Gummy Bear Boba – 3 ingredients only

These colorful and flavorful gummy bear boba pearls are made with just 3 simple ingredients – gummy bears, tapioca starch, and water.

If you’re a fan of boba tea and love experimenting with new flavors, follow this easy recipe to turn your favorite flavors of gummy bear into chewy and delightful boba pearls!

Gummy Bear Boba vs Brown Sugar Boba

Gummy bear boba and brown sugar boba are similar in texture, both chewy and slightly gummy.

Brown sugar boba is made from brown sugar, and often coated in a brown sugar syrup, which gives the boba pearls a slightly sticky texture and a slightly caramelized flavor. It is the most common to see type of boba in bubble tea shops.

Gummy bear boba, on the other hand, is made by dissolving gummy bears in water and kneading in tapioca starch. The use of different gummy bear flavors can give the boba pearls a variety of fruity tastes and colors. You can also soak gummy bear boba in honey, maple syrup, or fruit syrup to make them sweeter and more flavorful.

The methods of making gummy bear boba and brown sugar boba are very similar. Check out this post to see my brown sugar boba recipe.

How to avoid an oobleck boba dough?

The most common problem you might encounter when making boba at home is getting an oobleck boba dough, which is a non-Newtonian fluid, a very strange texture between solid and liquid.

When you handle the oobleck boba dough gently, it flows slowly between your fingers like a liquid. However, if you attempt to knead the dough by pressing or squeezing it, you will find that the dough becomes firm like a solid.

If we add all the tapioca starch to the water all at once or if the water isn’t hot enough, some starch particles will not dissolve and will float around in the water, resulting in an oobleck boba dough.

To prevent the formation of oobleck dough, the following two steps are important:

• Firstly, make sure you bring the water to a fully boil, rather than a simmer, before adding the tapioca starch. This will ensure that the starch particles dissolve immediately in hot water, rather than remaining suspended in cold water.

• Secondly, add half of the tapioca starch to the boiling water and stir until there is no dry starch left in the pot. After that, turn off the heat and knead in the remaining starch. This will prevent the second portion of tapioca starch from coming into contact with liquid water and remaining suspended in the mixture.

Tips for making gummy bear boba

1. Making Boba Pearls with Multiple Flavors

Ensure that you shape the boba dough into pearls while it is still warm because it will become dry and hard as it cools down. If you plan to create boba with various colors and flavors, it’s important to work with one flavor at a time. Finish rolling the dough into boba pearls for one flavor before moving on to making the next dough.

2. kitchen scale

Use a kitchen scale if available instead of measuring cups. Although I also listed the ingredient measurements in cups, a kitchen scale will ensure greater accuracy and consistency in the result every time.

3. clumpy and dry boba dough

After transferring the boba dough out of the pan, it will appear clumpy and dry, which is normal. It’s important to knead the dough quickly while it’s still hot. After about 3 minutes of kneading, the dough will become smooth and elastic. If the dough is still too dry to roll into boba pearls after this time, something might be wrong with your kitchen scale. In such cases, you can add water to the dough, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until it becomes smooth and elastic.

4. Use cornstarch to substitute tapioca starch

Theoretically, it’s okay for you to use cornstarch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, or glutinous rice flour (see my glutinous rice flour peach boba recipe here) to replace tapioca flour. However, boba made from these ingredients are not going to be as chewy as tapioca boba.

I have tried to make boba with cornstarch. See the detailed recipe and comparison between cornstarch and tapioca boba in this post.

5. How to make milk tea to pair with gummy bear boba

You can add the gummy boba pearls to your favorite drink, such as milk tea or strawberry latte. I have an air fryer milk tea hack you might be interested to know:

• To create air fryer milk tea, start by combining 2 tbsps of tea leaves, 2 tbsps of water, and 3 tbsps of either cane sugar or brown sugar in a bowl that is safe for use in an air fryer. Thoroughly mix the ingredients to ensure that all of the tea leaves are coated with the liquid.

• Next, air fry the mixture at a temperature of 380 °F for 5 minutes, until bubbles with a caramel color start to form. This step is crucial for quickly dissolving the tea flavor into the water while also roasting the sugar to produce a caramel taste.

• Afterwards, add 3 cups of milk or soy milk to the mixture, and air fry at a temperature of 360 °F for 10 minutes. This will help to dissolve the tea flavor into the milk, resulting in a delicious and creamy beverage.
• It’s normal to see a brown film on the surface of your air fried milk tea, and this film is actually full of flavor. Simply stir the milk tea with a spoon to let the milk film dissolve into the milk tea. You can then strain the mixture to remove the tea leaves. Finally, pour the hot milk tea over a glass of ice cubes to create refreshing iced milk tea.

EQUIPMENT you will need

• Kitchen scale (Or measuring cups)
• Nonstick pan
• Silicone spatula
• Pot with lid

INGREDIENTS List

• 40 g gummy bears (about 11 gummy bears)
• 60 g water (about ¼ cup)
• 70 g tapioca starch (about ½ cup)

Step-by-step INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add 40g gummy bears and 60g water to a nonstick pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir continuously until the gummy bears are fully dissolved.

2. Add half of the tapioca starch (about ¼ cup) to the pan, quickly stir with a silicone spatula until there is no dry powder in the pan.

3. Turn off the heat. Quickly add the rest half of the tapioca starch (about ¼ cup) to the saucepan. Mix roughly with a silicone spatula. Transfer the dough out to a bowl or a kneading mat.

4. While the dough is still hot, knead the dough for about 3 minutes until it turns smooth. (It might look dry at the beginning, but DON’T add water to the dough. While the surface looks dry, the inner part is wet and sticky. We need to knead the dough until the dry part and the wet part are well combined.)

5. While the dough is still warm (See Note 1), divide and roll the dough into small balls, about the size of a pea. (The boba will grow bigger after cooked. So we want to make them small at this step.)

6. In a pot of boiling water, add the boba, stir gently to prevent them from sticking to each other.

7. Once the water is boiling again, cover the pot with a lid, simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes. (If you prefer softer boba, keep the pot covered and let the boba rest for another 20 minutes.)

8. Drain the boba. Make them go through iced water for a chewier texture.

9. If desired, mix the boba pearls with honey or maple syrup to add sweetness and flavor. Add the boba pearls to your favorite drink, such as milk tea or strawberry latte.

How to store uncooked homemade boba?

1. After shaping the boba pearls, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone mat. Make sure the pearls are not touching each other.
2. Place the baking sheet with the boba pearls in the freezer for at least 2 hours or until they are frozen solid.
3. Once the boba pearls are frozen, transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag. 
4. Store the frozen boba pearls in the freezer for up to 2 months.

When you’re ready to use the frozen boba pearls, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before boiling them in water. 

My other boba recipes you will also like: