This blog post will teach you how to make soft, decadent ube crinkle cookies, which are full of ube flavor thanks to the ube extract and ube halaya! They’re not-too-sweet and the perfect Filipino-American holiday cookie.
Want to learn more about ube? Check out my ultimate ube guide!
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What Is Ube?
Ube (pronunciation: oo-beh) is a purple yam native to the Philippines. It’s sometimes confused with another vegetable called taro, which has an earthier flavor and is used in both savory + sweet dishes.
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.
This recipe uses both ube extract and ube jam (homemade ube recipe). You can find these ingredients in some Asian markets, especially Filipino ones, but if all else fails, you can buy ube extract/halaya or powdered ube online!
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a spatula, scoop, roll, then bake!
- It’s full of ube flavor. There’s 2 teaspoons of ube extract and ube halaya (aka ube jam). You can use store-bought ube halaya or make my delicious homemade ube jam recipe!
- Crinkle cookies are great for the holidays. The powdered sugar topping reminds me of snow falling on the ground in the winter. So festive!
Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try out my chipless cookies or chocolate sugar cookies.
Ingredients
To make the best ube crinkle cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough easy to mix by hand, while also yielding fudgier cookies.
- I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew. You can use light or dark brown sugar; dark brown sugar will just give you a deeper molasses flavor.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and spread we’re aiming for!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- I used Butterfly ube extract and my homemade ube halaya, but feel free to use store-bought halaya.
- For the perfect crinkled cookies, I like to roll my ube cookie dough balls in granulated sugar, then a double coating of powdered sugar.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For the perfect crinkle cookies , I suggest rolling the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar first, then doing a double coating of powdered sugar. This yielded the most consistent crinkles out of my other sugar coating tests (pictured above).
- For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
How to Make Delicious Ube Crinkle Cookies
Step 1: Mix together melted butter with brown and granulated sugars until fully combined.
Step 2: Add in egg, ube extract, and ube jam. Mix until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Cover and chill for 30-60 minutes, or up to 2 days.
Step 4: Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough. Roll into granulated sugar, then powdered sugar, and place on lined baking sheet 3-4 inches apart. Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls, then roll each ball again in a second coating powdered sugar. Make sure there are no purple spots peaking through. Bake cookies at 350°F/177°C for about 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set and middles seem mostly cooked through. Remove from oven and let completely cool on tray. Enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“Everyone raved over these cookies!” – test baker
Filipino Ube Crinkle Cookie FAQs
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.
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. This recipe uses both ube extract and ube jam, but you can also rehydrate ube powder or use mashed ube in place of the jam. You can find these ingredients in some Asian markets, especially Filipino ones, but if all else fails, you can buy them online!
Want to learn more about ube? Check out my ultimate ube guide!
They can last at room temperature in an airtight container for up 5 days. See my storage instructions for more information.
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cooled ube cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze ube cookie dough balls (no granulated or powdered sugar coating) for up to a year. When you want to bake them, pull them from the freezer, coat in sugars, and bake as usual—just add a couple more minutes to the baking time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen ube cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
🇵🇭 More Filipino Recipes You’ll Love
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Ube Crinkle Cookies
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Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (4.5 g) fine sea salt or table salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (73.33 g) light or dark brown sugar packed
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) ube extract extract or paste
- ½ cup (118 g) ube halaya
For rolling:
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
For the ube cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, and ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar until smooth.
- Mix in 1 egg, 2 teaspoons ube extract , and ½ cup ube halaya until smooth.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Add ¼ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup powdered sugar to their own bowls.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll in granulated sugar, then powdered sugar, and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart. Repeat with remaining cookie dough balls. Once the tray is full, roll each ball again in a second layer powdered sugar. Make sure there are no purple spots peaking through!
- Bake one tray at a time for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set and centers look mostly cooked through.For the perfectly aesthetic cookie (optional!), place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round.
- Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Room temperature: Store cooled ube crinkles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze ube cookie dough balls (no granulated or powdered sugar coating) for up to a year. When you want to bake them, pull them from the freezer, coat in sugars, and bake as usual—just add a couple more minutes to the baking time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen ube cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.