Ube donuts are soft and tender, packed with ube flavour, and baked not fried. Quick and easy to make with 3 different toppings for a delicious ube treat.
(Love making homemade donuts? Try these cinnamon sugar baked pumpkin donuts. Perfect with coffee or tea on a crisp fall morning.)
Ube is such a versatile ingredient. I love to bake with it, particularly with ube halaya or ube jam.
Recently, I’ve shared this really wonderful ube cookies recipe and made some delicious ube cheesecake bars, to add to my ever growing collection of ube recipes including the best ube cake recipe with the most luxurious Swiss meringue ube frosting, a reader favourite.
I’ve always wanted to make ube donuts (or ube doughnuts, depending on where you are) because they’re not something that I can find in any of the bakeries and bakeshops here.
Happily, they’re easy to make, so good, and the options for toppings are endless. I provide 3 of my favourite ube donut toppings here, including the most amazing ube glaze.
Why you’ll love these ube donuts
You might be wondering if these donuts are the same as the ube mochi donuts you can make using Trader Joe’s Ube Mochi Waffle Mix, which has been very popular on social media lately.
Short answer is no. It doesn’t contain sweet rice flour, the main ingredient of mochi.
But you’ll love making these baked ube doughnuts just the same because:
- The recipe is just as easy and simple to make.
- The recipe contains real ube, not just ube flavouring. So you’re getting legit ube flavour in every bite.
- The donuts are baked, not fried.
- They keep well so you can make them ahead.
- And they are incredibly soft, tender and delicious.
How to make ube donuts
Ingredients
To make wonderfully purple doughnuts, you’ll need:
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Ube halaya or ube jam
- Unsalted butter
- Egg
- Ube extract
- Milk
For the toppings, you’ll need:
- Powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar
- Salt
- Ube extract
- Milk
- Shredded coconut
- Unsalted butter
- Shredded cheese
Baking tools
I have a couple of standard-size, 6-cavity donut pans that I use when making donuts. You can still make this recipe without donut pans though, see the FAQs below.
I also use my stand mixer but an electric mixer will work too.
Other than that, you’ll need staple baking tools like:
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Whisks and spatulas
- Cooling rack
I also always recommend using a kitchen scale and an oven thermometer for better baking results.
Easy recipe with step-by-step photos
1 PREP. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease donut pans (I use cooking spray) and set aside (this recipe makes 11 donuts).
2 DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
3 UBE MIXTURE. In a large mixing bowl using a handheld electric mixer or using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, ube halaya and butter on medium speed until well blended.
4 EGG AND UBE EXTRACT. Add egg and ube extract and continue beating until combined. Remember to scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl.
5 FLOUR MIXTURE. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold half your flour mixture into your ube mixture, followed by milk, and finally the rest of your flour, until each addition is just combined.
6 DONUT BATTER. Transfer donut batter to prepared donut pans, filling each cavity about ยพ full. To make things easier, you can transfer the batter to a pastry bag or a large Ziploc bag with a corner cut off and use that to pipe the batter into the pan.
7 BAKE. Bake the donuts for 7-8 minutes or until they spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the centre of a few donuts comes out clean.
8 COOL. Remove from the oven. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
9 TOPPINGS. While still warm, dip the donuts in the ube glaze (recipe follows) and return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set. Optionally, you can top the donuts with shredded coconut after dipping in glaze, or dip them in melted butter and top with shredded cheddar cheese.
10 UBE DONUT GLAZE RECIPE. To make the ube glaze, simply combine powdered sugar, ube extract, milk and a little salt. Stir until smooth. Add more sugar or more milk a little at a time until you get the right consistency — thicker but still pourable.
Recipe FAQs
Ube is the Filipino word for purple yam. It’s certainly not unique to the Philippines but it’s definitely a national favourite.
It’s used to make a variety of sweet treats and baked goods like:
– Ube muffins
– Ube pancakes
– Ube rice cake (or what’s called putong ube in Tagalog)
Ube — or purple yam — is often mistaken for taro but they differ not only in appearance but also in taste.
Purple yam has a naturally vibrant purple colour while taro is almost white except for the specks of light purple on it. Ube is also less starchy than taro, and is slightly more pleasant to the palette once cooked.
Read more about the differences between ube vs taro here.
You can usually find ube halaya in the Asian or international aisle of your supermarket. If not there, they are almost always available in an Asian supermarket or online.
