Pumpkin Mochi

G started preschool last September. This opened up a whole new world of food. Not only do I feed my own child, but now I make snacks and treats for school events. What will the kids eat? Can I keep the sugar and refined/processed items to a minimum and have them eat it? Oh, and no nuts or anything processed in a facility with nuts.

For the holiday celebration, I went back to my roots. Something so simple and popular it has to be a hit. Mochi! Sure, it's got sugar and extremely refined white rice flour, but at least nothing has seen a nut and, bonus, naturally gluten and dairy free! Plus, G can help make it.

Then J pointed out that kids around here have probably never seen mochi. At least not the kind without ice cream inside. Hm. Do I want to be the mom who sends the weird food? If they try it, they should like it. Maybe if I cut it into fun shapes. And it does jiggle, kind of like jello. Is that good or bad? Well, I'm too busy with holiday and birthday baking to come up with anything else at the last minute, so weird food it is.

I went with pumpkin so it was seasonal and had a familiar pie taste, limiting the weird factor to texture, not taste. G helped mix and cut out the shapes. There is a bit less sugar than most mochi recipes but it is still quite sweet. I am not sure if canned pumpkin puree will work the same or if it will need extra liquid. Note that this make A LOT of mochi.

Pumpkin Mochi

450 g mochiko (1 pound box)
200 g sugar (1 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
112 g melted butter (4 oz, 1 stick, 1/2 cup)
400 g fresh pumpkin puree (14 oz)
2 cups coconut milk
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13-inch and 8x8-inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together mochiko, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, pumpkin, coconut milk, and eggs. Add pumpkin mixture to dry mixture and whisk to combine. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool completely before cutting.