Ube Cookies Recipe with Cheesecake Bark
These Ube Cookies are chewy, buttery and packed with nutty ube flavour, browned butter and white chocolate. Topped with a creamy ube cheesecake bark and a sprinkle of sea salt, they’re my first creation in my journey as a mad cookie scientist.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (115 g)
- 1 tsp milk powder
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (145 g)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (45 g)
- 1/4 cup ube halaya (90 g)
- 1 tsp ube extract
- 1 pc egg
- 1 pc egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (3 g)
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (225 g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cheesecake Bark
- 55 g ube halaya
- 55 g cream cheese softened
- 100 g white chocolate
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
Other Toppings
- 50 g white chocolate chopped into small bits or you can use white chocolate chips
- 1 pinch sea salt before baking
Instructions
Ube Cheesecake Bark
- In a bowl, whisk your cream cheese, ube halaya, cornstarch, and salt until creamy and well combined.
- Before we add the white chocolate, we’ll need to melt it. I like using the microwave technique because it’s easier - you’ll put your pieces of white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it 3 times for 15 seconds each, making sure to stir it each time. Once it starts to melt and you just have a few bits left, you can simply stir it until everything is melted or microwave it for another 5-10 seconds.
- Whisk your melted white chocolate into your cream cheese mixture, then thinly spread it out in a pan. It should be about as thin as cardboard. Freeze it for at least 4 hours or until it hardens.
It is very important to watch your chocolate when melting it in the microwave, as it can burn quickly. When in doubt, always microwave it in short intervals until you get the consistency you want. You don’t want it to be fully melted, as it will continue to melt from the residual heat.
If you do not have a microwave, you can also use a double boiler - which is where you place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and add your chocolate. The steam from the water will gently melt the chocolate.
Browning the butter
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add your butter and continuously stir as it melts.
- As you continue to cook this, you will notice granules forming at the bottom; these are your milk solids. Once it starts to foam, you can add your milk powder.
- Continue cooking until the milk solids become dark brown. Remove it from the heat, then let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Once your browned butter has cooled down, pour it into a bowl with your brown and white sugar, then whisk until you get a very wet sand-like consistency.
- Add your egg and egg yolk, then mix until smooth. Add in your ube halaya and ube extract, and make sure everything is well combined!
- Before we add in your dry ingredients, make sure to prep your toppings - cut your cheesecake bark into small pieces/chunks and prepare your white chocolate.
- Add your dry ingredients and toppings to your wet ingredients, and ONLY mix until you no longer see any visible flour.
- Add in your cheesecake bark last, then gently fold until it is evenly distributed throughout your dough. Again, no need to overdo it!
- Optional: Let your dough chill for at least 1-2 hours in the fridge.
- Before baking, you need to preheat your oven to 350°F. While waiting, you can start scooping your cookies using 2 tablespoons and forming them into small, tall domes. Arrange them on a pan lined with parchment paper.
- Top your cookies with sea salt before baking!
- Bake your cookies for 10–14 minutes, or until the edges are set.
- Let them cool for 10 minutes, and you’ll have your beautiful ube cookies! Enjoy them with cold milk or just as is, but trust me, once you finish one, it may be hard to stop yourself from eating the entire batch.
We need to let it cool down a bit before mixing in the other ingredients, as the heat may cook your eggs if you mix everything all of a sudden - from cookies to buttered poached eggs real quick.
Pro tip: If you use McCormick, the colour will be a lighter purple. However, a pastry chef I look up to (@_gothcroissant_) told me that if I want that deep purple colour, I need to use Butterfly Ube extract. This will make your cookies that beautiful purple that we all associate with ube!
Please make sure to put your cut-up cheesecake bark back in the freezer, as it melts quickly and we will add it last.
I like adding white chocolate along with the dry ingredients, as it helps avoid overmixing your dough. Remember that overmixing your cookie dough will make it dense and cakey.
I like this method because it gives me a thicker and chewier cookie! Cooling down the dough helps it slowly spread while baking because of the cold butter in the mixture.
Note: When you bake your dough right away without chilling, your cookies will still taste amazing! You’ll just get thinner cookies, as the dough will spread faster than the chilled ones. Don’t worry though, it will still be nice and soft on the inside with a nice crunchy outside!
Ovens vary, and some are hotter than others, so I like baking them for 10 minutes first and then gently touching the edges to see if they’re set. You want the edges to feel slightly set, and you’ll know that your cookies are perfect!