Healthy Applesauce Nian Gao (Mochi Cake)

Baked Apple Mochi Cake (Nian Gao) Recipe

Healthy Applesauce Nian Gao (Mochi Cake)

All Purpose Veggies

makes ONE 7.25 inch round cakes (Pyrex 7 cup round dish), or TWO 5.6 inch round cakes (Pyrex 4 cup round dish)

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4.41 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Course Dessert

Cuisine Chinese, Japanese

Servings servings

Calories 168 kcal

Ingredients

Mochi Batter

1 ½ cup mochiko flour, sweet rice or glutinous rice flour (175 g), read notes*
½ cup tapioca flour (60 g)
3 Tbsp brown sugar (36 g), or a sugar free substitute, such as granulated monk fruit sweetner
1 cup applesauce (244 g), unsweetened
3 Tbsp coconut oil (42 g), melted. Use refined for neutral flavor

Add Ins

1 ½ cup diced apples (188 g) from 1 medium honeycrisp apple
½ cup walnuts, or other nuts of choice (59 g)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 340 F or boil water to prepare the steamer. Also grease a Pyrex 7 cup round container or two 4 cup round containers with some oil (spray oil works fine, too).
In a clean bowl, mix glutinous rice flour (mochiko flour) with tapioca flour and sugar. Set aside.
Microwave applesauce in a shallow microwave safe bowl, COVERED to avoid splatter - until warm. About 50-60 seconds. (This is an optional step to make the mochi chewier. Read notes***)
Pour the warm, applesauce into the flour-sugar mixture and use a whisk to mix well, along with the melted coconut oil
Add diced honeycrisp apples and walnuts to the batter
Pour batter into the greased cake pan / pyrex containers, and bake in oven 340F for 40 minutes for TWO 5.6 inch round cakes (Pyrex 4 cup round glass container), or about 60 minutes for ONE 7.25 inch round cakes (Pyrex 7 cup round glass container), or until the middle is set and the edges are crispy.
For softer traditional texture, steam batter on medium heat for 45-60 mins for large cakes, 30-40 minutes for smaller cakes, or until the center of the mochi cake is set.
Let cool completely before serving, or cool the cakes in the freezer for 2-3 hours which helps to get clean slices of cakes.
Fry the sliced mochi cakes in oil if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

*Glutinous rice flour goes by many names. You'll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite brand) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!

Nutrition

Calories: 168kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 69mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 15IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 0.3mgZinc: 0.3mg***Net Carbs: 25g

Keyword applesauce, gluten free, mochi, new year

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