Ube Pandesal - Three Ways

Ube pandesal is a bright purple and uniquely flavored variation of the classic Filipino breakfast and snack roll, the pandesal. 

This ube pandesal, a tasty roll flavored with purple yam, has a sweet, faintly nutty, vanilla-ish flavor. It is a newer twist on the popular Filipino breakfast treat. I made it three ways, plain, filled with ube jam (halaya), and filled with cheese. It is so good!

Pandesal is a popular breakfast bread in the Philippines and is typically served warm and dunked in coffee or hot chocolate. It's also popular as a mid-day snack. Even though the name, pandesal, means "salt bread," it is actually faintly sweet. 

Traditional pandesal is soft on the inside and lighly crispy on the outside, and is coated on top with breadcrumbs before baking. It's often served filled with cheese, coconut jam, peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, or even leftovers you might have sitting in your fridge. 

About Ube:

Ube is a bright purple yam that is native to the Philippines. It's a popular ingredient in desserts such as ice cream, cookies, and cheesecakes. It's flavor is more subtle than the sweet potatoes we are familiar with. 

It's thought that flavoring and coloring pandesal with ube (and filling it with with cheese) emerged during the lockdown, and became popular via social media. A Filipino bakery in Cavite, Kimmy Bakes Bakeshop, is also sometimes given credit for coming up with the creation. 

Some food historians also believe that getting creative with pandesal may have started even earlier. Either way, since the rise in popularity of ube pandesal, bakers have been getting even more creative and have experimented with various flavors, much to the chagrin of traditionalists. 

Ingredients in Ube Pandesal:

Ube/Purple Yam: Recipes call for either fresh ube yams, ube powder, ube extract, or ube halaya (jam). For this recipe I used a combination of ube powder reconstituted in water along with a small amount of ube extract. The extract is optional. If you don't use the extract, the color of the bread will be just slightly lighter but still very purple. 

I was able to find the powder, jam, and extract in a small Filipino market about three blocks from my house. You can also find them in larger Asian or Filipino markets such as 99 Ranch or Seafood City. Amazon also carries these ingredients. 

I liked using the ube powder because it is 100% ube and, like potatoes in bread recipes, it helps keep the bread super moist and soft. 

The ube extract is a combination of natural and artificial ingredients, and includes food coloring. It will turn your dough purple but it's not the same as the actual yams. Ube jam (halaya), which is made with the yams, is pretty sweet and is often used in desserts, so if you decide to incorporate it in the dough, be sure to cut back on the amount of added sugar. 

Before adding the ube powder to the dough, mix about 1/4 cup of it with 3/4 cup of boiling water and then let the mixture cool. The mixture will be very thick, just like mashed potatoes. 

Pantry Ingredients: Bread flour, instant yeast, salt, sugar, and oil. 

Milk and egg. 

For the Fillings:

Cheese: Cheddar cheese or melting cheese such Velveeta is traditional. I used Havarti cheese, which is very melty and has a mild flavor. 

Ube Jam: You can also fill the bread with a dollop of ube jam. Some bakeries also make the rolls filled with both cheese and jam layered together. 

Breadcrumbs: For topping the bread. You can use standard plain breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs, or even make your own from leftover bread. 

To Make this Ube Pandesal: 

First, mix the all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and then knead with the dough hook until you have a cohesive dough. The dough will be pretty sticky and moist, but be careful about adding too much flour. I ended up adding just two extra tablespoons of flour to bring everything together. 

After that, let the dough rise in an oiled bowl or bucket, covered, until doubled. You can either let the dough rise at room temperature and then shape the rolls, or you can let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight. I chose to let mine rise in the fridge because (1) I was ready to go to bed, and (2) the chilled dough would be easier to work with in the morning. 

To shape the rolls, divide it into 12 equal pieces. It helps to use a kitchen scale to weigh the dough pieces so that the rolls are all about the same size. Shape the dough pieces into balls, dip the tops into bread crumbs, and place them, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet, about one inch apart. 

