Cooking Purple with 16 Ube-Flavored Treats
Everyone’s favorite purple yam gets the spotlight in these delicious ube recipes, from cookies to cocktails
Marbled Ube Cookies from Constellation Inspiration
With its vibrant purple hue that instantly turns any dessert into a gorgeous treat fit for a cartoon princess, it’s no wonder ube is the darling of social media. Just peruse the over 600k photos on Instagram using the tag #ube. There are even ube-dedicated food festivals from San Francisco to Brooklyn.
For many, the ube journey started at Trader Joe’s, which introduced its first ube treat, an ube ice cream, in 2019. In those early days, it often sold out. I remember calling TJ's stores in my area to find out when their next shipment was coming in. The grocery store chain has since expanded its ube goods to include a spread, pretzels, mochi, tea cookies, and a mochi waffle and pancake mix. But even with more variety and more inventory, these products often sell out, too. Pro tip: If you see a purple box of anything in TJ’s, grab it. For Filipinos, however, ube has always been a popular ingredient and has long been their favorite starchy root vegetable — mostly in sweet treats.
Personally, I’m glad the world caught up because not only are there ube desserts in grocery stores, food trucks, food festivals, bakeries, and restaurants (not just Filipino restaurants), but now their recipes are in cookbooks and, better yet, in online food publications and blogs. Here, I’ve gathered the best examples of recipes that spotlight everyone’s favorite purple yam.
By the way, you can either order ube flavoring (extract, ube halaya, and powder) online from places like Amazon — recipes will then have you mix in purple food coloring to bring up the color — or pick up fresh ube or frozen ube from an Asian grocery store.
Jump ahead to:
Ube Q & A
Read all about that beloved purple yam
What is ube?
Ube (pronounced “OO-bay”), which means “tuber” in Tagalog (one of the major languages of the Filipino people), is a purple yam native to the Philippines. It’s not the same thing as a purple sweet potato, although it is often cooked like a potato, i.e. mashed, boiled, and baked. It’s a staple in Filipino cuisine, namely desserts, such as ice cream, pastries, and puddings.
Is ube good for you?
The root vegetable is nutritious, packed with carbs, potassium, and antioxidants, such as anthocyanin, which gives it its purple hue. Anthocyanin is also known to lower blood pressure and protect against diseases, such as cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
What does ube taste like?
Ube tastes mildly sweet (but sweeter than taro and a sweet potato), with a nutty flavor, and is a bit like a vanilla baked good. That’s why it’s commonly paired with coconut and white chocolate in desserts.
What’s the difference between ube and taro?
Although both root vegetables are purple, that’s where the similarities end. Ube is a staple crop in the Philippines and generally used in desserts, while taro is from Southeast Asia and used in desserts as well as savory dishes.
Ube cookies
Cookies are my favorite category of ube desserts because they’re so easy to make. Fortunately, there are many different styles of beautiful purple cookies to try, from crinkle to thumbprint.
Marbled Ube Cookies
To steal the show at any cookie exchange, bake these beauties. Even though they involve combining vanilla cookie dough with ube cookie dough, it’s really easy to make. All you need to do is split the vanilla dough into two portions and add ube extract (and ube powder) to one of them. Afterward, take a tablespoon of each dough and roll them together in your hands. The finished cookie out of the oven is stunning, plus mouthwatering.
Ube Crinkle Cookies
Crinkle cookies are traditionally available in chocolate, red velvet, or lemon flavors. But made with ube flavor — courtesy of ube jam and ube extract — this is a delicious tropical take. Plus that deep purple color peeking out through the white powdered sugar covering this soft and chewy cookie makes it extra enticing.
Thumbprint Cookies Featuring Ube Jam
With thumbprint cookies, you can fill its center with whatever you want, be it chocolate or fruit preserves. This recipe recommends using ube halaya that one can buy in a store. However, you can always try your hand at making your own like this delicious rum and ube jam.
Brown Butter White Chocolate Ube Cookies
This recipe calls for using both ube extract and ube halaya to give the cookie a pronounced ube flavor as well as a deep purple color. Meanwhile brown butter plays up the purple yam’s nutty flavor and white chocolate chips make it even more delectable.
