It’s two months of A Common Table giveaways! From now until December, I’ll be sharing a recipe from the cookbook here and holding a giveaway of one of my favorite kitchen treasures used in the book every week, and you’ll have a week to enter before the winner is announced, along with a new giveaway. This post is in partnership with Pyrex. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The time has come–it’s the very last A Common Table giveaway. What a couple of months it’s been! It has been so incredibly special seeing the book in your hands, all the things you’ve made, and reading all your stories and kind words. I can’t thank you enough for sharing with me and for making this a dream come true.
The recipe for this last giveaway was something of a dark horse in the cookbook. It’s based on the simplest peanut butter mochi cake ever, one that couldn’t be easier but ended up one of my favorite recipes in the end. The base is just mochiko flour, eggs, oil, sugar, and milk, whisked all together in one bowl in any order you please, no dry ingredients and wet ingredients, no creaming, no nothing. It’s layered together with a creamy peanut butter filling and a crunchy roasted peanut top for a chewy-sticky, glorious take on my favorite flavor of tangyuan with all of the deliciousness and none of the fuss. Best of all, it’s endlessly adaptable–you can add a bit of jelly for a PB&J cake, sub in red bean paste, black sesame filling from the black sesame French toast in the book, lotus paste, chocolate chips, you name it.
For the holidays, I thought I’d go with a butterscotch version, swirled up with the easiest, richest butterscotch full of buttery, toasty fireside warmth. The butterscotch goes astonishingly well with chewy mochi, and though I find mochi batter particularly unpredictable with fillings (as it turns out, red bean tends to sink, and black sesame will all rise to the top) butterscotch sauce swirls beautifully. And I’m pairing up with Pyrex to give away their 8×8 glass dish that you can use to make it (one of my favorite baking dishes in my kitchen!)
Pyrex makes an easy recipe even easier–the lid that comes with the dish means you can bake the cake, let it cool, and seal it up to eat the next day, helping with busy holiday schedules. I used a Pyrex mixing bowl and glass measuring cup here too, but since the recipe is one bowl, you could even mix it right in the dish, meaning prep, baking, and storage all in one. (And the nonporous glass, which I’ve never once managed to break, means it won’t pick up any smells, flavors, or stains.) Magic.
To enter the Pyrex giveaway, hop over to Instagram or leave a comment below sharing your go-to way to use Pyrex this holiday season! The giveaway ends next Friday, December 21. It’s been such a fun two months with you–I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did and thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for every single one of you who has bought A Common Table. It means more than I can say.
butterscotch mochi bars
Ingredients
- for the butterscotch sauce (from Smitten Kitchen):
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or more, to taste)
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- for the cake:
- 1½ cups (225 grams) sweet rice flour, like Mochiko Blue Star
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper.
- To make the butterscotch sauce: Melt the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, cream and salt and whisk until well blended. Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Remove from heat and stir in one teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Carefully taste a bit of the cooled sauce and adjust with more vanilla extract and salt to your liking. Set aside while you make the cake.
- To make the cake: In a medium Pyrex mixing bowl, combine the sweet rice flour, milk, sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. You don’t need to worry about overworking the batter and making the cake dense, because sweet rice flour doesn’t contain gluten—mochi cake is dense to begin with! Small lumps will appear in the batter at first, but they will dissipate as you whisk.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared Pyrex baking dish. Drop small spoonfuls of the butterscotch sauce evenly across the batter, then pour the remaining batter over top. Drop small spoonfuls across the top and use a butter knife to swirl the sauce evenly throughout the cake. (You will have a good amount of butterscotch leftover. Given how good it is, I suspect you will forgive me.)
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the edges are puffed and the center is set. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. The mochi will slice much more cleanly when cooled, but there’s nothing like enjoying a piece warm from the oven.
Notes
Some variations! Throw in a two-inch sprig of rosemary with the butter to make a rosemary butterscotch (and just remove the rosemary from the sauce after it simmers). Add in ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon all spice, and a pinch black pepper for a gingerbread twist.
I find that this butterscotch version is best enjoyed the day that it’s baked, but other versions with red bean, black sesame, peanut butter, and chocolate will keep for at least two days in the Pyrex dish at room temperature, and longer in the fridge (though you’ll want to heat it briefly before serving).
Bria Silbert
Pyrex is great – it can be stored in the fridge and then put in the oven or microwave without worrying about cracking. It is so easy to clean and looks shiny and professional and ready for its next use!
reillys
I love pyrex. I’ve used it for years for everything. I use it year round, not just during the holidays. I mix, bake, and store food in it. Long before people learned about the risks of plastics, I was using pyrex.
Bette
I use Pyrex for everything — storing, mixing, cooking. I love that glass is nontoxic and stable, and it lasts forever. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Donna
I’ve used Pyrex measuring and baking dishes for eons. They’re sturdy, reliable, accurate, easy to wash, and versatile. Best pie crusts ever. Butterscotch bars: yay!!
Eliza
Pyrex’s odor resistance and durability are key to letting me make peanut ice cream and coconut brownies back to back. I love it!
Dragonfly43
I have a bunch of Pyrex that’s old as the hills, some from the sixties, and use it all the time, especially the glass square dish. It’s the best for brownies because I don’t have to worry about scratching up a metal pan with a knife while cutting them. And, I can’t imagine using anything other than my two Pyrex pie plates for baking pies! Having two different sizes is really convenient.
Diana Smith
I love Pyrex, and use it for all baking, casseroles and roasting! I bought four Pyrex 8 or 9″ casserole dishes with handles and lids and gave them to my mom for Christmas. My sister and brother and I rotate them from house to house and bake her different dishes that can then be frozen and stacked in Mom’s freezer so she has delicious, home cooked meals at the ready. It’s one way that we can support her after our dad died and she doesn’t have to worry about cooking healthy meals now that she’s older and has trouble standing for long periods of time. She feels loved, and we feel helpful. The Pyrex dishes were the inspiration for this idea because of their size, handles that mom can grip easily, and the lids. We love them!!
