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These are the FUDGIEST, most DECADENT Ube Cookies you’ll ever have! The not-so-secret ingredient is CREAM CHEESE, which I also used to make Chocolate Cream Cheese Crinkles.
I’ve tried making other ube cookies and none of them come close to the chewy texture you’ll get with this recipe.
I adapted these usingPreppy Kitchen’s Cream Cheese cookies.
What Does it Mean to “Cream”?
When a recipe instructs you to “cream” ingredients, it usually means to combine the butter and sugar into a cream!
Beating the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy really helps in making these cookies. Take your time and allow these to beat in a stand mixer for about 8-10 minutes on medium-high speed if you have the time.
Frequently scrape the sides of the bowl while beating and creaming, so all the ingredients are being evenly incorporated in the dough.
Hey Dough, Chill Out!
Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before scooping out with a cookie scooper. Refrigerating them will let the flavors blend together and for the dough to easily release from the scoopers (the dough is VERY sticky).
The Crinkle Coating
You can roll the cookies in granulated sugar BEFORE rolling them in powdered sugar (optional). This will help the powdered sugar stay on top of the cookies instead of melting into them after baking, for a more vibrant white crinkle effect.
Personally I prefer my cookies without the granulated sugar because I don’t like the added crunch and sweetness. To each their own!
You can see an example of crinkle cookies ONLY coated in powdered sugar in the photo on the left which is from myChocolate Crinkle Cookies recipe.
Tips When Making Ube Crinkle Cookies
- Personally I like to use 1 tsp Butterfly Ube Extract mixed with 1 tsp Halo Pantry Colorless Ube Extract so these cookies have a lighter purple color. If you don’t have colorless ube extract, use 2 tsp of the standard ube extract. The cookies will just have a darker color.
- Beating the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy really helps in making these cookies. Take your time and allow these to beat in a stand mixer for about 8-10 minutes on medium-high speed if you have the time.
- Frequently scrape the sides of the bowl while beating and creaming, so all the ingredients are being evenly incorporated in the dough.
- Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before scooping out with a cookie scooper. Refrigerating them will let the flavors blend together and for the dough to easily release from the scoopers (the dough is VERY sticky).
Weigh The Ingredients
You’ve probably heard this on every baking recipe ever but it is better to measure your ingredients by weight instead of volume.
Measuring cups can vary in accuracy and ingredients can vary in shape. Weighing ingredients is the best way to ensure you’re getting the right amount of ingredients.
On my website, as many others do, I try to give weight measurements as often as possible. For the most important ingredients (flour, sugar, etc.) I definitely provide the weight but for ingredients where the accuracy is less important (salt, baking powder), I’ll give volume.
If a recipe gives weight, I highly recommend measuring it with a scale. If you need a scale, I’ve been using my dependable Ozeri food scale for a long time and I love it.
How To Make Ube Crinkle Cookies
For full list of ingredients and detailed steps, check out the bottom of this page.
Cream the butter, sugar, and cream cheese
Add the extract and egg
Chill for at least 30 minutes and then roll into balls and coat with sugar
Bake in the oven and enjoy!
Tools
KitchenAid Stand Mixer
I absolutely LOVE my tilt head stand mixer. I can’t imagine baking without it.
Ozeri Food Scale
Especially with baking, a food scale is extremely helpful as it measures weight, not volume, which is more accurate. You should use weight measurements if a recipe provides them.
Colored Ube Extract
This the common colored ube extract. You can find this at nearly any Asian supermarket.
Colorless Ube Extract
The only brand of colorless ube extract I’ve found is Halo Pantry. I like to combine this with the colored ube extract to get the full flavor without all the food coloring.
Cookie Scooper
The purple Vollrath #40 scooper is the one that has 3/4 ounce capacity. Its perfect for cookies and I have three other sizes as well. It has never failed me.
VIDEO: These cookies have my mom in a chokehold
Recipe
Ube Crinkle Cookies
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 113 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter room temperature
- 113 grams (4 ounces) cream cheese approx. half a block, room temperature
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ube extract colored (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon ube extract colorless (if not available, substitute with colored. see notes)
- 240 grams (2 cups) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
Equipment
-
¾ oz. cookie scooper (see notes)
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stand mixer with paddle attachement (hand mixer will also work).
Method
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Fit the paddle attachment to your stand mixer and lock in the bowl. Using a medium-high speed, mix the butter, and sugar until it is one consistency. Then add the cream cheese. Cream this until the mixture is light and fluffy. This will take about 5 to 8 minutes. Make sure to scrape the bowl about halfway through.
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Add the ube extract(s) and egg and mix until uniform throughout. Again, make sure to scrape the bowl partway through.
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Mix in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. You can choose to whisk these together in a separate bowl if you wish but its not necessary especially with a stand mixer. Again, scrape the bottom at least once partway through to ensure everything is mixed.
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Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
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When the chilling is done, preheat oven to 350℉. In one bowl measure out 1 cup of powdered sugar. In another bowl, measure out 1 cup of granulated sugar (optional). Rolling in granulated sugar before rolling in powdered sugar will make the “crinkle” part of the cookie more vibrant but it does add a little bit of the granulated sugar crunch to each bite.
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Using a baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper, portion out the cookie dough using the cookie scooper or estimate about 2 tablespoons size. Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar (optional) and then powdered sugar before placing on the baking sheet(s) with enough room to spread.
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Bake in the oven at 350℉ for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges set.
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Remove from the oven, let cool, and enjoy!
Notes
- Coating: When making this recipe, I first coated the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar before coating in powdered sugar. This makes the crinkle effect very vibrant but does add a sugar “crunch” to each bite. You can skip the granulated sugar and still have a decent crinkle effect.
- Ube Extract: In this recipe I use 2 teaspoons total of ube extract, 1 is the common colored ube extract, the other is colorless ube extract. I like using the colorless because it makes the color of the cookies not as dark without sacrificing flavor.
- Cookie Scooper: I use the Vollrath #40 cookie scooper which is the 3/4 ounce volume we are looking for.