Back when I was in preschool, I was forced by my parents to do ballet. At one special rehearsal, everyone dressed up in costumes to celebrate Halloween. Almost all of the girls there dressed up as princesses in sparkly, elegant dresses with tiny tiaras on top of their heads.
When I say almost all of the girls, I mean everyone except me.
I marched into the studio with green face paint splattered all over my face and with fake fists larger than my own head. My fake muscles bulged, and I had ripped purple shorts hanging from my waist.
I dressed up as the Hulk.
The deep purple and mossy green colors of these cookies remind me of my childhood favorite superhero. I was a skinny and weak girl, yet my idol was one who could snap cars in half with little effort.
Although I wish I could say that my childhood favorite superhero inspired the look of these cookies, the inspiration for these cookies actually came from a refreshing matcha, ube latte I had on a trip in Utah from Chubby Baker.
These soft and chewy sugar cookies are super easy to make and surely stand out! They are made by simply making a simple cookie dough and then dividing in half to add matcha powder to one half and ube extract and ube halaya to the other. After making the dough, you will need to refrigerate the two halves for at least 30 minutes. This time in the fridge not only allows the cookie dough to firm up to control the spread in the oven but also makes the cookies more flavorful.
Make sure to leave a comment if you make these cookies. I hope you love them as much as I do!
UPDATE (4/16/23): I replaced the pictures with new ones and made a few changes to the recipe. First off, I replaced part of the granulated sugar with light brown sugar for a chewier cookie. I also added just a small bit of ube halaya to really make the ube flavor come out more. Finally, I also decreased the fridge time to 30 minutes. You can still chill the dough for an hour or more, but it really only needs 30 minutes to firm up.
Obsessed with the ube-matcha combo? Then you should try my ube matcha Basque burnt cheesecake! It’s a creamy ube cheesecake with a matcha vanilla wafer crust!
supernatural matcha & ube sugar cookies
makes 14 cookies
ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons matcha powder
- 1 teaspoon ube extract
- 1 tbsp ube halaya
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling
instructions:
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars at medium-high speed for about 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl again, and then add the egg, mixing on low speed for about 45 seconds, or until well-combined.
- Add the dry ingredients from step 1, and mix on low speed until almost combined, with streaks of flour still remaining. Remove the bowl from stand mixer, and with a spatula, fold the dough together just until no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the dough in half, leaving one half of the dough in the mixer bowl. Add the matcha powder to the half of dough in the mixer bowl, and mix on low speed until just combined. Transfer the matcha dough to a small bowl, and wipe down the mixer bowl as well as the paddle attachment.
- Add remaining half of dough to the mixer bowl, and add the ube extract and ube halaya. Mix on low speed until just combined.
- Cover both bowls with plastic wrap, and refrigerate both bowls of dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop a tablespoon of each dough, and roll them together into one ball. Roll in granulated sugar, and then place the dough ball on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the dough balls about 2 inches away form each other.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, switching and rotating the two trays halfway into the baking time. Once cookie edges are set, removes the cookies from the oven, and let cool on the baking sheet until fully set but still warm. Enjoy!
- Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Thanks for recipe, will try to make it
I made the cookies but couldn’t find any ube halaya so made them without it. Tastes good but stayed very round… didn’t flatten much but I did leave it in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes.
Hi Suzie! Thanks for trying out the recipe! That’s strange that they didn’t flatten. By any chance, did you accidentally use baking powder instead of baking soda? Also, the longer you leave it in the fridge, the less it will flatten, but that shouldn’t result in them not flattening at all.