I absolutely love making these Ube Crinkle Cookies for friends who’ve never tried ube before! They’re always surprised by how delicious (and beautiful) they are. Cue the heart eyes emoji! Crinkle cookies get their name from the gorgeous crackly top, created by rolling the dough in icing sugar before baking. They’re especially popular at Christmas thanks to their snowy appearance, but honestly, I love them all year round!
While chocolate is the most popular flavour worldwide, you can absolutely play around with other colours and flavours into the dough. Think lemon, strawberry, red velvet or even blood orange. In fact my Pandan Crinkle Cookies use another Southeast Asian ingredient to give them their gorgeous green colour and unique flavour. And they’ve become one of the most popular recipes on my blog! If you loved those, then this ube twist might just become your new favourite!
What is ube?
Ube (pronounced ooh-beh) is a purple yam that comes from the Philippines. It lends a subtle nutty, vanilla-like flavour and is so delicious in ice cream, cakes, cookies, drinks and more. I absolutely loved trying ube-flavoured everything on my trips to Manila. My favourite was the Ube Royale ice cream (so perfect in the humid weather!). Honourable mentions go to the delicious, crumbly polvorón biscuits and breads like ensaymada or pandesal in a bright purple colour.
These days, ube has gone global, popping up in cafés and bakeries everywhere. And personally, I love to see it! I will definitely order anything ube flavoured on the menu – pancakes, lattes, soft serve, cupcakes… I just love the flavour so much!
When baking with ube at home, I personally love the Butterfly brand Ube paste. It has a great concentrated flavour and gives you a gorgeous colour too. It’s widely available at Asian grocery stores here in Sydney, and also on Amazon. Ube is also available in other forms, like in jars of jam called ube halaya. However, I have not tested any other forms of ube in this recipe. If you do try them please leave me a comment and let me know!
There are probably a million crinkle cookie recipes online, but I love this one because it’s perfect every time. It’s all made from scratch and doesn’t use a box cake mix as the base like some do. It’s also made with butter rather than margarine or vegetable oil, which I personally think gives the best flavour.
These Ube Crinkle Cookies come together easily, mixed with an electric mixer. Once you have the ube paste, the other ingredients are pantry staples – butter, white and brown sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and salt. I also love adding a little coconut extract (optional, but highly recommended) because it pairs beautifully with ube. If you’re baking in a warm climate, a short 10–15 minute rest in the fridge will make the dough easier to handle and give the cookies the perfect spread in the oven. If it’s cooler, you can skip this step.
Next, the dough is rolled in two kinds of sugar. First in white granulated sugar and then in icing sugar (also called ‘powdered’ or ‘confectioners’ sugar) to create the signature crinkle effect. This double dip really makes all the difference! Granulated sugar gives the icing sugar something to cling to so it doesn’t dissolve in the oven. Don’t be shy with the icing sugar! It’s impossible to use too much, and it’s what gives these cookies their magical, crackly tops!
It’s easy to slightly under-bake or over-bake these cookies, so make sure to set an oven timer! I like to bake mine at a slightly lower temperature to prevent the edges from browning. Straight from the oven, they’re soft with a slightly gooey center. As they cool, the flavour deepens and the texture becomes more chewy with a lovely crisp exterior. Perfect!
These Ube Crinkle Cookies stay soft and fudgy for days when stored in an air-tight container. This makes them perfect gifts for your adventurous foodie friends! Whether they’re longtime ube lovers, or tasting it for the very first time, these cookies are sure to be a hit!
Related Post: Blood Orange Crinkle Cookies
Ube Crinkle Cookies
Ube Crinkle Cookies: chewy, purple, and irresistibly good. A fun Filipino-inspired cookie that’s just as pretty as it is tasty!
Ingredients
- 112 g butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (130g)
- 1/2 cup caster sugar (115g)
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons ube extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 2 1/3 cups plain (all purpose) flour (355g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine)
- 1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar/confectioner’s sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and ½ cup caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition to fully combine.
- Add the ube extract and coconut extract and mix to combine.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and then mix again until combined. If you’re baking in a warm climate, you can refrigerate the dough for 10-15 minutes here.
- Fill two smaller bowls with the remaining ½ cup caster sugar in one, and icing sugar in the other. Use a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon to scoop cookie dough and roll into a ball. Coat each ball in caster sugar and then place into the icing sugar to coat generously. You can’t really use too much icing sugar here!
- Place on the baking trays, leaving at least 3-4cm (1 ½ inch) gap between them for cookies to spread in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until cookies have a crackled top but are still a little soft in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Repeat with remaining mixture until all cookies are baked.
- When completely cool, store in an airtight container until ready to gift. I recommend gifting as part of a cookie box, in a metal tin or cellophane bag.