Chunky White Chocolate Coconut Ube Cookies
These gourmet cookies are chunky, gooey, and absolutely delicious. They were inspired by Levain Bakery's cookies and my favorite Filipino dessert flavor combos: ube and coconut.
Servings: 5 cookies
Calories: 633kcal
Equipment
- medium bowl for dry ingredients
- large bowl or bowl of stand mixer for mixing cookie dough
- electric whisk or paddle attachment of stand mixer
- parchment paper or silicone mat
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- ½ cup cake flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup butter softened and cut into tablespoons
- ¼ or ½ cup light or dark brown sugar packed, see steps
- 1 egg
- ½ cup ube halaya homemade/store-bought, can also sub rehydrated ube powder or mashed ube
- 1 ½ teaspoons ube extract see notes
Mix-ins:
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips plus more for topping
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Instructions
Make the chunky ube cookie dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: ½ cup cake flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon table salt.
- *If you are using ube halaya, use lower amount of brown sugar because of how sweet ube halaya is. If using mashed or rehydrated ube powder, use higher amount of brown sugar.In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix the ½ cup butter and ¼ or ½ cup light or dark brown sugar on medium speed until completely smooth, about 2-4 minutes.
- Using your silicone spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl in the stand mixer. Add 1 egg, ½ cup ube halaya, and 1 ½ teaspoons 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, ¾ cup white chocolate chips, and ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut. Mix until combined and no dry spots remain.
Shape and freeze cookie dough:
- Divide the dough into 5 pieces, about 5-6oz each. Roughly shape the dough into slightly tall mounds using your hands.
- Place ube cookie mounds on a lined baking sheet or plate, and freeze for at least 1 hour. 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.
Bake ube cookies:
- Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place each dough mound about 3 inches apart on one baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes. They are done when the edges are a little brown and set.
- Remove baked cookies from oven. Immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt and top with additional white chocolate chips. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes—they will continue cooking on the sheet! They are very soft/delicate right after baking and need to set.
- Enjoy! For warm cookies, you can reheat them by baking them at 350° for 2-4 minutes or popping them in the microwave for 10 seconds.
Notes
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.
- Invest in an oven thermometer: If you find that your purple yam cookies are still spreading a lot after using a kitchen scale and freezing the dough, try verifying your oven temperature! Years ago, my housemate and I found out that our oven used to run ~75-100°F lower by using a thermometer... which helped us ask our landlord to get a new oven, LOL.
- Let the cookies set: The cookies will be super gooey after baking. They will continue cooking on the cookie sheet and fully set around 10 minutes. But if you'd like warmer cookies, you can heat them back in the oven at 350°F for 3-5 minutes or pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- For the unsweetened coconut, you can use unsweetened coconut flakes, dessicated coconut, or shredded coconut.
- Other mix-ins like chopped nuts, regular chocolate chips, or Oreos would be absolutely delicious in these cookies.
- You can swap out the ube flavor by omitting the ube extract and halaya. You can use vanilla extract, add other powders, or warming spices. You can also follow my chunky matcha cookie recipe. :)
- Room temperature: Store cooled 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 raw cookie dough mounds for up to 3 months. Bake as usual, just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes. You can also heat them back up in the oven at 350°F for 3-5 minutes or microwave for 10 seconds.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cookie | Calories: 633kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 479mg | Potassium: 199mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 624IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 2mg
