Ube Sugar Cookies

When I worked at the passport office I had a few co-workers who were either from the Philippines or of Filipino heritage. One day while in the break room a couple of those co-workers were eating a bread that had a purple swirl in it. I asked them what the purple was. They told me it was ube, a purple yam that's really sweet. Which I found out when I tried a piece of the bread: it tasted more like berries. I've been a fan ever since (although ironically, I've only had it one other time in a cupcake). I didn't bake with it for Helen at first in part because I wasn't sure where to find the ingredients. So this year I decided would be the year that I made her an ube treat for Christmas.

During my search, I discovered that there's more than one way to add ube to a recipe. After trying the bread at work, I looked for ube bread recipes and they all said that the swirl is ube halaya (a.k.a. ube jam). But while looking for cookie recipes, the ingredients were different: powdered ube and ube extract/flavoring. According to the food blogs I looked at, both ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores - like Seafood City, which is conveniently located at Southcenter Mall but I 'd always figured was strictly a seafood store based on the name. Turns out, they have a lot more than seafood. Like powdered ube and ube flavoring:

I had already picked out a recipe from The Little Epicurean that was exactly what I wanted to make for Helen. But also a bit different as many of the "ube cookie" search results were for ube crinkles (since I love chocolate crinkles I plan on making those for myself later 😋). She loved them and could really taste the ube flavor (which I was briefly worried about after a contestant on Food Network's Christmas Cookie Challenge made ube cookies with both powder and extract and the judges couldn't taste the ube flavor. He ended up going home).

Ube Sugar Cookies (source)

Ingredients

• 155 grams (½ cup + 3 Tbsp) unsalted butter softened, room temp
  
• 
  250 grams (1 ¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 115 grams (about 1 cup) powdered ube (dehydrated ube powder)
• 1 large egg room temp
• 1 ¾ teaspoon ube extract (see notes)
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 60 grams (¼ cup) coconut milk (per the blogger, use full-fat milk)
• 260 grams (2 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• granulated sugar, purple sanding sugar, or confectioners' sugar as needed (see notes)

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter, sugar, and powdered ube until smooth, about 3 minutes.
2. Add egg, ube extract, vanilla extract, and coconut milk. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry mixture to mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until dough forms. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Be careful not to overmix.
4. Cover cookie dough. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Overnight is best.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
6. Remove cookie dough from the fridge. If cookie dough has been chilled overnight, allow dough to sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before scooping. Use a 1 ½ Tablespoon scoop (#40 scoop) to portion out the dough.
7. Roll cookie dough in your choice of sugar: granulated sugar, purple sanding sugar, or confectioners' sugar.
8. Place cookie balls 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies have set. Rotate baking sheet midway through baking. Rest in baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

• I'm warning you now: ube extract REALLY stains. Fortunately it's not permanent; it's just really obvious where you got it. For example, I got some on my fingers, in the sink, and on my washcloth. So be careful handling the bottle and the measuring spoon.
• The blogger explains the difference between the three. Basically, powdered sugar turns the cookies into crinkles. Granulated sugar and sanding sugar are the same, except that sanding sugar comes in all kinds of colors and makes the cookies look kinda sparkly. So if you use purple sanding sugar, it'll enhance the purple color of the ube cookies.