Homemade Tapioca Pearls aka Boba Pearls
Make Homemade Tapioca Pearls with just 2 ingredients! Round, glossy, and deliciously chewy, these turn out just like the ones you get in your boba tea at your local coffee shop!Ready in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For The Tapioca Pearls
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 1 cup (125 g) tapioca starch/flour
- Food coloring (optional, to taste, if you don't add in any you'll get clear boba pearls, for my boba pearls I used black gel food coloring)
- Honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup* (see notes) (for sweetening and storage)
Instructions
- Make the tapioca dough. Add the water to a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and add in the tapioca starch and food coloring (if using). Mix until a dough starts forming.
- Knead. Dust a surface with tapioca starch, then transfer the dough to the surface and knead as you would bread dough. Knead until fully smooth, the texture should be similar to that of Play-Doh.
- Make the pearls. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each part into a rather thin log. Cut the rolls into small pieces and roll each piece into a round ball. At this point, if you added any food coloring, you'll notice that the color you used is quite muted, it's okay, it'll pop once you cook them.
- Cook. Add the water to medium saucepan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add in the tapioca pearls and stir them around with a large spoon. Cook for 6-10 minutes for extra chewy pearls or up to 10-12 minutes.
- Sweeten. Once the tapioca pearls are done cooking, turn off the heat, remove them from the water and place them in a clean bowl or the bowl of an air-tight glass container. Immediately drizzle with liquid honey, maple syrup, or simple syrup* to keep them from sticking. Allow to come down to room temperature before adding to any drinks.
Notes
*Simple Syrup: if you can't add honey or maple syrup, you can make your own simple syrup at home by combining 1/2 cup water (125 ml) with 1/2 cup sugar (110 g) in a small saucepan over medium heat and mixing until the sugar is dissolved completely.
Storing Instructions: To store tapioca pearls, soak them in liquid honey, maple, or simple syrup to keep them from sticking together and place them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. If they turn dry or shrink a bit, boil them again to get them back to their original plump state!
Nutrition
Calories: 2kcalCarbohydrates: 0.4gSodium: 0.01mgPotassium: 0.1mgCalcium: 0.01mgIron: 0.01mg
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