PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Family-Owned Dessert Shop Brings Japanese-Inspired Treats to Central Phoenix.
A new family-owned dessert shop in central Phoenix is offering sweet, chewy Japanese-inspired treats Mochidot donuts, which opened in March 2023 near 7th Street and Camelback Road, is introducing the community to mochi donuts.
Mochi donuts, made with rice flour, offer a unique texture compared to traditional American donuts. “Mochi is the rice flour. That’s the core ingredient of our donuts. When you fry the donut, it gives you an airy, chewy, pillowy texture,” explained Nichole Williscroft, co-founder of Mochidot.
Rice flour is commonly used in Asian desserts. The concept of mochi donuts originated in Japan, later spread to Hawaii, and eventually gained popularity in the continental U.S.
Mochidot’s donuts are topped with flavorful homemade icings and edible decorations, making them visually appealing as well. The shop offers daily flavors like ube, churro, and powdered sugar, and introduces new specialty flavors each month. For instance, July featured a Dole Whip donut with pineapple glaze and mascarpone drizzle, a maple butter donut with house-made candy pecans, Belgian chocolate s’mores, animal circus, and strawberry crunch.
August’s menu includes cocoa crunch, caramel affogato, strawberry matcha, mango coconut, and key lime pie. Williscroft mentioned that new flavors are revealed on the first Saturday of each month, with recipes developed in-house to maintain a homemade feel. “We avoid pre-made stuff. We try to keep it feeling like it’s from the kitchen with love,” said Williscroft.
On weekends, customers can enjoy mochi “dots,” which are stuffed mochi donut holes made in small batches with a different flavor each month. Last month’s featured dot was filled with Belgian milk chocolate ganache.
Mochidot also supports other Asian-owned and women-owned businesses by featuring their merchandise in the shop. The journey to opening Mochidot Donuts took three years. After being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic while living in Seattle, Williscroft and her sister decided to bring mochi donuts to Phoenix, inspired by their popularity in Los Angeles.
Without prior experience in donuts or professional kitchens, Williscroft and her husband Brian conducted extensive research and decided to take the risk. They now run the shop with Williscroft’s sister and brother-in-law.
What sets Mochidot apart is its location in central Phoenix, offering Asian desserts without the need to travel to the East Valley. “We haven’t seen a tremendous amount of Asian diversity here in central Phoenix. To open an Asian-owned business and sell an Asian product here, we hope to give more visibility and invite people to join the mochi donut foodie community,” Williscroft said.
Williscroft hopes that more people will discover and enjoy their mochi donuts. “We’re hopeful for people to continue finding us and enjoying our donuts. We aim to be here a long time and to spread the mochi donut love,” she said.