Mochidot Donuts brings Japanese-inspired dessert to central Phoenix
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A family-owned and Asian-owned dessert shop is bringing sweet and chewy, Japanese-inspired treats to central Phoenix.
Mochidot Donuts opened in March 2023 near 7th Street and Camelback Road.
The dessert shop offers delicious mochi donuts with a texture that’s different from a typical donut you’d find in a local bakery.
“So mochi is the rice flour. That’s kind of the core ingredient of our donuts. When you go to fry the donut, that’s what’s going to give you this texture that is airy, chewy, pillowy. Very different from your traditional American donut,” said Nichole Williscroft, co-founder of Mochidot.
The rice flour is also used in other Asian dessert.
Williscroft says the inception of mochi donuts came from Japan and then made its way to Hawaii before gaining popularity in the continental U.S.
Topping off these delicious treats are Mochidot’s flavorful homemade icings and edible decorations that make the mochi donut almost too pretty to eat.
Mochidot offers flavors like ube, churro, and powdered sugar daily and a new menu with specialty flavors every month.
For example, July offered Dole Whip, which included a pineapple glaze with a mascarpone drizzle, a maple butter donut with house-made candy pecans, Belgian chocolate smores’, animal circus and strawberry crunch.
The month of August features flavors like cocoa crunch, caramel affogato, strawberry matcha, mango coconut and key lime pie.
Williscroft says the new flavors are revealed on the first Saturday of each month, and the recipes take time to develop, with everything made in-house.
“We want to avoid any of the pre-made stuff. We try to keep it feeling like it’s from the kitchen with love,” said Williscroft.
On the weekend, customers can enjoy the mochi “dots,” which are stuffed mochi donut holes.
Williscroft says these dots are a labor of love. They are made in small batches and feature a different flavor each month. Last month’s flavor was a mochi dot stuffed with Belgian milk chocolate ganache.
They also feature merchandise from other Asian-owned and women-owned businesses in their shop.
Opening Mochidot Donuts was a journey three years in the making for Williscroft and her family.
After getting laid off while living in Seattle during the COVID-19 pandemic, she teamed up with her sister to bring mochi donuts to Phoenix after they saw its popularity in Los Angeles.
Having no donut or kitchen experience outside of their own home, Williscroft and her husband Brian researched, studied and decided to take the risk and open Mochidot. The couple runs the shop with Williscroft’s sister and brother-in-law.
What also makes Mochidot different is its location in central Phoenix. Customers can enjoy a sweet Asian dessert without having to go to the East Valley. “I think we’ve not seen a tremendous amount of Asian diversity here in central Phoenix,” said Williscroft.
“To be able to open an Asian-owned business and sell an Asian product in central Phoenix, I hope we’ll just give a little bit more visibility for people to kind of be a part of the mochi donut foodie community with us,” she said.
Williscroft hopes people will come to the shop and experience trying a mochi donut.
“I think really we’re just hopeful for people to continue finding us and continue coming and enjoying our donuts and engaging with us. We’re hopeful to be here a long time and hopeful to kind of just spread the mochi donut love,” said Williscroft.
Mochidot Donuts
Location: 914 E Camelback Rd #4a, Phoenix, AZ 85014, United States
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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