Soft and chewy ube cookies that are ready in less than 30 minutes – no chilling time required!
This is a super simple drop cookie recipe (meaning they are scooped out then baked on the pan, rather than a cut-out cookie).
With its striking violet-purple color plus the sweet, earthy, and coconut-y flavors of ube, these cookies have always been a crowd pleaser whenever I make them.
Ube Cookies Without Ube Halaya
Typically, the recipes you’ll see in the internet are made with ube halaya or sometimes labeled as ube jam. This is not one of those recipes. These ube cookies are without ube halaya. Instead, the ube flavor comes from the ube extract and ube powder (also called powdered purple yam).
Store-bought ube halaya/ ube jam is usually mixed with other ingredients such as sugar, salt, buttermilk. Depending on the brand, the sweetness and intensity of ube flavor varies. That is why I like to stick with ube powder and ube extract where I can control the amount of sugar and ube flavor.
From my experience, these two are also easier to find and use compared to fresh or frozen ube. Just make sure to pick an ube powder that is 100% purple purple yam as some brands mix in powdered milk or sugar.
Ube powder and ube extract are sold at well stocked Asian supermarkets, placed alongside other baking ingredients. Best places to find them are at Filipino markets like Seafood City (US & Canada) or Island Pacific Supermarket (US only). I see that Amazon also carries them but I find it overpriced.
In the Ingredients & Substitutions section below, you would see a photo of the packaging for ube powder and ube extract.
New To Ube?
These soft and chewy cookies are the perfect introduction to the sweet, earthy, and coconut-y flavors of ube. Ube is a purple yam native to Southeast Asia. Ube is pronounced “ooo-bae” in Talalog (Filipino).
It’s a popular root crop/ tuber widely used in Filipino desserts. Though often mistaken for taro root and Okinawan sweet potato, they are not the same. They are related, but definitely not interchangeable.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Shop efficiently (treat this as your grocery list) and gather your ingredients at home without running circles in your kitchen. (i.e. One trip to the fridge to get all your dairy needs.)
The listed ingredients below yield 18 ube cookies (dough weight is about 50grams each/ use a 2 tablespoon or #40 cookie scoop).
REFRIGERATED:
- butter. 226g (1 cup) of unsalted butter at room temperature. What is Room Temperature Butter?
- egg. 1 large egg (about 50g, weight is without shell), at room temperature.
PANTRY:
- sugar. 300g (1½ cups) of white granulated sugar for the cookie dough + another 50g (¼ cup) for rolling.
- vanilla. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
- all-purpose flour. 320g (2 cups + 9 tbsps) all-purpose flour
- baking soda. ½ teaspoon.
- salt. 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ube extract. You need 2 teaspoons. They always come in small bottles. Refer to photo below.
- ube powder/ powdered purple yam. 20g (2 tablespoons). Pick an ube powder that is 100% purple purple yam as some brands mix in powdered milk or sugar. Note that taro powder is different from ube powder.
Recommended Tools
Here are a few handy tools I used to make these ube cookies. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases without a cost to you.
- digital food scale (love the color pink :))
- parchment paper – these sheets are so convenient!
- baking sheet – checkout the honeycomb pattern
- cordless hand mixer – good and inexpensive
How to Make Ube Cookies
These ube cookies are so easy to make. They come together in less than 10 minutes, and bake up to be super soft and chewy!
In the step-by-step photos below, I was using a stand mixer but an electric hand mixer would definitely work as well.
STEP 1. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven (convention oven, no fan) 350°F / 180°C.
Measure your ingredients and ensure that your butter and eggs are at room temperature.
Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
STEP 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
STEP 3. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and ube extract and mix to combine.
STEP 4. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and ube powder and mix until just combined.
TIP: The final ube cookie dough should hold together well when scooped or rolled into balls, and not overly sticky or wet. The dough should be easy to handle and shape without falling apart.
STEP 5. Place the granulated sugar for rolling in a small bowl. Using a cookie scoop (I like to use #40 or 2 Tbsp cookie scoop), scoop balls of dough (about 50g each) onto the prepared baking sheets. Place 8 dough balls on each sheet.
