Let’s make delicious Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls with this super easy stuffed Tang Yuan recipe. This sweet chinese dessert is served with a sweet soy bean soup, just the perfect pairing of flavors and texture. Best part is no artificial colourings are used in this recipe, all natural and wholesome. Enjoy!
Watch How To Make Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls – Recipe Video
These Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls are soft and chewy rice balls, filled with amazingly fragrant peanut butter filling and served in a sweet soy bean broth. You can also serve these glutinous rice balls in literally any sweet dessert soup as well. An aromatic creamy peanut butter filling wrapped in a glossy and gooey wrapper, this heartwarming dessert is enjoyed all year round.
This type of chinese dessert is also known as Tang Yuan (汤圆). Basically this round tang yuan, whether plain or stuffed with filling, is a traditional dessert which is essential to many Chinese festivals for its cultural significance. Eating these glutinous rice balls on festive seasons, especially during winter solstice gives an auspicious meaning of reunion, happiness and togetherness.
Making colourful glutinous rice balls is also a popular tradition for many Chinese families. This is because each colour has its own auspicious meaning in the Chinese culture too. I have chosen to made these glutinous rice balls in 3 colours, namely white, red and green. WHITE signifies kingship (good interpersonal relationships), RED signifies joy and GREEN signifies good health. The best part is this recipe uses natural colouring to make these colourful glutinous rice balls too.
What are Glutinous Rice Balls / Tang Yuan (汤圆)?
Glutinous Rice Balls, also known as Tang Yuan (汤圆) in Chinese is a traditional treat that is usually eaten on special occasions. Tang Yuan is a must have during the Dong Zhi Festival (冬至) or known as Winter Solstice, an important celebration at the end of the calendar year.
The round shape of Tang Yuan signifies reunion, a symbol of togetherness and completeness of a family. Glutinous rice balls are made using glutinous rice flour. They can be prepared plain or stuffed with fillings and served in a sweet broth.
What are Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls?
These are glutinous rice balls stuffed with creamy / chunky peanut butter filling. This dessert has an aromatic mild nutty flavor that can be quite scrumptious. When taking a bite into these rice balls, it may be a little oily but with just the right amount of sweetness. This homemade peanut paste filling has a very light sense of delicious graininess – sticky but malleable in the mouth. The taste is just simply addictive, leaving you wanting more.
Ingredients You Need To Make Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls
- Peanut Butter (Filling)
- Peanuts (Filling)
- Butter (Filling)
- White Sesame Seeds (Filling)
- Glutinous Rice Flour (Glutinous Rice Balls)
- Beetroot (Natural Red Colour)
- Pandan Leaves (Natural Green Colour)
Overview On How to Make These Glutinous Rice Balls
Prepare Sweet Peanut Butter Filling:
- Roast, remove skin and blend roasted peanuts till almost turn into powder.
- Add peanut butter, sugar, oil and mix into a sticky paste.
- Wrap in cling wrap and freeze.
- Then cut into small pieces, roll into balls and chill in refrigerator.
Prepare Sweet Soy Bean Broth:
- Blend soaked soy beans with water in blender till almost smooth.
- Strain to get the soy milk.
- Bring the soy milk to boil in a large pot. Continue to boil for 10 minutes.
- Add sugar and continue boiling for another 5 minutes.
Prepare Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls:
- First make the glutinous rice dough.
- Add boiling water to glutinous rice flour and mix well into a smooth white dough.
- Blend beetroot to extract its red juice. Add boiling beetroot juice into glutinous rice flour and mix into a smooth red dough.
- Blend pandan leaves to extract green pandan juice. Add boiling pandan juice into glutinous rice flour and continue to mix into a smooth green dough.
- Roll each dough into round logs, cut into smaller pieces and shape into round balls. Fill the centre with the sweet peanut butter filling, pinch to seal the filling and shape into balls again. Repeat for all the dough.
Cook Glutinous Rice Balls:
- Boil a large pot of water.
- Carefully place the glutinous rice balls into the pot.
- Cook till the glutinous rice balls float to the surface.
- When cooked, transfer into a bowl of cold water.
- Then scoop into bowls and served with the sweet soy bean broth.
