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My mango mochi ice cream combines sweet rice dough with a creamy mango filling, creating a soft and chewy dessert. Perfect for anyone who loves fruity treats, I’ll guide you through making this easy, no-special-equipment-needed dessert at home. In 30 minutes, you’ll master my recipe for this Japanese mango ice cream dessert, and you’ll have a new favorite to share with everyone!
If you’ve never made these, you have to try this at least once. I’m hooked, and I’ve made this recipe and variations of mochi ice cream for years. It’s sweet, starchy outside with the creamy filling that’s totally irresistible, and my kids love these as much as I do.
Which is where my homemade mango ice cream mochi recipe comes in! My version is so easy to make, you may never buy store bought mochi again!
Mochi, a traditional Japanese rice cake, is crafted from glutinous rice – also known as mochigome. I love how the sweet rice flour comes together – it’s soaked, steamed, pounded into a sticky, dough-like consistency, then formed into various shapes. These shapes can eaten as is, or filled with sweet or savory ingredients, making it a versatile treat.
While making mochi dough from scratch at home may seem intimidating, I promise it’s quite easy! This is basically a mango ice cream filling wrapped in mochigome dough.
I love how it’s a little sticky when you first bite into it, and then the soft, sweet, cold, rich ice cream melts in my mouth and the mango flavor is on another level. And it’s also great if your teeth are sensitive to cold, the mochigome dough is perfect.
If you haven’t noticed, I have a sweet tooth, and love making ice cream at home, heck I have loads of healthy ice cream recipes to try.
I’m not sure about you, but I love easy, simple, and healthy recipes. And my 6-ingredient mango mochi ice cream checks all of my boxes. At this point, it’s been years since I’ve bought mochi ice cream from the store!
Remember when I said this recipe was super easy! I wasn’t joking around, this is so simple, I can make this in my microwave and I call that a win!
Portion size matters, and I prefer smaller bite sized options. And for my kids this works wonders, having one or two of these mango ice cream balls are great as a snack or even late at night while watching a movie.
I prefer sweet mochi fillings, commonly called daifuku. And while classic mochi uses red bean paste or matcha, mine are stuffed with ice cream instead, and I prefer it this way. And this isn’t new, I’ve even seen fruit flavored mochi in Japanese fusion restaurants.
Also, this isn’t a recipe for fresh mango mochi. While mochi stuffed with fresh fruit is delicious, we’re looking for the creamy, rich texture of mochi ice cream. But it is incredibly easy to adapt this recipe for different flavors and textures, and you can make a fresh mango version – see my variations section below for more details!
These grab-and-go treats really are for everyone – the soft, gooey texture and sweet flavor is a hit with kids and adults alike!
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🥘 Ingredients
You can find the full list of ingredients along with step-by-step instructions for this mochi mango ice cream recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s what you need:
Glutinous Rice Flour: I love the texture of glutinous rice flour. Its key function is to give mochi that signature chewy texture. I don’t recommend substituting this ingredient. Its high starch content helps create the texture needed for this dessert. Despite the name, it is actually gluten-free.
Sugar & Water: I used regular white sugar or cane sugar, which sweetens the mochi dough. Water helps the dry ingredients mix and your dough form.
Corn Starch (or Cornflour): Cornflour is used to prevent the mochi from sticking to everything while you’re rolling it out to cut out the dough circles.
Mango Filling: I love using mango ice cream as the mochi filling, but homemade mango ice cream (essentially, fresh mango blended with cream) or mango sorbet can also work. The mango filling is stuffed inside of the mochi and makes up most of the recipe.
Orange Food Coloring: This ingredient is optional but gives the mango cream mochi a more mango color on the outside (vs. a whiter color).
🔪 How To Make Mango Mochi Ice Cream
Mango mochi balls are easy to make, just follow the instructions carefully to prevent some common mistakes. Check out the expert tips section for more help and my secret tips for getting this recipe right every time.
Line Muffin Tray, Prep Mochi Ice Cream Filling: I use a 12-hole muffin tray, and I prefer using muffin liners for easy cleanup. Make sure to line 8 holes with muffin liners and set aside. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out 8 balls of ice cream and place each ball into prepared muffin liners. Place the ice cream balls in the freezer.
Mix Ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the rice flour and sugar. Pour in the water and mix until smooth. If using food coloring add a drop and mix until well combined.
Cook In Microwave: Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove and stir with a rubber spatula, cover and heat again for another minute to a minute and 30 seconds. (Total cooking time will depend on the strength of the microwave.). The mochi will turn from white to almost translucent in color.
Place On Parchment Paper: Sprinkle corn starch over a silicone sheet or parchment paper. Place the cooked mochi dough onto the corn starch.
Roll Dough: Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out thin, dusting with corn starch (cornflour) if it’s a little sticky.
