Blood Orange Muffins with Mochi Flour

One of my favorite things about January is that it’s citrus season! Citrus is one of my favorite things to eat period, and I personally think they make every dish better. The prettiest citrus fruit is hands down the blood orange. I discovered this fruit in high school when I was volunteering at the local farmers market, and it just made such an impression on me because the fruit is SO RED. It just stood out among all the other fruits out there. Now, I can’t wait ’til January so I can make something with it. This year I chose to whip up a batch of blood orange muffins with mochi flour.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

Blood Orange Muffins with Mochi Flour

• Blood Oranges – Adds a citrus-y flavor and a subtle pink color to the muffins.
• Coconut milk – Coconut milk helps make these muffins really moist. I tested this recipe with coconut milk and whole milk, and found that coconut milk yields the best results. If you choose to use whole milk, make sure to use only 2/3 cup of whole milk.
• Butter – Adds a nuttiness and richness to this recipe.
• Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness to this recipe.
• Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the muffins. You can substitute with an equal amount of vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean.
• Eggs – Adds richness to the muffins.
• Sweet rice flour – This is the main dry ingredient in these muffins. The beauty of sweet rice flour is that it’s gluten free, and it adds a chewiness to the muffins, similar to the texture of mochi.
• Baking Powder – This ingredient helps the muffins rise and gives it an airiness.

Blood Orange Glaze

This glaze is a mixture of coconut milk, powdered sugar, blood oranges (juice and zest), and vanilla extract. The glaze helps give the muffin more sweetness as well as a pop of color. It is however optional because the muffins taste good by themselves, but on a personal level, I wanted a bit more sweetness which is why I added the glaze. If you like things that are less sweet, I would recommend sticking with just the muffin.

Making my blood orange muffins with mochi flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Next add melted butter, sugar, and coconut milk to a large bowl. Mix until combined. Next add vanilla extract and eggs. Mix until combined. Lastly, add the blood orange juice and zest. Mix until combined. Sift the sweet rice flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients. Mix until a wet batter forms. It should be a pretty loose consistency. Grease a muffin pan. Scoop batter into the muffin pan. Smack the muffin pan 1-2 times on a flat surface to get rid of some of the air bubbles. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the edges start to brown. Cool for 10 minutes in the muffin pan before serving.

Tips on how to make the perfect blood orange muffins with mochi flour

1. Add the blood orange zest before the juice – This might sound obvious but I have definitely made this mistake before. Sometimes, I squeeze the juice out of the blood oranges before zesting the lemon. It is way harder to zest a blood orange when it’s all smushed than when it’s whole. So zest first before juicing the blood orange.
2. Make sure to cool muffins in the muffin pan before serving – The muffins finish baking as they cool in the muffin pan. If you take them out before they cool, the center will be mushy, and they will stick to the pan.

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