If you have been here for a little while, you might be familiar with my matcha neapolitan cookies. I developed this recipe almost two years ago and so many of you still make it today. I shared this cookie recipe like I would any other recipe — hoping a few of you would make it and that it would inspire you to experiment with different flavour combinations in your own kitchen. What I didn’t expect was how it would become the most popular recipe from my blog and Instagram. I have a little album on my phone where I’ve saved all the photos of the matcha neapolitan cookies that you’ve made and shared with me.
Since that summer, I’ve tried really hard to create new cookie recipes that “top” the matcha neapolitan cookies. I created a version with matcha and hojicha for The Kitchn as part of their best cookies of 2020 package and that was a lot of fun for me. In my kitchen, I’ve experimented with other flavour combinations like mixed berry and with tropical fruits but I haven’t published any of those iterations because I don’t think they’re as good as the original. I’m happy to report back that I’m ready to share a new cookie recipe that is a nice. little cookie companion to the matcha neapolitan. I’m not saying it is better than the original. Instead, you will have a much tougher decision now when you want to bake some cookies with fun flavours. If you are a newsletter subscriber (thank you!), you would’ve received this recipe in your inbox last month. I encourage you to sign up for it so you get all the fun recipes first!
From my (hopefully monthly) newsletter:
I want to use this newsletter to share special recipes before they get shared on the blog and little sneak peeks of any upcoming bakes. It is my way to say thank you for the support and that this blog would not exist without each and every one of you. Today, I’m sharing the recipe for Marbled Ube Cookies, is a soft and chewy sugar cookie much like my Matcha Neapolitan cookies. A fragrant ube dough is marbled with a classic vanilla dough for a vibrant cookie that is unlike any other. For the ube flavour, I use a mix of ground ube (or purple yam) powder and ube extract, both can be found at Asian grocery stores or speciality kitchen stores. If you have never had ube before, it is a purple root vegetable with a nutty, vanilla-like flavour. I love it in all desserts but there’s just something about a bright purple cookie that catches my attention.
Marbled Ube Cookies
Ingredients
- 227 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar, and more for rolling
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 270 g (2 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ube (purple yam) powder, see note
- 1 tsp ube extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set the baking sheet aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and 11⁄4 cups (250 g) of the sugar on medium speed until they are smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined and no more streaks of the flour mixture remain, about 45 seconds.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions and leave one portion in the mixer. Add ube powder and extract to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined.
- Take a heaping tablespoon of each dough and combine the dough by rolling between the palms of your hands.
- Toss the dough balls in a bowl of granulated sugar until dough ball is coated.
- Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball. Bake the cookies for 11 to 14 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Optional: right before the cookies are ready to come out of the oven, tap the baking sheet on the oven rack a few times to create the ripple edges. Do not overbake the cookies.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
jenny says
that colour is sooo good
i am going make them for kids birthday next week
carol says
sweet
form the making to the end cookie they look soo appealing
JohnyLynn says
Hello! Can I use ube jam if I can’t find ube powder? If so, how much of the texture would change?
Danielle says
Tasty and beautiful cookies! I weighed out each ingredient and found the dough to be a bit loose before rolling. I added about 2 tbsp extra flour (1 tbsp into each color batch) in order to have a better texture for rolling and a semi-denser cookie. Really simple recipe with a gorgeous outcome. Thank you!
Chris says
What a fun recipe to bake with my nine year old! He has a growing interest in baking and his Filipino heritage making these cookies a must-try. He especially enjoyed the process of hand marbling the cookies. We chilled the dough after rolling in an effort to get beautiful cookies with rippled edges. We’ll keep working on it and, I’m sure, enjoying many cookies along the way.
Sandy says
Do I need to rehydrate the ube powder before adding into mixer? The ube powder package states to rehydrate.
Clarissa says
Good question! Curious about reydrating the ube powder as well!
Ida says
The color didn’t come out as bright as the picture. Any suggestions?
Vanessa says
Can I use taro powder for this recipe?
Emily says
I was curious to know how many cookies are in one batch.