How to Serve Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls
You can serve these sweet peanut butter glutinous rice balls literally in any sweet dessert soup / broth that you like. These stuffed Tang Yuan can be served in just ginger sugar syrup, brown sugar syrup, palm sugar syrup dessert soup, red bean dessert soup or in rich soy bean soup as well.
Important Tips When Making Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls
- You will need to use hot water to mix with the glutinous rice flour to make the glutinous rice balls. This is because
glutinous rice flour is responsible for the soft and chewiness of the tang yuan, while hot water makes the dough more pliable and easier to knead. Hence the peanut filling will not leak out when cooking.
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When transferring the sticky peanut paste filling onto plastic wrap, be sure to spread it out into a flat rectangular layer about 1/2 inch thick. The thinness of the filling will help it cool down faster, and the rectangular shape will make it easy to divide and cut.
- Be sure to freeze the filling for easier handling when wrapping the glutinous rice balls.
- The finished dough should be quite soft and pliable but not at all sticky. You can adjust its texture by adding more water if too hard or adding more flour if sticky. You can make these adjustments at any stage of the dough preparation.
- Make sure you completely seal the tang yuan, or the filling will leak out when you cook them.
- Use a large pot to boil water. There needs to be enough water to completely cover all the tang yuan. Only add the tang yuan when the water has come to a rolling boil. Stir occasionally to ensure the glutinous rice balls do not stick together.
- Transfer the cooked tang yuan into ice water bath. This will stop the cooking process and make the glutinous rice balls to shrink just a bit, and keep them from sticking together in the sweet soup.
How To Store These Glutinous Rice Balls
- These glutinous rice balls can be stored uncooked for 2 month in the freezer. Arrange the glutinous rice balls spaced out in lined airtight container and freeze them until solid. Make sure they are sealed well. Otherwise The freezer will dry out all the moisture inside which will result in the glutinous rice ball cracking and bursting when cooked. You can boil these directly. Do not defrost them.
- Cooked glutinous rice balls can be stored up to 2 days in the refrigerator. To store them once cooked, put in an airtight container together with some sweet soup/broth.
Do check out our other Glutinous Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) Recipes too:
- Peanut Glutinous Rice Balls (Plain & Matcha Tang Yuan) 双色花生汤圆
- Pumpkin Sago Glutinous Rice Balls 金瓜汤圆西米露
- Taro, Purple Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Balls 芋头紫薯金瓜汤圆
- Purple Sweet Potato Glutinous Rice Balls (Onde Onde) 紫薯汤圆椰丝球
- Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) 黑芝麻汤圆
- Glutinous Sweet Rice Balls (Tang Yuan) in Osmanthus Ginger Syrup 桂花姜汁汤圆
- Sweet Glutinous Rice Balls with Gingko Nuts (Tang Yuan) 杏仁糖汤圆
Sweet Peanut Butter Glutinous Rice Balls 花生酱汤圆
Tap or Hover to Adjust Servings
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Filling:
- 100 grams peanut butter, creamy or chunky
- 60 grams peanuts, roasted
- 40 grams butter, softened / melted
- 15 grams sugar
- 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
Sweet Soy Bean Soup:
- 200 grams soy bean
- 1½ litres water
- 2 pandan leaves
- 150 grams sugar
Glutinous Rice Dough: (White Colour)
- 100 grams glutinous rice flour
- 90 ml hot water
Glutinous Rice Dough: (Red Colour)
- 30 grams beet root, red colour
- 120 ml water, red colour
- 100 grams glutinous rice flour
- 90 ml hot beet root juice
Glutinous Rice Dough: (Green Colour)
- 20 grams pandan leaves, green colour
- 120 ml water, green colour
- 100 grams glutinous rice flour
- 90 ml hot pandan juice
Have ready all ingredients needed to make peanut butter filling.
Roast the peanuts and then remove the skin. Next, put in grinder to blend till almost turn into powder.
Put the powdered peanut into a bowl. Add in peanut butter, sugar and melted butter. Stir and mix into a sticky paste.
Transfer the sticky paste onto plastic wrap, spread it out into a flat rectangular layer about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap it up neatly to keep the filling from drying out, and freeze for 30 minutes. Then cut and divide into smaller pieces. Roll into balls and return to chill in the refrigerator until needed.
Put soaked soybeans into a blender or grinder. Add water and blend the soybean until almost smooth.