Cut Dough Into Balls: Using a circular cookie cutter, large enough to cover the ice cream balls, cut the dough into 8 circles. Cover a tray with plastic wrap and place the dough circles on to it with a piece of wrap in between each layer. Chill the cut circles in the fridge for 10 minutes. (Note: Some people may use a mochi ice cream kit for this step, but I’ve found that a large round cookie cutter is more budget-friendly and works just fine!)
Assemble Mochi: Remove ice cream from freezer and mochi from fridge. When the dough is cold and the ice cream balls are frozen hard you can start to put it all together. Start by placing one dough circle on your work surface and add an ice cream ball into the center of the dough.
Encase The Ice Cream Ball With Dough, pinching the ends together. Place the dough covered ice cream ball back into the muffin liner with the seam side down.
Repeat & Freeze: Repeat with remaining ice cream balls and dough. Once complete, place the muffin tray with the mango mochi ice cream balls back into the freezer and freeze until ready to serve, at least 2 hours before serving.
My #1 Secret Tip for this making mochi with mango ice cream is to make sure you don’t over cook the dough when you’re microwaving it!
This will produce a rubbery dough ball, making it difficult to work with. Before microwaving, make sure to cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap. This traps steam and ensures even cooking, preventing the dough from drying out.
You’ll also want to microwave the mixture in stages, and stir in between intervals, which is crucial for even cooking and to avoid any raw spots in the dough.
The dough should be sticky, shiny, and stretchy when it’s done. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl but still be quite tacky. Keep in mind, cooking time will vary based on the strength of the microwave being used.
Other Tips To Keep In Mind:
- Sprinkle more corn starch or corn flour if your mochi is too sticky while you’re rolling and cutting the dough.
- Use a warm, wet spoon to scoop ice cream if it’s frozen solid. Avoid letting it soften on the counter before scooping.
- Chill the dough before wrapping the ice cream balls to ensure it doesn’t melt the ice cream.
- Transfer your finished ice cream mochi mango balls to the freezer as quickly as possible to prevent the mochi dough from hardening. It also helps to individually wrap each mochi ball in plastic wrap before putting them in an airtight container in the freezer. Remove the ice cream mochis from the freezer up to 15 minutes before serving to allow the mochi skin to soften slightly.
📖 Variations
I’ll show you how to change the flavors in this recipe to just about anything you like or even make this with plain fruit filling instead of ice cream! Here are some of my favorite flavors to try:
Different Flavored Ice Cream: Make your mochi strawberry, peach, vanilla, berry, passion fruit, chocolate, or any flavor you like! Any ice cream can be used to make mochi. I will sometimes use my homemade lychee ice cream for a lychee mochi recipe!
Coconut Mochi: Give this mochi and even more tropical flavor with coconut flakes. Roll the assembled mochi mango balls in shredded coconut before freezing.
Homemade Mango Cream: To make this Japanese mango ice cream mochi with fresh mango and cream, blend 1 peeled and diced mango + 1-2 cups heavy cream in a blender until smooth, add sugar to taste if needed, then transfer to ice cube trays and freeze until hardened. Then use that as your mochi filling!
Fresh Mango Mochi Recipe: Mango mochi daifuku is basically fresh fruit or fruit purees wrapped directly in mochi. Fresh mango chunks, freeze-dried mango, or mango puree can be wrapped in your mochi dough for a fresh fruit mango filling. Alternatively, you can use mango flavored powder to mix into your mochi dough directly, add fresh chunks of fruit mixed with your ice cream, or you can use a mango flavored custard as a filling as well.
Vegan Mochi: Make this recipe vegan by substituting vegan or plant-based ice cream. I love using this mango nice cream recipe instead of regular ice cream for a vegan twist!
🧊 Storage Directions
Freezer: I store my fresh mochi in the freezer immediately after assembly. This is because the dough can become tough and the ice cream will melt if left out for more than a few minutes. It can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can’t store this in the fridge or it will melt.
To Serve: Prior to serving, I take my fruit-flavored mochi out and let them sit for 5-15 minutes at room temperature. That way, it will be soft and chewy and not too hard to bite into.
❓Recipe FAQs
What is the best type of glutinous rice flour to use?
I recommend using mochiko for this recipe, since it’s easier to find, and should work just as well as shiratamoko. And I typically buy Koda Farms’ Mochiko or Bob’s Red Mill Sweet Rice Flour both of which are made from a Japanese short-grain glutinous rice – and I find them equally well made.
How do I prevent the ice cream from melting while wrapping it in the mochi dough?
Since mochi dough is sticky and ice cream melts easily, it can be a little difficult to wrap sometimes! Here are some tips to prevent your ice cream from melting:
1) I always make sure that my ice cream has been pre-scooped and frozen before assembling the mochi
2) Then I spray my hands with cooking spray before handling the mochi dough so it doesn’t stick. Sometimes I’ll also put a little bit of corn starch on my work surface and on the dough to prevent the dough from sticking.
3) Try not to get ice cream on the parts of the mochi dough that you are planning to stick together – since that will make the dough harder to seal.
4) I work quickly so the ice cream gets wrapped before it starts to melt!
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