Do you ever just run out of ube halaya jam and don’t want to make your own from scratch? Ube halaya jam is in such high demand that I definitely have trouble from time to time to find an affordable jar of it. After watching Sohla’s challenge of making bodega food into a 7-course meal, the part where she made Twinkie butter really spoke to me. It got me thinking of the bag of Ube Pillows that I had in my pantry and what I could do it turn it into a cookie butter of sorts. A purple yam version of a jar of Biscoff’s best!
Surprisingly enough, it’s quite easy with the help of a food processor to turn Ube Pillows into Ube Pillow butter. Using this recipe from My Frugal Home, the options are endless to what kinds of cookies (in this case ube-filled crackers) you can use to make your own cookie butter. Adding coconut oil makes it spreadable and easy to use.
For the #PASALUBONG Christmas cookie boxes and tins, the ube marbled tahini cookies inspired by Susan Spungen’s NYT Cooking recipe has a couple deviations from the original. Instead of black tahini, I went with my homemade Ube Pillow butter and ube extract to flavor a portion of the dough. The nuttiness of plain tahini really complements the vanilla and pistachio notes in the ube dough. Also, when I did try to coat the sides of my cookie dough block with lavender sanding sugar, it turned into a gloppy mess. I decided to omit that step out of convenience, but the cookies turn out beautiful without it.
The marbled cookies resplendent with purple swirls look like works of art when they come out of the oven, and the recipe makes so many that you can munch on them all day. When you’re waiting for the cookies to bake, you can snack on spoonfuls of extra Ube Pillow jam or sneak a couple of plain crackers into your mouth. Either way, bags of Ube Pillows are gifts that keep on giving.
Ube Marbled Tahini Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- nonstick cooking spray, as needed
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar, unsifted
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain tahini
- 3 tablespoons Ube Pillow butter
- 1 tablespoon ube extract
For the Ube Pillow Butter:
- 1 cup ground Ube Pillow crumbs, packed
- 2/3 cup coconut oil, room temperature
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine 3 cups flour, the salt and baking powder; set aside. Coat a small loaf pan with cooking spray, then line with plastic wrap, tucking it into the corners and leaving plenty of overhang. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping bowl as needed. Add the large egg and the vanilla; beat on medium-high until combined, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined; then increase speed to medium and beat until dough starts to clump together, scraping bowl as needed.
- Remove dough from bowl, knead lightly and form into a fat log. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut into two pieces, one about 1/3 of the dough, and the other 2/3 of the dough. Return the larger piece to the bowl, add the plain tahini, and beat on medium speed until fully combined. Remove from bowl and set aside. Add the smaller piece, ube extract & the Ube Pillow butter to the bowl and beat on medium speed until fully combined.
- On a generously floured surface, using a bench scraper or a knife, cut the white dough in half. Pat half the white dough into a 5-inch square. Cut the purple dough in half, then pat half the purple dough on top of the flattened white dough to match dimensions. Repeat with remaining white dough, then purple dough, so you have four alternating layers of white dough and purple dough. Cut in half crosswise, and gently knead and roll one piece to marble the two colors together. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Stack both pieces of dough together (they should be fairly soft at this point, so be gentle), and briefly knead the pieces together to form one dough.
- Press dough into prepared loaf pan, and fold the plastic wrap over the top to seal. Gently press down to even out the surface as much as possible. Chill until firm, preferably overnight, or at least a few hours and up to 3 days ahead, or freeze up to 3 months.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove the block of dough from the loaf pan and unwrap it. Slice dough in 3 columns lengthwise and then 8 rows with a knife so you have 24 squares of dough. Cut each square into 1/4-inch thick cookie pieces (4 cookies per square of dough). Lay them out 1 inch apart on two parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets.
- Bake until cookies are golden underneath, 18-20 minutes. Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
For the Ube Pillow Butter:
- Grind the crackers in a food processor. Then, pack them in a measuring cup, like you would brown sugar.
- Combine all the ingredients (except the coconut oil) in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves, and the mixture thickens to the consistency of apple butter.
- Allow the mixture to cool, until steam is no longer rising off of it.
- Then, pour it in a food processor with the coconut oil (which should be in a solid state). Blend until smooth and well-combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a jar, while it’s still warm and thin. Then, refrigerate for two hours. This will resolidify the coconut oil, and thicken your butter.
- Allow the cookie butter to come back to room temperature, so it will be spreadable, like peanut butter.
- This cookie butter can be stored at room temperature, and will be easier to spread, if you do.
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