About these cookies
I’m a big fan of huge, chunky gourmet cookies, just like the ones they sell at Levain Bakery in NYC. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Levain Bakery in Boston, and although they sell their cookies online (almost $10/cookie including shipping!!!), it’s still not the same as eating cookies fresh out of their oven. So I did some research on copycat Levain recipes (by Broma, Modern Honey, A Bountiful Kitchen, and The Domestic Rebel) and decided I’d try to make some with one of my fave Filipino dessert flavor combos: ube and coconut.
I’m a big fan of huge, chunky gourmet cookies, just like the ones they sell at Levain Bakery in NYC. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Levain Bakery in Boston, and although they sell their cookies online (almost $10/cookie including shipping!!!), it’s still not the same as eating cookies fresh out of their oven. So I did some research on copycat Levain recipes (by Broma, Modern Honey, A Bountiful Kitchen, and The Domestic Rebel) and decided I’d try to make some with one of my fave Filipino dessert flavor combos: ube and coconut.
What is Ube?
If you’re not familiar with ube (pronunciation: oo-beh), it is a purple yam native to the Philippines. Ube is sometimes confused with another vegetable called taro, which has an earthier flavor and is used in both savory + sweet dishes. On the other hand, ube is sweeter and often described as having vanilla and nutty notes. It’s commonly used in desserts, such as ice cream, cake, or jam. It may be difficult to find fresh ube in grocery stores in the USA, but some Asian markets (especially Filipino ones) may have ube extract or ube powder. You can also buy ube extract and ube powder online!
After a few attempts of making these cookies, I’m happy to say that they hold true to Levain-style cookie standards: thick, cakey, and packed full of flavor. In the beginning of my recipe trials, my cookies weren’t holding their shape and were spreading out way too thin, even after freezing the dough. This was probably because of the added liquid ingredients—ube and ube extract. After tweaking the recipe by adding more flour, the cookies were still spreading out more than I wanted. I realized another issue was my oven, which runs pretty low. Even though it was set at 400°F, my oven thermometer said ~320°F. So I cranked my oven to 460°F, which was really 400°F according to my thermometer, and my cookies ended up holding their shape! This is because higher temperatures cause the cookies to set faster. Lower temperatures + longer cooking times = thin cookies, while high temperatures + shorter cooking times = thick cookies. Thank you, oven thermometer! Highly recommend them if you think your oven isn’t at the right temp.
There were other things I implemented into my adapted recipe of the other adapted recipes (lol): cornstarch, more baking powder, and only using brown sugar (instead of brown sugar + granulated sugar) to reduce spreading as much as possible. I referred to this blog post and a few Reddit posts about the science of baking cookies, which were extremely helpful.
So after 4-5 batches of “failed” cookies (don’t worry, my neighbors were happy to eat all of them), I finally came up with this recipe. This “small batch” recipe makes 5 huge 5-6 oz ube cookies. Feel free to double this recipe to make more, or shape the dough into smaller sized cookies. You’ll just have to keep on eye on them to make sure they don’t burn in the oven!
FAQ
Do I need cake flour?
No, you can sub in regular all-purpose flour. They will be slightly less cakey, but will still taste delicious.
Can I make this vegan?
Yes! Sub in a high quality vegan butter (like Miyoko’s). Other vegan butters melt at low temperatures, which may make your cookies spread out a LOT. So, I recommend using a high quality brand.
Can I make this gluten-free?
Yes. Just sub in 1:1 gluten-free flour, like by Bob’s Red Mill.
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. I’ve been wanting to make a gourmet ube cookie for a while and I’m ecstatic about these results. If you make these cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy! 🙂
Check out my Chunky white chocolate matcha cookie recipe! 🙂
Chunky White Chocolate Coconut Ube Cookies (Small Batch Recipe)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- ½ cup cake flour (65g, $0.23)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (120g, $0.29)
- ½ tsp cornstarch ($0.01)
- ¾ tsp baking powder ($0.05)
- ½ tsp baking soda ($0.01)
- ¼ tsp salt ($0.01)
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup butter, cold and cut into tablespoons (1 stick butter/8 tbsp, $1.25)
- ¼ or ½ cup brown sugar, see notes (50g or 100g, $0.55)
- 1 egg ($0.17)
- ½ c rehydrated ube or ube halaya, see notes (130g, $0.68)
- 1 ½ tsp ube extract, see notes ($1.94)
Mix-ins:
- 1 cup white chocolate chips (170g, $2.62)
- ½ cup shredded coconut (50g, $0.66)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix the cold butter and brown sugar on medium speed until completely smooth, about 2-4 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl in the stand mixer. Add egg, rehydrated ube, and ube extract to the bowl. Mix until combined, about 10-20 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again. Add all of the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and pulse a few times until it is mostly incorporated. Add all of the white chocolate and shredded coconut. Pulse a few more times.
- Divide the dough into 5 pieces, about 5-6oz each. Roughly shape the dough into tall mounds using your hands—do not compact them, roll them into balls, flatten the dough, or use an ice cream scoop. Place them on a lined baking sheet or plate, and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Freezing ensures that they do not spread out while baking.Note: You can store the frozen dough in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can bake them right from the freezer, but you will have to increase the baking time by 2-3 minutes.
- Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F/204°C.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Place each dough mound about 3 inches apart on one baking sheet (you will only be able to fit about 4-5 cookies on one sheet!). Bake for 10-13 minutes. They are done when the tops are a little brown.
- Remove baked cookies from oven. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet for about 20-30 minutes and do not touch them (they will continue cooking on the sheet)! They are very soft/delicate right after baking and need to set.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If your oven runs cold, then they may spread more when baking. If your oven runs hot, then they might brown more quickly. I use an oven thermometer, which shows me the right temp and is really helpful for my baking!
- If you want to omit the white chocolate chips, you must add a different mix-in with the same volume as a replacement, or the cookies will spread a bit! I suggest using different chocolate chips, roughly chopped walnuts, etc.
- I use this recipe to rehydrate ube powder. I store the leftovers in the freezer. You can also use mashed ube.
- If you are using fresh ube, I suggest boiling it and mashing it. Use the same volume of the mashed ube in place of the rehydrated ube.
- If you are using ube halaya, only use 1/4c brown sugar because of how sweet ube halaya is.
- If you are omitting the ube extract, use purple food coloring in place of that step, or the cookies will be very pale.
- You can freeze the unbaked shaped dough in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can bake straight from the freezer, just adjust the baking time by 2-3 more minutes.
- You can freeze the unbaked shaped dough in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can bake straight from the freezer, just adjust the baking time by 2-3 more minutes.
- You can replace the cake flour with regular all-purpose flour. They will not be as light/fluffy, but still good!
- To make this vegan: sub in high quality vegan butter (like Miyoko’s) and vegan egg (JustEgg)
- To make this gluten-free: sub in 1:1 gluten-free flour
Hi Bianca, how did you get 5-6oz cookies? I followed the recipe exactly and 5 cookies were less than 5oz 🙁
Hi Eileen! Thanks for the comment 🙂
If you weigh everything using a kitchen scale, the recipe should yield a little over 748g of cookie dough, which equals ~26 oz. So you should get about 5 5-6oz cookies! However, if you measure using cups, the weight may be a little off.
The amount of oz per cookie is not that crucial, it’s just a suggestion to equally measure out 5 equally sized cookies. I have had some people message me saying they baked the recipe with 3-4oz cookies and they still came out great, just not huge! 🙂
I hope this helps, please let me know if you have further questions. <3
Hi Bianca! These cookies look delicious and I’m planning to make some for the cookie contest in our hospital unit. I don’t have a stand mixer though. Is it ok if I use a hand mixer? Thank you!
Hello… can i use powdered ube instead of rehydrated ube,.is it gonna be the same ratio?
Hi there 🙂 I actually rehydrate the ube powder so that it becomes a paste, then I incorporate it into batter. I linked it in my recipe, but here it is too!: https://whattocooktoday.com/rehydrate-ube-powder.html
These Ube Cookies are Divine! I just replaced the shredded coconut to sliced almonds, perfect!! Use a couverture chocolate to get a gooey and melt in your mouth chocolate. No fail-easy to follow recipe! Really Super yum!!! Btw, it’s really chunky and huge like what I’ve always wanted. Thanks Ms Bianca!
Hi Trisha!
Thank you for trying this recipe 🙂 So happy you enjoyed them!
Hi Bianca. Thanks for the recipe. Love the gooeyness and flavour. Is it normal to have the bottom to be green in colour after baking? If not, any tips on how to prevent it from happening?
Hi, Lani! Thank you so much for the feedback, and trying the recipe 🙂
I’m interested to know what brand of ube extract you used, and if it had any food coloring in it. My ube extract has blue and red dyes in it, which acts as purple food coloring for my bakes.
In my research when writing to you, I read that baking soda can actually turn purple yam green-ish ! However, the purple food coloring should over balance that. Let me know what you used, I’m happy to further troubleshoot!
do you know what the nutrition information is? per cookie?
Hi Heather! I am not sure, but the recipe ingredient weights can be entered into an app like MyFitnessPal with a serving of ~6 cookies to find out. 🙂
These were divine. Thank you for the recipe! I didn’t have rehydrated ube. I used ube jam spread instead (not sure if this is the same as halaya?).
I only had dessicated coconut and used this instead. Worked out fine.
I forgot to cut down on sugar since I used the jam spread. It turned out slightly sweeter than my liking.
Overall still an amazing recipe and definitely will be using it again. Thanks Bianca!
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for trying the recipe! Yes, ube jam is the same as halaya :). Happy baking! <3
Hi if i were to make 70g cookie dough balls, will the oven temp stay the same and just decrease the time?
Hi Angela! I know we messaged, but I still wanted to reply in case someone else has the same question. I would decrease the time and keep the oven temp the same 🙂
Hi, would like to love to try this but can i just use ube extract, no rehydrated ube?
Hi! Yes, you can omit the rehydrated ube and keep the recipe as is 🙂
Can I use dessicated coxonut instead of shredded coconut?
Yes you can! 🙂
Hi! What can be a replacement for shredded coconut? Is it fresh shredded coconut btw?
Hi Jude 🙂 I use dried unsweetened coconut. I have also used dessicated coconut and coconut flakes (but chopped it to smaller pieces). You can omit the coconut if you want and can add a bit more white chocolate chips.
Hi Bianca! You’re such a talented baker 🤩 These cookies look so yummy 😋
Hi Tita! Thank you so much 🙂