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Marbled Ube Cheesecake Cookies or soft and buttery purple yam cookies are delicious with a nice tang from the cream cheese, marbled with naturally vibrant ube (purple yam) for a lightly sweet, tender cookie with a beautiful swirl that’s perfect for holidays, cookie boxes, and special occasions.
Ube cheesecake cookies are soft with a little chewiness, lightly sweet, with a subtle vanilla and pistachio flavor from the ube. They’re a fun Filipino-American twist on the classic soft sugar cookie, that’s perfect for cookie boxes, they freeze well, and keep their color beautifully.
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About these cookies
These are make-ahead friendly; you can freeze the marbled cookie dough balls weeks in advance and bake straight from frozen. Plus, the baked cookies keep well. You can leave the cookies in your cookie jar on your counter for up to five days or chill in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
They’re also fantastic for gift giving and cookie trays. That beautiful purple color will definitely stand out in at bake sales, in Christmas cookie exchanges, and will make beautiful holiday gifts. Ube cookies are also super Instagram worthy too!
You can learn more about ube in my ube latte post. I’ll share how to make these marbled ube cookies in this post, as well as where to find the ube powder for these cookies.
How to make
Ube powder gives these cookies their stunning purple color and subtle vanilla-like sweetness without adding excess moisture, making it ideal for cookies. Because cream cheese is included, the dough is naturally soft. Chilling the dough is essential for maintaining shape and achieving that tender, cheesecake-style texture. When marbling the dough, avoid over-mixing the colors together; a gentle twist keeps the swirl distinct and visually striking once baked.
I offer tips and tricks along with pictures in the post, but be sure to scroll down to the printable recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions. Making these purple yam cream cheese cookies is easy; here are the details.
Make the dough
First, simply mix the dry ingredients together and set the bowl aside.
Next up, beat the room temperature butter, room temperature cream cheese, and sugar together. This can be done with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You could even get a nice arm workout and mix these with a sturdy fork.
Make sure your butter is a room temperature. It should be soft enough that your finger will leave an indent, but not so soft that your finger can press all the way through. If it’s shiny or melty, the butter is too warm.
Also, make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so it’s nice and smooth when mixed into the butter. The cookie dough texture may vary slightly based on the moisture content of the cream cheese. I always recommend Philadelphia brand cream cheese because it’s consistently good and has great flavor. And you want the block style cream cheese for this recipe, not the cream cheese in tubs.
Then, add in the egg and vanilla. Lastly, slowly add in the flour and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.
Divide the dough in half. Leave one half in the mixer bowl and add the ube powder. Mix on low speed just until evenly combined and a solid purple color. The ube dough will be sturdier than the plain cream cheese dough, and the mixer will help get this dough nice and combined.
Brands of ube powder will vary with different intensities, color, and flavor. I bought my ube powder on Amazon, here’s the brand I bought; I love the color! Asian grocery stores or specialty kitchen stores will also carry ube powder.
Cover and refrigerate both doughs for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. Arrange oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Is it necessary to chill the cookie dough? Yes, it’s necessary to chill the cookie dough in this recipe. It helps make the dough manageable to work with, allows the flavors to come together, and chilling helps control spread which helps keep the marbled pattern defined.
form & bake the cookies
Scoop 1 tablespoon of plain dough and 1 tablespoon of ube dough (a #60 cookie scoop works well). Gently twist and roll the doughs together between your palms to create a marbled effect. Use lightly floured or slightly damp hands if the dough is sticky. If the dough is too sticky to scoop out, chill it some more.
Place twisted dough balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating pans halfway, until the edges are set and lightly golden and the bottoms are pale golden brown. Do not overbake. They will continue to cook while cooling on the pan.
Remove the ube cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack with a flat spatula to cool completely. Lightly dust the cookies with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
Storage and make ahead
These cookies are easy to make ahead and freeze, either as dough before being baked, or as cookies after being baked.
If you’re not planning to bake these soft cheesecake cookies today, you can chill the cookie dough overnight and bake them tomorrow.
To freeze dough: form the dough into little balls, twist to marble, then freeze on a baking sheet until solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. They can be baked straight from the freezer with an extra minute or two added to the bake time.
Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Baked ube cookies will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. You can serve them chilled or room temperature. They also freeze well, up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Asian inspired desserts
I have more Asian inspired desserts that you’ll love, like Ube Mochi Doughnuts, egg tarts, sweet potato rice balls, black rice pudding, and Vietnamese coffee squares.
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Recipe
Marbled Ube Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cut into pieces, at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese cut into pieces, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp ube purple yam powder
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl using a hand mixer), beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, beat in the egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated. Scrape down the bowl again. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until combined, 20–30 seconds. Do not overmix.
- Divide the dough in half evenly. Leave one half in the mixer bowl and add the ube powder. Mix on low speed just until evenly combined and a solid purple color.
- Cover and refrigerate both doughs for 30 minutes. Arrange oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of plain dough and 1 tablespoon of ube dough (a #60 cookie scoop works well). Gently twist and roll the doughs together between your palms to create a marbled effect. Use lightly floured or slightly damp hands if the dough is sticky.
- Place dough balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating pans halfway, until the edges are set and lightly golden and the bottoms are pale golden brown. Do not overbake.
- 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 with a flat spatula to cool completely. Lightly dust the cookies with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
Notes
• Brands of ube powder will vary with different intensities, color, and flavor.
• Dough texture may vary slightly based on cream cheese moisture. I always recommend Philadelphia brand for quality.
• Chilling the dough helps control spread and helps keep the marbled pattern defined. If cookies spread too much, chilling for 45 minutes works well.
• Do not overbake: cookies should stay pale with lightly golden edges.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Debi
These are so delicious! A nice light vanilla cheesecake flavor. And so pretty. I shared them with my yoga class and everyone loved them! I hope you give them a try and love them too. Debi, author, Life Currents