I also look for vintage Pyrex at thrift stores and use them to hold gifts of cookies and small cooking utensils for my foodie friends at Christmas and birthdays. I love the idea that they were used to make meals for others, and I imagine that the good cooking love they once held gets passed along with them!
Yvonne
I love being able work in my Pyrex bowls while making the dish, and then being able to stick it straight in the oven – and then covering it after with the included lid! It makes cleanup and transport and storage so much easier than having to transfer a dish back and forth between bowls.
Helene
I used pyrex when I was little girl. I have very good memories from that.
Christine
Love love love it for ooey gooey brownies with crisp lacey edges!
Oh and easy peasy chicken pot pie! Throw in the filling and roll a pie crust into it.
ying
I use my Pyrex for everything, love its versatility, although I use it most to store large quantities of potato salad with cornichons.
Hannah
Unlike you, I have managed to break a Pyrex dish – but only one, in 30+ years, which considering how many other dishes I’ve broken in that time is a really impressive record for the Pyrex! Especially considering it’s pretty much the only thing I use for storing leftovers.
D. Larsen
i have a collection of Pyrex dishes and bakeware. The Pyrex is used daily!
Bill McGRATH
Seems like a lot of folks like Pyrex! Very cool
I just want to take a moment and wish you and your guys a
Happy Holiday and all the best in life for 2019
Cathy P
Love my 2 cup pyrex measuring cup. Great for measuring corn syrup to make peanut brittle!
Cathy
I’ve been on a mochi thing lately and I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks perfect for the holidays!
judy
I love my Pyrex measuring cups. They’re so well made. I’ve had mine for decades, they’re easy to clean and the numbers/letters never fade on the cup. One way to improve it is to create a lid for the measuring cup so that you can store things pet-hair free while doing your mise en place.
Yoojin
My go-to way to use Pyrex is to hold ALL the leftovers from cooking this holiday! Pyrex glass rules 🙂
Donna
i use a pyrex measuring cup to heat up my almond milk for my to go coffee every weekday morning
Sharon Griskenas
This sounds so delicious! I love your blog, the photos are so beautiful, and your text is very enjoyable to read. thank you for giving us a glimpse of your life!
Sandy
I use Pyrex (and Corningware) for prep, cooking and storing They are so easy to clean even with baked-on foods.
Amanda
These look delicious! Cant wait to try and add to my cookie gift box. I always like to give something a little unexpected.
judith
it’s the best way to melt chocolate
Carolsue
I bake all my casseroles and dessert bars in Pyrex!
Wendy Mar
Would love to win a copy of your cookbook! So many recipes I want to try out! I checked it out at the library. I saw the peanut/peanut butter mochi and passed over it because I have a kiddo deadly allergic to nuts. Love this butterscotch option. Will definitely try it out!
Wendy Mar
My favorite liquid measurement cup is Pyrex. It’s my go-to glassware/cookware of choice!
Emilye
Pyrex is so handy; I love using it to mix up and bake frittatas. Everything can be done in one dish!
Heide M.
Looks yummy, thanks for posting.
Laura
Loving your blog and my cookbook club will be cooking from A Common Table tomorrow! This recipe looks delicious, but I’m a little confused because the text describes a peanut butter mochi with roasted peanut topping which sounds amazing, but the recipe title and recipe seem to be for the butterscotch mochi..do you have the peanut butter recipe available somewhere? Thank you!
Laura
Neeeeevermind I think I answered my own question! looking forward to trying many of your recipes tomorrow 🙂
tworedbowls
Hi Laura, thank you so much for commenting! Yes, the peanut butter version is in the cookbook 🙂 I hope you love it!
Jada
hello! I made the Butterscotch Mochi bars for our New Year’s Day feast. They were a big hit, I served them with the extra butterscotch sauce on the side, which certainly wasn’t necessary, but, wow, that sauce is amazing, so why not, right?
A question for you – This was my first time cooking anything with rice flour, and the texture of the bars was different than what I expected, I thought they would be a bit gelatinous, but they were more like a solid cream of wheat. In fact, they reminded me of Bougatsa, a Greek pastry, have you had? Anyway, I just wondered if that was the right texture? All of the mochi that I’ve had before, whether it’s wrapped around ice cream from Trader Joe’s, to the amazing works of art from Japanese Confectioneries from places like https://www.kitchoan.com/
are chewy, almost rubbery, but in a good way, if that makes sense.
tworedbowls
Hi Jada, thank you so much for making the bars and commenting! Did you use sweet rice flour (also called glutinous rice flour or mochiko flour), or regular rice flour? Because these have more fat and egg than recipes for the mochi that is used to wrap ice cream, they are a bit less chewy and stretchy, but if they were made with sweet rice flour, they should still have that bouncy texture to some degree. Rice flour will not have the same glutinous texture. (If you are looking for the exact kind of mochi used in the ice cream balls and to top frozen yogurt, etc. I also have a few different recipes for that kind of mochi on the site if you search “mochi”!)
I hope that helps! Thank you again and I’m so glad that the bars turned out okay despite the texture!
Jada
Thank you for responding! You are exactly right, I used “white rice flour” not “sweet rice flour” I’ll look for the sweet rice flour next time to get the result you intended, but as I said, they were a hit as-is, and reminded me of bougatsa, and trust me, that’s a good thing 😉
weihnachtssüßigkeiten
“no nothing” is the best part of the recipe.
Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★