by Edna Bautista
‘Tis the season for baking! Here are two holiday recipes—ube crinkle cookies and ube butter mochi—that feature the Philippines’ “ube-quitous” purple yam.
Ube was named the 2024 Flavor of the Year by Monin, a French syrup company, and T. Hasegawa USA, a globally renowned flavor manufacturer, in their Food and Beverage Flavor Trends Report.
Ube flavor is described as subtly sweet with a hint of vanilla and nutty taste.
It seems that ube is now considered an exotic ingredient, but it has always been a staple in Filipino kitchens.
Ube has grown in popularity all over the world, perhaps because of its curiously colored hue, which also makes ube-prepared foods especially photogenic in the age of Instagram.
Though the fresh tuber may be a challenge to find locally, the key ingredients—ube flavoring/extract and ube halaya (jam)—are conveniently available at grocery stores and markets that carry Asian products, making it easier to bake ube crinkle cookies and ube butter mochi as holiday desserts.
Christmas: Ube Crinkle Cookies
Cookies are the quintessential Christmas treat. Classic chocolate chip, traditional gingerbread people and seasonally shaped sugar cookies are among the most popular. But ube crinkle cookies are a unique alternative that highlight Filipino flavor.
Soft and buttery and topped with snowy white powdered sugar, these cookies are usually sold in half-dozen packages. Depending on the store or local bakery, one cookie costs between $1.25-2 apiece.
They are not that difficult to make at home and yield a larger quantity for more value. Plus, purple cookies match the Advent-colored candles, making ube crinkles a festive food.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
r¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated white sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
½ cup ube halaya
1 teaspoon ube flavoring/extract
Confectioners (powdered) sugar
Directions
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with white and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg, ube halaya and ube extract/flavoring. Mix well. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Form dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Freeze dough for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Remove dough from the freezer. Scoop tablespoon-sized balls and generously roll in powdered sugar until fully coated. Place onto the prepared baking sheet(s) at least two inches apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven, let sit on the sheet(s) for about five minutes then cool completely on a rack. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to five days.
Yield: Approximately 2 – 2½ dozen cookies
Notes: Keep the cookie dough well chilled and firm before baking to prevent it from spreading. Ube crinkle cookies should have a slight mound with signature cracks.
New Year: Ube Butter Mochi
Many Asian cultures cook sticky rice foods around the new year as they symbolize good luck “sticking around” in the upcoming months.
The Chinese have nian gao (sweet cake), Koreans have tteokguk (soup), Japanese have ozoni (soup) and kagami mochi (stacked cake), Vietnamese have bánh chưng (savory square parcels) and Filipinos have puto and bibingka (sweet cakes).
The latter is very similar to a popular Hawaii dessert, butter mochi, a Japanese-inspired recipe. Butter mochi is also sold locally in different flavors, such as plain/original, lilikoi (passion fruit), Kona coffee, matcha (green tea) and ube.
This basic butter mochi recipe is an easy one, as it is simply infused with ube flavoring (without ube halaya) for a deep purple, chewy homemade treat. Like ube crinkle cookies, give ube butter mochi as edible gifts or serve at Pinoy potlucks for a happy holiday gathering and throughout the whole year.
Ingredients
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk
2 teaspoons ube flavoring/extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract/flavoring
1 box (16 ounces) sweet rice flour (mochiko)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Directions
In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, coconut milk, and ube and vanilla extracts/flavorings. In a large bowl, combine the mochiko, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until the purple color is evenly incorporated. Add the melted butter to moisten. Mix well.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or clean, lightly oiled banana leaf cut to the bottom of the pan size. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or when the top is slightly browned and the center is cooked through. Remove from the oven and blot out any excess butter with a paper towel. Cool completely. Invert the pan onto a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper or banana leaf. Slice the butter mochi into 24 squares and serve. Store remainders in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
Yield: Two dozen squares
Notes: Ube butter mochi might puff up a little while baking but should deflate when removed from the oven. Slice it with a plastic instead of a metal knife to avoid sticking.
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