the crust is a bit harder, but still taste great
Storage and reheating:
- Store them in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days (they don't last that long at our house). Wrap them in plastic wrap and then freeze if you want to store them longer. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating
- To reheat in oven or toaster oven, spray with some mist of water and then wrap them in aluminum foil and then bake at 350 for 5 minutes. To reheat in microwave, cover the bread with some moist clean kitchen towel or paper towel and heat for about 1 minute or less
Video
Notes
- You can also use regular sweet potatoes. I used fresh purple sweet potatoes and regular sweet potatoes, but you can also use canned sweet potatoes if they are available. Drain the liquid but save about 3-4 Tbsp in case you need it when you make the dough
6 comments
Thanks for the recipe. I just made these today and they were delicious. However, my buns were more gray than purple. Yours were so vibrant. Also, my cracks were a lot bigger, could it be because I didn’t spray a mist of water on the buns? I didn’t have a spray so I used my fingers to sprinkle some water on the buns instead.
Hi Mandy, it could be the combinations of the egg yolks and the purple from the sweet potatoes that turn the color into more grayish. If I use stokes sweet potatoes, the color is fine, but if I use ube yam then the color will be more grayish then purple. As long as the bread isn’t dry , I won’t worry too much about the cracks, because mochi bread to have that “crackly” appearance.
Just finished rounding out the dough and it’ll go in the oven soon! For some odd reason, my purple yams turned into a weird turquoise/teal color after I combined it with eggs and butter…we shall see how they look upon leaving the oven…
Hi rc, did you use ube yam? I know that ube yam will turn color when you combined with eggs, though it doesn’t affect the taste, but the color may change.
Hi Marvellina! I absolutely love mochi-type breads and would like to try out this recipe, but do you think I can do without the egg and replace the butter with margarine or oil (basically make it vegan)? Thanks so much 🙂
Hi Laura, I haven’t tried it on this recipe myself, but in the past I’ve replaced eggs with chia eggs on other baking recipe. 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp of water = 1 egg. So in this case it would be 3 Tbsp chia seeds + 9 Tbsp of water. The result might be a bit “denser” and may not rise as much. I’ve heard about vegan egg replacer too, but I haven’t tried that myself. As for the butter, yes, you can definitely use margarine or cooking oil of your choice 🙂