Ube Cookies & Cream Cookies
Fans of cookies & cream ice cream will go ga-ga over this pairing, especially since Oreo cookies and ube flavors complement one another so perfectly. But for a social media-ready cookie, the recipe maker recommends pressing medium-sized Oreo chunks into the cookies as soon as you take them out of the oven.
Ube desserts
For those looking for an ube sweet treat that takes things up a level with a different format and the addition of another flavor, try these recipes.
Fudgy Ube Brownies
For these crowd-pleasing brownies, use white chocolate instead of regular chocolate because not only will it make the purple color created by ube extract and ube halaya more vibrant but it will also make it sweeter. Once baked, its exterior might look brown, but everyone will gasp once you cut into it to reveal a deep purple hue.
Ube Cupcakes
Although this recipe includes an ube buttercream frosting recipe to top the cupcakes, I recommend going with coconut buttercream frosting or even cream cheese frosting instead. Either would complement the ube’s nutty, sweet flavor.
Ube Pie Jollibee
Those familiar with Jollibee, a worldwide fast food chain of Filipino restaurants, are well acquainted with its ube pie. If not, think McDonald’s apple pie but with an ube halaya filling. But this copy cat recipe leaves room to customize it. Either top the ube halaya filling with a piece of cheese or macapuno (coconut) before sealing the pie with the other puff pastry sheet.
Ube Cheesecake Bars
Despite the intricate-looking swirl design on the cheesecake layer, this two-layered bar recipe is surprisingly easy to make. The recipe page even comes with a video to show you just how easy it is. And for that striking look, simply make sure to reserve some of the ube mix so you can pipe it on top of the cheesecake layer and drag a toothpick through it.
Ube Donuts
No deep-frying necessary to make these soft, fluffy ube donuts. Instead they’re baked in the oven. All you need is a special donut-shaped pan. There are also many decorating options. Either drizzle that shiny ube ganache with melted white chocolate or sprinkle with coconut flakes, nuts, or sprinkles.
Ube Coconut Ice Cream
Since you can pick up ube ice cream in just about any Asian market and even Trader Joe’s, why not try something different when making your own ube ice cream? This recipe not only mixes the ice cream with coconut but recommends serving it with ube crinkle cookies, which is a genius move.
Ube drinks
Drink in ube goodness with this array of purple libations, from amethyst lattes to lavender coladas.
Iced Ube Latte
Here’s something you can’t get at Starbucks but can easily make at home. No espresso machine required. Simply make a strong iced coffee and, for the ube cold foam, mix together heavy cream, ube extract, and coconut milk with a hand-held milk frother. Pour over the iced coffee and enjoy this sweet, creamy, and violet-hued coffee drink.
Ube Milk Tea
Can’t get to the boba shop? Fix up your own ube milk tea at home with this recipe that includes different ways to make ube milk tea, from blending milk and sugar with fresh mashed ube to adding ube extract to milk, the easiest option with the most colorful result. Or batch the creamy ube base, which makes enough for 8 to 10 drinks.
Ube Colada Milkshake
This milkshake will instantly give you tropical vacation vibes. It’s basically a virgin Piña Colada with ube ice cream and ube halaya mixed in. And for those who do want a true vacation drink, add a shot of rum before blending.
Ube Horchata
True, this horchata recipe is a cheater version of the traditional horchata in that it uses store-bought rice milk or coconut milk mixed with almond milk. But when you just want a quick afternoon ube treat, this will do in a pinch.
Halo-Halo Cocktail
For a well-crafted ube cocktail, mix up this recipe by award-winning Boston cocktail bar The Baldwin Bar. It technically isn’t halo-halo (which translates to “mix mix” in English) in that it doesn’t contain fixings such as flan, macapuno, nata de coco, or red mung beans. But I’m not going to be a stickler as it does combine ube milk with light rum, cachaça, lime juice, and pineapple juice for a beautiful tropical cocktail.
More fun flavor discoveries by the author
Now that you know how versatile ube is, check out these additional articles on fun-flavored foods and drinks.