If you are filling the rolls, before shaping, flatten the dough piece, place the cheese or jam (or both) in the center, and then wrap the edges over the filling, sealing the dough in the center. 

Finally, after letting the rolls rise, bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. 

Tip:

If you are making more than one version of this bread, you can use your parchment to mark which bread is which (as you can see in the above photo). If you do lose track, you can always simply cut a roll in half to see what's inside. 

Storage and Reheating:

You can store these rolls at room temperature or in the refrigerator in airtight containers or Ziploc bags. You can also freeze each roll individually wrapped. Thaw at room temperature. 

To reheat the rolls, you can microwave them in 15 to 30 second bursts until they are just warmed through. I've been enjoying these for breakfast every day. For the plain and jam-filled rolls, I've also been spreading them with a maple and honey butter combination I have leftover from making pancakes. It was a delicious combination with the flavor of the purple yam. 

You could also make ube butter by combining the extract, jam, and salted butter. 

More Filipino-Style Recipes to Try:

Traditional Pandesal 

Spanish Rolls (or Senorita Bread) 

Pork Adobo

Mango Float

"U" is for Upside Down, Umeboshi, Ube, Udon, Urchin, and More!

To continue the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, we are sharing recipes that begin with "U" or include ingredients or methods that that begin with "U." 

• A Messy Kitchen: Apple Bourbon Upside Down Cake 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Black Forest Upside Down Cake 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Chunky Pumpkin Ancho Unsweetened Cocoa Chili 
• Blogghetti: Jumbo Upside Down Pineapple Muffins
• Culinary Cam: Sea Urchin Crostini
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Ube Pandesal 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Udon Noodle Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Upside Down Apricot Bundt 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Upside Down Bacon Apple Pancake 

For the 2024 Alphabet Challenge (last year), I made Stir-Fried Udon Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables (Yaki Udon). It's so easy to make and one of my favorite stir-fries. 

Ube Pandesal Bread

Yield: 12 rolls

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 25 MinInactive time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 2 H & 40 M

Ube pandesal is a bright purple and uniquely flavored variation of the classic Filipino breakfast and snack roll, the pandesal. 

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 1/4 cup (60 grams) ube powder
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups (446 grams) bread flour
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm (100 to 110 degrees) milk
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons ube extract (optional)
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs

For the filling

• 2 teaspoons jam per roll that you are filling with the jam.
• 1 1-inch cube (or slightly smaller) cheese per roll that you are filling with cheese.

Instructions

1. Mix the ube powder with the boiling water, stirring thoroughly. Let cool to room temperature.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine.
3. Add the warm milk, oil, and egg, and mix. Add the yeast and knead with the dough hook until combined. Add the ube mixture and the optional extract and knead with the dough hook until combined. The dough should be fairly sticky. Adjust the flour if necessary but don't add too much. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Transfer the dough to an oiled boil or dough rising bucket, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 30 to 60 minutes. You can also let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the breadcrumbs into a small bowl.
6. Deflate the dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Flatten each piece of dough into a circle and place the optional filling in the center. Wrap the dough around the filling and form each piece into a ball. Dip the top of the roll in the breadcrumbs. Place the shaped ball, seam side down, on the parchment in a 3 by 4 pattern, about 1 inch or more apart.
7. Cover the shaped rolls in plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until the rolls are puffy, about 30 to 60 minutes.
8. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool a few minutes on a rack. Serve warm.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

235

Fat (grams)

6 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

1 g

Carbs (grams)

38 g

Fiber (grams)

3 g

Net carbs

35 g

Sugar (grams)

7 g

Protein (grams)

7 g

Cholesterol (grams)

18 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2025/10/ube-pandesal-three-ways.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

pandesal, ube

bread

Filipino

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @karenskitchenstories.com on instagram and hashtag it #karenskitchenstories

Recipe adapted from Foxy Folksy with tips from The Unlikely Baker, Kawalish Pinoy, and Aubrey's Kitchen.