Pour the blended soy bean liquid into a cloth coffee filter to sieve out the soybean residue. Squeeze the coffee filter to release more of the soy milk from the residue.
Pour the soy milk into a large pot. Add in the pandan leaves. Using medium heat, bring the soy milk to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil the soy milk for 10 minutes. Then remove pandan leaves and add in sugar. Continue to boil for another 5 minutes and the soy milk is done. Set aside while we make the glutinous rice balls.
Add glutinous rice flour to a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water while stirring with a spatula or a pair of chopsticks. Combine and knead by hand until a soft, smooth dough is formed.
Have ready beetroot and water to make beetroot juice.
First make beetroot juice for the red colour. Cut beetroot into small pieces. Put into blender, add water and blend until smooth. Strain to extract the beetroot juice.
Add glutinous rice flour to a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling beetroot juice while stirring with a spatula or a pair of chopsticks. Combine and knead by hand until a soft, smooth red dough is formed.
Have ready pandan leaves and water.
First make pandan juice for the green colour. Cut pandan leaves into small pieces and put into blender. Add water and blend until smooth. Strain to extract the green pandan juice.
Add glutinous rice flour to a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling pandan juice while stirring with a spatula or a pair of chopsticks. Combine and knead by hand until a soft, smooth green dough is formed.
Place the white dough, red colour dough and green colour dough on a plate.
Roll them into round logs. From the round logs, cut the dough into small pieces, about 1 inch long for all the white, red and green colour dough.
Remove the peanut butter filling from refrigerator.
Take a piece of the cut dough, roll it into a ball and then shape it into a little bowl by pressing into the center. Put a piece of filling into the well and pinch the dough over the opening to seal the filling in. Roll it around in your palms a bit to smooth out the seam, and the tong jyun is complete! Repeat with the rest of the dough and peanut butter filling.
Repeat the same with the rest of the dough and peanut butter filling.
Place the glutinous rice balls on a floured plate. And we are ready to cook the glutinous rice balls.
To cook glutinous rice balls, first boil a large pot of water. There needs to be enough water to completely cover all of the tong jyun. When the water has come to a rolling boil, carefully place the glutinous rice balls into the pot.(In batches)
The glutinous rice balls are cooked when they float to the surface, which should take about 3-5 minutes. When the glutinous rice balls start to float, pour in a little water into the ball. Allow the glutinous rice balls to continue cooking till they start to float again, another 1 minute. Then scoop up the cooked glutinous rice balls.
Prepare a bowl of ice water. Transfer the cooked glutinous rice balls into the ice water bath with slotted spoon. Leave for a minute before scooping out the tang yuan.
Portion out the cooked glutinous rice balls into serving bowl and ladle the sweet soup over it and serve.
Instructions
Make Peanut Butter Filling:
Making Soy Bean Soup:
Make Glutinous Rice Dough (White Colour):
Make Glutinous Rice Dough (Red Colour):
Make Glutinous Rice Dough (Green Colour):
Make Glutinous Rice Balls:
Cook Glutinous Rice Balls:
Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- The thinness of the filling will help it cool down faster, and the rectangular shape will make it easy to divide and cut.
- Use hot water to mix with glutinous rice floor to form a dough. Hot water makes the dough more pliable and easier to knead. This will ensure the filling will not leaked out during cooking. Glutinous rice flour is responsible for the soft and chewiness of the tang yuan.
- When transferring the sticky peanut paste filling onto plastic wrap, be sure to spread it out into a flat rectangular layer about 1/2 inch thick. The thinness of the filling will help it cool down faster, and the rectangular shape will make it easy to divide and cut.
- Be sure to freeze the filling for easier handling when wrapping the glutinous rice balls.
- Use a large pot to boil water. There needs to be enough water to completely cover all the tang yuan. Only add the tang yuan when the water has come to a rolling boil. Stir occasionally to ensure the glutinous rice balls do not stick together.
- Transfer the cooked tang yuan into ice water bath. This will stop the cooking process and make the glutinous rice balls to shrink just a bit, and keep them from sticking together in the sweet soup.
- Natural colours for tang yuan: YELLOW (pumpkin juice), RED/PINK (beetroot juice), ORANGE (carrot juice), GREEN (pandan juice), PURPLE (purple sweet potato juice)
