Marbled Ube Cookies (Star Powered)
I wanted to include an ube dessert or cookie in my “Maui Strong” box for Lahaina. Since I had made Ube Mochi Muffins for the Ukraine Cookie Box I opted for Constellation Inspiration’s Marbled Ube Cookie. I have been eyeing her recipe for quite a while, and here was my chance to try it. I baked the first sheet of cookies, and waited patiently (not really) for the cookies to cool. With that first bite, I knew this cookie was going in the box. Not only are they delicious but they are so eye-catching. A great addition to the cookie box. In fact, I think…
Prince Would Love This COOKIE
Adding Ube extract and powder creates this gorgeous purple color that just POPS. Ube, or purple yam or potato is popular in Southeast Asia, in particular the Philippines. It has a vanilla, kind of nutty flavor, and “coconutty” aroma that lends itself well to desserts, bread, and pastries. It’s definitely having a moment right now with the rising popularity of Filipino food.
Making the Cookie
The cookie dough is essentially a vanilla sugar cookie. Start by creaming softened butter and sugar until smooth, not fluffy (to avoid a cakey cookie). Add the egg and vanilla extract, beat to combine, and stir in the flour mixture.
Here comes the hard part, well, actually the hard part comes before making the dough. Where to find ube powder and extract. If you live in the Bay Area, you can find ube powder and extract by Butterfly or McCormick at most Asian grocery stores. If not, there is always Amazon 🤷🏻♀️
Divide the dough in half (this is where a scale comes in handy). Put half of the dough back in the mixing bowl and add ube extract and powder to it. On the lowest speed of your mixer, blend the ube into the dough being careful not to overmix. You can do this by hand to avoid overworking the dough if you like.
.Using a tablespoon scoop, form dough balls with each dough and place them on a cookie sheet. It is like having all your ducks in a row before the next step.
Smoosh together a dough ball of each color. Try to wrap one of the dough around the other to create the marble effect. Then roll each in granulated sugar. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake 11-14 minutes, rotating the sheet at the halfway mark. Remove when the edges are just golden.
If you like ridges on the edge (all the rage right now) tap the cookie sheet 2-3 minutes before they come out of the oven. This causes the cookie to deflate and make a ripple effect. Sometimes the cookies are wonky in shape, if so, place a cookie cutter or glass (slightly bigger) over the cookie and swirl it to shape them into circles. Or don’t, they’ll be delicious either way.
These Marbled Ube Cookies are a showstopper. A lovely ube-flavored vanilla cookie with crispy edges, a chewy center, with a nice crunch from the sugar. I’ll be making these again, and again…and again.
Marbled Ube Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 270gm
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Creamed Mixture
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 227gm
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and more for rolling 250gm
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Additions to Dough
- 2 tbsp ube purple yam powder, see note
- 1 tsp ube extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and 1-1⁄4 cups (250 g) of the sugar on medium speed until they are smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined and no more streaks of the flour mixture remain, about 45 seconds.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions (a scale comes in handy here) and leave one portion in the mixer. Add ube powder and extract to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined. The combination of ube powder and extract makes a nice purple color, no need for food coloring.
- Take a heaping tablespoon of each dough and combine the dough by rolling between the palms of your hands to create a ball. I used a #40 ice cream scoop.
- Toss the dough balls in a bowl of granulated sugar until each is coated.
- Place dough balls on baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball. Bake cookies for 11 to 14 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Right before the cookies are ready to come out of the oven, tap the baking sheet on the oven rack a few times to create the ripple edges. Do not overbake.
- Remove cookies from oven. If the cookies aren't round, place a circular cookie cutter or glass over the warm cookie and gently swirl the cookie to reshape. Then allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.