I’ve baked dozens and dozens of ube crinkle cookies for my family and I’ve finally found the recipe with the right balance of chewy and soft consistency. What’s great about this Filipino version of crinkle cookies is that you can make extra batches and freeze for later, that is if you can help yourself!
Background
Betty Crocker once stated that she was served a molasses crinkle cookie from Ms. Helen Fredell from Minnesota in the 20th century and since then, they’ve become a Christmas classic. Interestingly, it’s become especially popular in the Philippines in the form of chocolate crinkle cookies, but this ube version is a modern take and super easy to make at home.
What is ube?
If you haven’t heard of ube by now, I’m afraid you may be living under a rock. But I’m here to tell you that it’s simply a purple yam that is indigenous to the Philippines. You can find ube flavored anything these days, from ube ice cream on top of halo halo to ube waffles and ube cake. Ube tastes similar to other yams–a nutty and sweet vanilla flavor–and it also ranges from light to a very vibrant purple center. If you can’t find fresh ube from your local Asian or Filipino grocery store, you can use frozen ube puree or ube halaya jam. For this recipe, I used frozen ube puree because it keeps in the freezer well, and is much faster than using fresh ube.
Baking tips
Freezing the dough for future use
What’s great about this recipe is that you can make a generous amount of cookies ahead of time and freeze them (before adding powdered sugar) in an airtight container for over a month. To prep cookies for the freezer, use a disher or ice cream scoop to make even balls of cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Freeze the balls for at least 30 minutes, then transfer the balls into a ziplock bag or airtight container. When you’re ready to bake them, just remove them from the freezer, roll them into powdered sugar directly and bake. What’s great about this recipe is that you don’t need to defrost them! I like to place them on a cooling rack to have the cookies set for about five minutes before serving, but you can also serve fresh from the oven–just make sure you share!
How do you use frozen ube?
While you can find fresh ube at Filipino stores like Seafood City, it still may be hard to get a hold of especially because of it’s rising popularity. I was able to find Pamana brand frozen ube puree. I was able to add frozen ube (in addition to a few drops of ube extract) in this ube crinkle cookie recipe. Please note that the Pamana brand frozen ube puree has added sugar, so you can also use it in the same way as ube halaya.
What does ube extract taste like?
Ube extract is often artificially made so it will have a warm, nutty, and vanilla smell and flavor that is concentrated.
