I’ve made tofu dango and sweet potato dango – I knew it was high time I tried making dango out of pumpkin as well! Here’s a Homemade Pumpkin “Dango” Recipe that’s vegan & gluten-free. It has all the textures of a chewy boba tea bubble but with a pumpkin-flavored twist. It’s also very easy to make – just 3 ingredients – and you can have your pumpkin dango on your table before you know it.
Ingredients Used to Make Pumpkin Dango
**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂
Pumpkin puree – I used canned pumpkin puree, which you can find in the baking aisle.
Tapioca flour (flour , also called tapioca starch) – While traditional dango are made with sweet rice flour, I decided to use tapioca starch instead to make sure the dango textures are chewy and elastic. Arrowroot starch and Potato starch can also be used instead. Cornstarch does NOT work.
How to Make
Pumpkin Dango using Tapioca Flour
STEP 1
In a bowl, knead pumpkin puree and the tapioca starch together until smooth and pliable, and no longer sticky.
STEP 2
Roll the dango dough into Tablespoon sized balls **note that when they cook they will get slightly larger**
STEP 3
Drop the dango balls into boiling water, in batches if necessary. Once the dango balls are done cooking they’ll float towards the top (kind of like gnocchi). Once all of the dango balls are floating, use a sieve or tea strainer to pull them out of the water
STEP 4
Coat them in honey before serving or skewering them into sticks
Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:
- Other than coloring you can also add different flavorings to the dough before cooking. For example, you can add either a teaspoon of coffee extract or espresso powder, cocoa, cinnamon or Cardamom Powder. They’re not typically added in a traditional recipe, but you’re welcome to experiment!
More Recipes Using Pumpkin
What are some ways you can eat pumpkin dango?
- Plain and warm, served with honey or brown sugar syrup.
- Skewered them into sticks, like below:
How to Store
- Once the dango balls have been cooked, they can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. For longer storage, I would freeze the individual dango balls in a plastic freezer bag or an airtight container, then reboil them when ready to eat.
- The reason I don’t recommend storing them in the fridge is that these dango balls tend to develop a weird waxy, hard texture when stored in the fridge. So eat within a day or freeze for best results.
Final Tips
- Boiling time (as well as serving size) will vary based on the size of the dango balls as well as how crowded they are when they’re in the boiling water. Before you remove the dango balls out of the water, do a quick doneness check by taking out one dango ball and use a knife to cut it in half. Be sure the insides are cooked through before you take the rest of them out of the pot.
You Might Also Like these Mochi Recipes
Pumpkin Dango Made Using Tapioca Flour
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree drain out excess water if necessary
- 3/4 cup tapioca, potato or arrowroot starch
- 2 Tbsp honey plus more for serving
Instructions
- In a bowl, knead pumpkin puree, 2Tbsp of honey and the starch together until smooth and pliable, and no longer sticky.*
- Roll the dough into Tablespoon sized balls
- Meanwhile, boil a quart or two of water in a large pot. Carefully drop the dango balls into the boiling water. If using a smaller pot, work in batches.
- Once the dango balls are done cooking they'll float towards the top. Once all of the dango balls are floating, use a sieve or tea strainer to pull them out of the water
- For extra chewy results, let the dango cool fully (about 5 minutes) in the ice water.
- Serve with honey. You can also skewer them in long wooden toothpicks.
Nutrition
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