Vegan Ube Crinkle Cookies, a Filipino and vegan twist to the classic crinkle cookie! These cookies are so soft, moist, and bursting with ube flavors. It’s the perfect combination by using Filipino flavors in a traditional American-style cookie. Trust me, they are so good, it’ll be hard to eat just one!

What is ube?

Pronounced as: “OO-BEH”, ube is a purple yam and is a staple ingredient for Filipino desserts. They are usually boiled and mashed and are used a lot in jams or to color sweet treats. It has a mild and sweet flavor, which some have said is a cross between vanilla and pistachio. Another thing, most people confuse it with taro, and the short answer is, no, they are not the same. Taro is often used in savory cooking, while ube is used for sweets.

What is ube halaya?

Ube halaya (oo-beh ha-lah-yah) is essentially ube jam and is a base for most ube flavored treats. It’s not the type of jam you normally use on toast, I mean, you can if you wanted to! However, it’s more eaten as a dessert, yes it can be eaten on its own. The way they make this jam is by boiling and mashing purple yam. Adding dairy and sugar and cooked over a stovetop until it’s well combined and you get a creamy and thick jam! I’ve eaten this topped with cheese and even latik (coconut curds), so good!

I grew up eating a lot of Filipino treats, halo-halo, macapuno cake, buko pandan, puto, leche flan, kutsinta, taho, sapin-sapin, the list can go on. However, my favorite Filipino flavor is ube. Ube is top tier for me, I just love the flavor, and nothing can compare to it. It explains why I have so many ube flavored treats on my blog because it’s just that good. And making these treats brings me closer to home. And I wanted to share this experience with you guys!

Top tips for making vegan ube crinkle cookies:

Making these cookies is quite simple and easy to make, and yes, making them vegan is possible! Here are some of my top tips for making a successful vegan ube crinkle cookie.

• 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!
• 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 their 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 some brands 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 really jack up the price.
• Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. This type of cookie uses the creaming method, which means combining butter and sugar 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!

If you enjoyed this vegan ube crinkle cookie recipe, check these out:

• Spanish Bread
• Ube Flan Cake
• Vegan Ube Cheesecake
• Vegan Leche Flan

If you’d tried this recipe out let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @flouredframe and don’t forget to tag me when you create my recipes! Happy cooking! 

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