Pumpkin Bubble Tea (vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free)
Nov 26, 2020 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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Pumpkin Bubble Tea from Scratch!
We’re in prime pumpkin season and I have the perfect recipe to make with your leftover pumpkin purée–Pumpkin Bubble Tea! Complete with homemade pumpkin bubbles, I like to make this with a base of hojicha (Japanese roasted tea), chai or cinnamon tea and a healthy amount of pumpkin spiced sweet cream.
I’ve shared a few simple vegan bubble tea recipes here on the blog, but they all call for pre-made tapioca pearls. Making pearls from scratch, however, is actually really easy and all you need are 3 ingredients. The rest is fairly simple: pick tea of choice, milk of choice and then sweeten to taste. Trust me when I say this drink is easier to make than you think, but it’ll definitely impress your friends 😉
Also, if you’ve ever found storebought bubble tea to be too sweet, or too strong in tea flavour, the good news is you have full control when you make it yourself. In total we’re using just 8 ingredients, and this recipe is vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free and nut free.
So what’s in this Pumpkin Bubble Tea?
- Pumpkin purée → This is the base of our pumpkin bubbles, and you can use either canned or homemade pumpkin purée! It adds a gorgeous natural orange colour and a subtle touch of pumpkin flavour.
- Glutinous rice flour → One of 2 essential flours that provides the classic bubble chew!
- Tapioca flour → You’ll need a little extra tapioca flour to dust your work surface and add additional flour as needed.
- Tea of choice → I like to use hojicha, but cinnamon tea, chai or any black tea work too. I like to cold brew my tea in advance.
- Non-dairy milk of choice → I used soy milk, but you can use any milk of choice here. I also recommend using a milk frother, handheld frother or a blender to achieve a fluffy sweet cream.
- Vanilla extract → An essential! Feel free to use fresh vanilla bean instead, for even better flavour.
- Pumpkin spice → You can use your own blend of spices, or use a classic pumpkin spice blend for ease. It’s also called pumpkin pie spice sometimes!
- Maple syrup → Any liquid sweetener will work, but I like maple as it’s quite neutral in flavour and is refined sugar free.
Secrets to success
If you’d like to store leftover bubbles, you can store them in some water with a touch of sweetener for about a day. I find that after a day, the texture tends to go off, so I’ve kept the quantities small so you don’t end up with much leftover (makes about 2 servings).
Do adjust this recipe to taste and add more/less sweetener, tea and milk as desired! That’s the beauty of DIY-ing it.
If you like this recipe, try…
- Matcha Bubble Tea
- Classic Bubble Tea
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Chia Pudding
- Healthy Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Lentil Soup
- Healthy Pumpkin Spice Granola
- Spiced Pumpkin Seeds via World of Vegan
If you try this recipe out, tag me on Instagram @veggiekins so I can see your delicious re-creations and feature them! As always, I love when you share your reviews in the comments below, and if you make any fun substitutions, let me know how it worked out below too.
Pumpkin Bubble Tea (vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free)
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Bubbles
- 1/4 cup pumpkin purée
- 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour more as needed
- Liquid Ingredients
- Ice cubes
- 2 cups brewed tea of choice I used hojicha, but chai and black tea are also delicious in this recipe
- 1 cup soymilk or plant milk of choice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1-2 tbsp maple syrup more to taste
Instructions
- Start by preparing the Pumpkin Bubbles. In a small bowl, mix pumpkin purée and flours. Start with a spoon and then use your hands to work it into a dough. Add additional tapioca flour as needed until the dough is workable without sticking too much to your hands.
- Roll into small balls to create your bubbles and once all the dough has been rolled, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add uncooked bubbles to the pot. They're ready once they float to the top and are cooked through. Strain and set aside in a small bowl of water. As an optional step, you can also add a touch of sweetener to the bowl to sweeten the bubbles.
- Next prepare your pumpkin sweet cream. Using either a milk frothing machine or a handheld frother, combine milk, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice and maple syrup. You can also use a blender, or shake ingredients up in a bottle.
- To serve, divide bubbles into 2 glasses. Next, layer ice and then pour your tea into the glass. Finish it off with your pumpkin sweet cream and enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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