Roll each ball of dough between your hands to form a ball, then roll in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet. Leave any mixture that you are not baking off just yet in the bowl and scoop just before baking.
STEP 6. Bake the cookies until puffy and set around the edges, about 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 10 minutes – the cookies will deflate as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
To ensure even baking, I prefer putting only 1 baking sheet inside the oven and just repeat the baking process with the remaining cookie dough.
How To Get That Perfectly Round Cookie
You wanna know the secret to getting perfectly round cookie? Scoot your cookies!
Using a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie itself, scoot the cookies into a round shape when they are hot from the oven. This helps them to be perfectly round.
It’s important to note that you should do this immediately after you take out the baking sheet from the oven before the cookie edges become set.
Baker’s Notes
- STORAGE. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Ube powder is sometimes labeld as “Powdered Purple Yam”. Pick the package that says “100% pure purple yam powder”. Ube/ Purple yam is NOT the same with Taro powder which is also purple in color and is commonly used in bubble teas.
- You can also use sanding sugar (I imagine purple sanding sugar would look great!) instead of regular granulated sugar.
Can Ube Cookies Be Made Ahead Of Time?
This ube cookie dough can be made ahead and frozen until you are ready to bake.
After scooping or shaping them into balls, place them onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer. Do not roll in sugar before freezing, do this just before you bake them.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze the dough balls until solid. Transfer the frozen dough to a ziplock bag, freezer bag, or airtight container and label. Store in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
I like to bring the ube cookie dough out 10 minutes or so before I bake it to help it defrost slightly and give the sugar something to stick to. Roll in sugar coating and place in the baking sheet as instructed in the recipe.
To bake dough from frozen, drop the oven temperature to 325F and bake for a few more minutes than written in the recipe.
More Cookie Recipes
Looking for more cookie recipes?
- Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies (this is a MUST TRY!!!)
- Rocky Road Cookies
- Holiday Pinwheel Cookies
- Viennese Butter Fingers
❤️ Tried this recipe and loved it? If you made this recipe or any other recipe on this site, I would love to know! ❤️
Rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Or tag @thebakeologie on Instagram and hashtag it #bakeologie !
Ube Cookies
Ingredients
- 226g (1 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 300g (1 ½ cups) granulated white sugar
- 50g (1 large) egg (weight is without shell)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsps ube extract (see notes)
- 320g (2 cups + 9 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 20g (2 tbsps) ube powder/ powdered purple yam (see notes)
- 50g (¼ cup) additional granulated white sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven (convention oven, no fan) 350°F / 180°C.Measure your ingredients and ensure that your butter and eggs are at room temperature.Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.226g (1 cup) unsalted butter300g (1 ½ cups) granulated white sugar
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and ube extract and mix to combine.50g (1 large) egg1 tsp pure vanilla extract2 tsps ube extract
- Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and ube powder and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!TIP: The final ube cookie dough should hold together well when scooped or rolled into balls, and not overly sticky or wet. The dough should be easy to handle and shape without falling apart.320g (2 cups + 9 tablespoons) all-purpose flour½ tsp baking soda1 tsp fine sea salt20g (2 tbsps) ube powder/ powdered purple yam
- Place the granulated sugar for rolling in a small bowl. Using a cookie scoop (I like to use #40 or 2 Tbsp cookie scoop), scoop balls of dough (about 50g each) onto the prepared baking sheets. Place 8 dough balls on each sheet.Roll each ball of dough between your hands to form a ball, then roll in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet. Leave any mixture that you are not baking off just yet in the bowl and scoop just before baking.50g (¼ cup) additional granulated white sugar for rolling
- Bake the cookies until puffy and set around the edges, mine took 11 minutes. All ovens are different so watch for visual cues and adjust the time as necessary. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 10 minutes – the cookies will deflate as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.To ensure even baking, I prefer putting only 1 baking sheet inside the oven and just repeat the baking process with the remaining cookie dough.