30-Minute Ube Brownie Cookies

These ube brownie cookies are the perfect combination of ube, brownies, and cookies – 3 of the best things in the dessert world. Learn how to make these chewy cookies at home and how to achieve that perfect crackly top every time.

It’s been so long since I’ve done a brownie cookie recipe! The last and only one I’ve written are my black sesame brownie cookies. I absolutely love brownie cookies because they combine 2 of the best desserts – brownies and cookies. So I wanted to bring back the brownie cookies with these ube brownie cookies.

Ube has been a huge reader favorite and a personal favorite over the last few years. I love how it turns food purple and that vanilla/pistachio-y flavor it gives to food. It’s honestly the best. In making these brownie cookies, I took my ube brownie recipe, tweaked it a bit, and turned them into these yummy cookies.

What makes a cookie a brownie cookie?

Brownie cookies are what they sound like. They’re a perfect marriage between brownies and cookies. They have the shape of a cookie but they have the texture of a brownie. The techniques required to make brownies also somewhat apply to brownie cookies as well. The major difference between brownie cookies and regular cookies is the addition of melted chocolate which helps give it that tender center and that crackly top. Typically, brownie cookies are made with dark or milk chocolate, but I chose white chocolate here so the purple ube color can come through.

How I developed this ube brownie cookie recipe

The goal of my tests for this recipe was to create something simple but tasty. I did a total of 3 tests for these ube brownie cookies. First, I did a test to figure out how much of each ingredient I needed. My first test resulted in very flat, dense cookies because it had no baking powder and also didn’t have enough flour. In my next test, I added more flour and baking powder which helped with the texture and spread of the cookies. I then did one more test with more flour to further improve the texture of the cookies.

During these 3 tests, I also experimented with how to best get that crackly top brownie cookies are known for. The perfect crackly top comes from 3 things:

1. Whisking the eggs and sugar for a longer period of time which creates almost a meringue with the eggs (this is what gives macarons their shell)
2. Slamming the cookies 2 minutes before the end to crackle the tops
3. Accurately balancing the wet to dry ingredients. The more the cookie spreads, the more pronounced the crackly top was.

I did a couple tests and tried a few things. First, I tried baking the cookies all the way through then slamming the cookies, but I didn’t find the cracks were as consistent as doing this 2 minutes before the bake time ended. I also tried 4 different measurements for flour – 3/4 cup, 1 cup, 1 1/4 cup, and 1 1/2 cup. Ultimately, I ended up going with 1 1/2 cup because I found it provided the best balance of crackly top and tender center. The crackly tops were more pronounced using less flour, but I found the cookies way too thin for my liking.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• White chocolate – Brownie cookies typically use chocolate to give it that fudgy texture, but I chose to use white chocolate so the purple color can shine through.
• Unsalted butter – I used browned butter for this recipe because I found that it acts so much extra flavor to these cookies.
• Eggs – Eggs give the cookies richness, and helps give it that crackly top.
• Granulated sugar and light brown sugar – Both add sweetness in different ways to the cookies. Granulated sugar adds sweets and helps give the outside its sheen. Light brown sugar gives the cookies a more molasses-y flavor and compliments the ube really well. You can substitute light brown sugar with dark brown sugar, but keep in mind that this will make the cookies a tad sweeter.
• Vanilla extract – Adds more flavor to the cookies. Substitute with an equal amount of vanilla paste or half a vanilla bean.
• Ube extract and ube halaya – Both add the ube flavor to these cookies and gives the cookies their vibrant purple color. Ube extract adds most of the color, and the ube halaya adds a more complex, natural ube flavor.
• Salt – Brings out the flavor of the rest of the ingredients.
• Baking powder – Improves the texture of the cookies by making it tender.
• All purpose flour – Helps provide structure to these brownie cookies.

How to make ube brownie cookies

Prep the cookie dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Brown 1/2 cup of unsalted butter. Melt the butter over medium high heat until fully melted. Lower the heat to medium low and cook until brown bits start to appear. Pour over 4 oz of white chocolate. Stir until all the white chocolate has melted. Set aside.

Combine 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup of light brown sugar in a large bowl or a stand mixer bowl. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, whisk on medium speed for 6-8 minutes until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, 1 1/2 tsp of ube extract, 1/4 cup of ube halaya and the melted white chocolate from step 3 to the bowl. Mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of baking powder, and 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overmix.

Scooping and baking the cookies

Prep 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. Using a medium size cookie scoop (#16 cookie scoop), scoop the cookie dough onto the prepped baking sheets. Make sure cookies are at least 3 inches apart since they will spread a lot. I only put 5 cookies per baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take baking sheets out and slam them once on the counter. Put them back in the oven and bake for 2 minutes more. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Ube Brownie Cookie Video

Tips on how to make the perfect ube brownie cookies

How to get the perfect crackly tops

As mentioned above, the crackly tops comes from whipping the eggs with the sugars, slamming the cookies on the counter 2 minutes before the bake time ends, and accurately balancing the wet and dry ingredients. Whip the eggs and sugars for at least 6-8 minutes on medium speed to get that crackly top. See below about the pros and cons about the wet to dry ingredient balance.

What to do if I want a chunkier cookie

How flat or how chunky these cookies are depends on the wet to dry ingredient ratio. To make these cookies more chunky, add more flour to the batter. To make these cookies more flat, use less flour. The wetter the dough, the flatter the cookies will be. As I mentioned above, a flatter cookie will have a more pronounced crackly top, but I do find that the texture is not the best.

How to store ube brownie cookies

Store these ube brownie cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

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