Vegan Ube Crinkle Cookies - Filipino Recipe - Floured Frame (2024)

• ▢ 320 g 2 1/2 cups - all-purpose flour (fluffed, spooned, and leveled, see notes)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon - baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon - baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon - salt
• ▢ 113 g 1 stick - vegan butter softened
• ▢ 200 g 1 cup - granulated sugar
• ▢ 60 g ¼ cup - non-dairy milk, lukewarm
• ▢ 160 g ½ cup - ube halaya (ube jam), make sure it's vegan, see notes
• ▢ 1 tablespoon - ube extract (see notes)
• ▢ 50 g ¼ cup- granulated sugar, to coat
• ▢ 50 g ⅓ cup - powdered sugar, to coat

Equipment:

• ▢ Food scale (highly recommended, see notes https://amzn.to/2PzFKZN)
• ▢ Measuring spoons
• ▢ Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• ▢ Rubber spatula
• ▢ Plastic wrap or bowl cover
• ▢ Medium cookie scooper
• ▢ Silpat or parchment paper
• ▢ Baking sheet
• ▢ Wire cooling rack

• If you haven’t already, remove 1 stick of butter from the fridge and allow it to soften to room temp. It’ll take about 30-45 minutes.

• While you wait, in a medium mixing bowl mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside until ready to use.

• In a large bowl, whip the softened butter until light and creamy. Add in the granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

• Next, add in the non-dairy milk and mix. Scraping down the bowl if needed.

• Then, add in the ube halaya and ube extract and mix until well combined.

• At low speed, add in the flour mixture in batches until fully incorporated. At this stage, the dough will be very sticky.

• Cover the surface of the dough with plastic wrap (or cover the bowl with a reusable bowl cover) and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. see notes

• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit and prep a baking sheet with a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. Also prep one bowl of granulated sugar and another bowl with powdered sugar. Set aside until ready to use.

• Once the dough is ready, remove it from the fridge and uncover the bowl. Using a medium-sized cookie scoop, scoop out some dough and with your hands shape it into a round ball. Place it on the baking sheet and repeat.

• Roll the dough balls in the granulated sugar first and then in the powdered sugar. Place it back on the baking sheet and repeat. Make sure to have the dough balls 1-2 inches apart.

• Bake 15-17 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and cracked on top. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire cooling racks, to cool completely. Serve and enjoy!

• Use a food scale. Using a food scale will be your best friend in this recipe. It's much more precise than using measuring cups. Why? In short, if you using measuring cups you can be adding way more ingredients, such as flour or sugar than intended. Which will cause the cookies or whatever you're baking to look completely different. If you've been following for some time now, I highly suggest investing in a food scale. It'll change your baking life!
• If you don't have a food scale, please watch this video before starting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdgJkooeWG8
• Get good quality and best-flavored ube halaya (and make sure it's vegan). Ube halaya is a key ingredient, it's the main component that gives these cookies its ube flavor. Without it, it'll just taste like a regular vanilla cookie. I've tried using various ube halaya, and my best advice is to get a brand that you trust. Why do I say that? Because there are some brands that don't have a good ube flavor, and it doesn't give these cookies justice!
• Use ube extract. This just enhances the flavor even more, if you don't want to use it that's fine! You'll just get a little less flavor.
• Where to find ube halaya and ube extract? I found my key ingredients at my local Filipino store! You can most likely find these ingredients at your local Asian market. I don't recommend buying it online because they jack up the price.
• Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. This type of cookie uses the creaming method, which basically means combining butter and sugar together until you get a light and creamy texture. Using a machine for this will make the process go by faster, otherwise, you'll be using a lot of arm muscle to get it at the right texture.
• Chilling the dough. This cookie dough is quite soft and sticky and to reduce this, chilling the dough for 30 minutes will help. Not only that, but allowing the dough to rest in the fridge will also build up the flavors.
• Two-step coating process. I like to toss my cookie dough in both granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Using granulated sugar first helps produce the perfect crackly texture and also keeps the powdered sugar in place!
• You can store these cookies in an airtight container. The longer they sit, the flavor will deepen and will the ube flavor will be more distinct!