Frankly, I was never really happy with any of the ube jams I’ve tried here though.
Happily, I’ve learned how to make ube halaya and it’s so good if I say so myself! And not hard to make at all.
If you’re not happy with the ube jams you find at the stores either, try making your own. You won’t look back.
You can find ube extract at Asian supermarkets. If that fails, it’s available on Amazon. I use McCormick ube extract in all my ube recipes.
It took me a while to invest in donut pans big and small but once I did, I can’t stop making homemade donuts lol.
If you don’t really bake donuts a lot and don’t want to buy specialized pans though, you can still make homemade donuts. Check out this hack on how to use your muffin pan to make donuts. I haven’t tried it myself but it looks very clever.
If kept in a covered container on the counter, ube donuts will last 3-5 days. Kept in the fridge, they can last up to 2 weeks. To reheat, just pop in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or until warm.
Yes, you can freeze ube donuts, preferably without glaze or toppings. I simply place the donuts in a large Ziploc bag and position them in the freezer where they won’t get smushed.
Frozen donuts will last about a month.
Remember that it’s best to freeze them while they are still soft and tender. If you freeze stale donuts today, you will get stale donuts later.
To thaw, bring down to room temperature and reheat in the microwave before putting glaze or toppings.
Other ube desserts recipe you can try
Looking for other ube recipe ideas? Check these out:
- Ube bread recipe or ube roll recipe — soft, fluffy bread filled with delicious ube jam enveloped and served with toasted coconut
- Homemade ube ice cream — bright, purple and you don’t need an ice cream machine to make it
- Ube pie Jollibee-style — ube halaya inside a buttery puff pastry crust
- Ube chiffon cake — light, airy and melts-in-your-mouth
Happy baking!
Did you make ube doughnuts? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below. If you’re looking for all things ube, check out this delicious collection of the best must-try ube desserts.
And let’s get social! Find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Baked Ube Donuts Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For Baked Ube Donuts
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 4 oz ube halaya or ube jam (about ½ cup) room temperature
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 1 pc large egg room temperature
- 1 tbsp ube extract
- ½ cup milk I use 1% skim milk
For Ube Glaze and Optional Toppings
- ½ cup powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar
- 1 tbsp ube extract
- 3 tbsp milk
- pinch salt
- unsweetened shredded coconut
- unsalted butter melted
- shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Grease donut pans (I use cooking spray) and set aside (this recipe makes 11 donuts).
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl using a handheld electric mixer or using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, ube halaya and butter on medium speed until well blended.
- Add egg and ube extract and continue beating until combined. Remember to scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl (see note).
- Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold half your flour mixture into your ube mixture, followed by milk, and finally the rest of your flour, until each addition is just combined.
- Transfer donut batter to prepared donut pans, filling each cavity about ¾ full (see note).
- Bake the donuts for 7-8 minutes or until they spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the centre of a few donuts comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- While still warm, dip the donuts in the ube glaze (recipe follows) and return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set. Optionally, you can top the donuts with shredded coconut after dipping in glaze, or dip them in melted butter and top with shredded cheddar cheese.
- To make the ube glaze, simply combine powdered sugar, ube extract, milk and a little salt. Stir until smooth. Add more sugar or more milk a little at a time until you get the right consistency — thicker but still pourable.
Video
Notes
- Not all ube jams are made the same. I make my own ube halaya and if you use that to make your ube donuts, you don’t need to change anything in the recipe. If you use store-bought ube jam, I suggest to taste your ube mixture before adding in the egg so you can decide if you need more sugar, ube or both. Make sure to add sugar or ube in small increments.
- To make transferring the ube donut batter easier, you can transfer the batter to a pastry bag or a large Ziploc bag with a corner cut off and use that to pipe the batter into the pan.
- See post for more baking tips, complete step-by-step photos and FAQs.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Phyllis
I love ube. The taste is amazing. I am glad to see you have more recipes using it. I bought purple sweet potato jam at the Chinese supermarket. It is very good also. Can I substitute it for halaya? If not I will buy the ube halaya. Thanks for all your great ube recipes.
Jolina
Hello fellow ube fan ๐ I recommend going with ube halaya. Enjoy!
Jas
Is this like a cake texture? Will this work if I donโt have the donut pan? Thanks!
Jolina
Hi Jas, check out this hack on how to use your muffin pan to make donuts. I havenโt tried it myself but it looks very clever.