Mother’s Day is this weekend. That means it’s time to brush off your breakfast making skills for the perfect Sunday brunch. But really, I love a good brunch recipe because you can be a little more whimsical with breakfast than other meals of the day. These ube mochi pancakes are the perfect balance of sweet and chewy, and they’re purple! They’re made with sweet rice flour (or mochi flour), coconut milk, and ube halaya.
What is ube halaya?
Ube halaya is a Filipino dessert made with purple yam, coconut milk, and butter. It can be eaten as a snack or used in various Filipino desserts like halo halo, cakes, cinnamon rolls, and ube ice cream. There are so many amazing recipes for ube halaya online, but I opted to buy mine pre-made at the store to cut down on cook time. I purchased the ube halaya jam at my local Filipino grocery store, but if you can’t find it locally, you can also get it on Amazon.
Why I like using sweet rice flour
Sweet rice flour is one of my favorite ingredients to use, especially in sweets. (I consider pancakes a sweet because of the amount of sugar involved in a pancake dish.) What I love most about it is the texture it gives food. Sweet rice flour gives food a chewy, pillowy texture which it derives from the sticky rice it is made with. The other great thing about sweet rice flour is that it is gluten free! This is a huge win for people with celiac disease because you can get a similar texture to gluten based desserts without the negative side effects.
Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
- Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness to these ube mochi pancakes. You can also use dark brown sugar which would make the pancakes sweeter.
- Unsalted butter – Adds a nutty flavor to the pancakes.
- Eggs – Adds a richness to the pancakes and helps make them fluffy.
- Coconut milk – Makes the pancakes fluffy and rich. A good substitute is whole milk.
- Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the pancakes. Good substitutes are 1 vanilla bean or an equal amount of vanilla paste.
- Ube extract – Adds the purple color and ube flavor to the pancakes. I use Butterfly Ube Extract. It is, in my opinion, the best ube extract to use.
- Ube halaya – This is sometimes called halayang ube and adds actual ube into the pancakes. You can find this at an Asian grocery store or you can make it yourself. I like to use Tropics Ube Halaya. There are also a lot of ube halaya recipes online.
- Salt – Brings out the flavor of the other ingredients. Any kind of salt should work for this recipe.
- Sweet rice flour – This is the main dry ingredient in this dish and adds a chewy texture to the pancakes. You can substitute with all purpose flour, but this will make the pancake texture less chewy. If you use AP flour, I would also make sure to not over mix the batter because it will create for a tougher pancake.
- Baking powder – Helps the pancake rise and gives it that fluffy texture.
Making my ube mochi pancakes
First, combine all the ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk together until a uniform, thick purple batter forms. Heat a little bit of butter over medium low heat. Make sure to use a nonstick pan. Use a 1/3 cup measuring spoon or a soup ladle to spoon the batter into the center of the pan. Move in a circular motion to get that perfect circular pancake. Cook the pancake for 1-2 minutes until small bubbles start to appear. Flip the pancake, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Transfer the pancake onto a plate. Repeat this process until the batter is used up. You should get about 8 pancakes. Top the pancakes with fresh fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup.
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Ube Mochi Pancakes
Ingredients
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cup coconut milk full fat
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ube extract
- ¼ cup ube halaya
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ¾ cup sweet rice flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk together until a uniform, thick purple batter forms.
- Heat a little bit of butter over medium low heat. Make sure to use a nonstick pan.
- Use a ⅓ cup measuring spoon or a soup ladle to spoon the batter into the center of the pan. Move in a circular motion to get that perfect circular pancake.
- Cook the pancake for 1-2 minutes until small bubbles start to appear. Flip the pancake, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer the pancake onto a plate. Repeat this process until the batter is used up. You should get about 8 pancakes.
- Top the pancakes with fresh fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup.
So good! I had some coconut milk that needed to be used up, and happened to have all of the other ingredients on hand, the rice flour makes a lovely textured pancake! So pretty too!
Omg! I’m so excited you made these! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Could I use frozen shredded ube instead of Ube halaya?
I am not 100% sure because I haven’t tested this recipe with shredded ube. Ube halaya is made from fresh ube, condensed milk, and coconut milk, so I think it should still work but I can’t say for sure. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I actually substituted the 1/4c of ube halaya for 1/4c shredded ube (frozen section) to avoid the extra sweetness in the halaya. They cane out so delicious! My daughter’s love them!!!
Amazing! I’m so happy your daughters love them 🙂
I’m sorry but these were awful. They had the consistency of playdoh even after cooking for longer than recommended. Had to throw the batter away.
I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you 🙁
Any tips on how to make these as waffles?
Hi Steph! Since the batter is pretty thick, I would make sure it’s cooked through. You could thin it out by adding more coconut milk. Let me know how it goes!
These ube pancakes were easy and delicious! I subbed coconut sugar for the light brown sugar and next time I’ll try the shredded ube instead of the halaya to further reduce the sugar.
Thanks for trying the recipe! So glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
We have rice flour. Is this different from sweet rice flour?
Hi Karen. Yes, rice flour is made with long grain white rice and sweet rice flour is made with glutinous rice. Sweet rice flour gives food a chewy texture and rice flour doesn’t.
When the recipe says “1 ¾ cup sweet rice flour,” approximately how many grams/ounces of glutinous rice flour are you using? Depending on how packed in the flour is, the amount can vary significantly, and it’d be helpful to have weights for flour. Thank you! I’m excited to try this recipe.
That is a good question! 280 grams of rice flour. Let me know how it goes!
I’ve made these twice now and while the taste is good, my pancakes keep coming out very thin and almost gummy (no bubbles). Thinking it may be my baking powder, but also my batter is coming out pretty thin and my yield is significantly higher than 8 pancakes. Is the 1.5 cups of coconut milk correct?
Hi Scott. It’s possible the coconut milk I am using has less water than yours. I use the Aroy-D coconut milk – https://www.worldmarket.com/p/aroy-d-coconut-milk-set-of-2-594420.html
Interesting, I used the same coconut milk brand both times. Must be my baking powder then!