Chi Chi Dango for Hinamatsuri

Girl's Day, or Hinamatsuri is a Japanese Doll Festival held on March 3rd.  Growing up in Hawaii, Girl's Day was a fun time in which the boys were super nice to us!  In grade school, teachers often asked the boys to pick up our lunch, pull out our chairs before we sat down and other cute gestures like that.  Best of all, on Girl's Day we often had Mochi treats, rice crackers that looked like kokeshi dolls and if you were lucky you might even get a Japanese doll!  My mom would often send me to school with a tray of pink and white colored chi chi dango to share with my classmates. 


Chi Chi Dango
recipe from my mom

1 box mochiko (3.5c)
2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 can coconut milk
2 c water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp food coloring

1.  Combine mochiko, sugar and baking powder in a bowl.
2.  Blend Coconut milk, water, vanilla and food coloring in a separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to mochiko mixture.
3.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Pour into pan and cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

4.  Let cool and cut with plastic knife (or cut out with cute cookie cutter shapes) and roll in mochiko or kinako.

This is a super easy recipe if you are just starting out with mochi!  There are tons of variations varying from butter mochi, blueberry, chocolate or pumpkin mochi and mochi stuffed with truffles, peanut butter, or an (bean paste).  Even if you aren't Japanese, this is a super cute way to celebrate being a girl with your daughter, sister or girl friends!