These Ube Snowflake Crisp Recipe is like a rice crispy treat but not really. Popular in Taiwan and China during Lunar New Year. The key difference is mixing in milk powder with the melted marshmallows and using cookies instead of rice puffs. That is all it takes to make it a light and crispy treat. If you dust it with more milk powder it's almost like eating snow. Hence the name.
My friend Kim gave me these little tiny cakes she found in Thailand. Upon further research I found out that they are actually from Taiwan.
After a bit more digging and googling "Taiwanese Marshmallow Cake" I found Snowflake Crisps. The thing about this treat is that it's all about the different textures and flavors.
When I first ate it, I could tell there was marshmallow. However there was something different about it. When you bite into the Snowflake Crisp it melts into your mouth and is also very creamy. Finding Cooking in Chinglish recipe, I found out it's actually the edition of milk powder. Who knew!!!
The treat also has a touch of sourness form dried fruit and lots of crunch from chunks of cookies.
I believe this dessert also had a moment on Tik Tok that I totally missed. But I am here now with a Filipino version of this Lunar New Year treat.
Ingredients
Marshmallows - You will need one 10oz bag of mini marshmallows. These are best for melting down as they are nice and small.
Butter - It doesn't matter if you use salted or unsalted butter. You will need ½ cup.
Milk Powder - For the actual mixture you will need 1 ¼ cup. Keep the tub of milk powder handy as you will need some extra to dust the top, bottom and sides of the Ube Snowflake Crisp.
Ube Halaya - You will need ¼ cup. Ready made is fine. Or you can make Ube Halaya from scratch.
Ube Cookie Butter - I love the flavor of Ube Cookie Butter. You can buy a jar from Ninong's Dessert Lab or make your own using my Ube Cookie Butter recipe.
Marie Cookies - When I had the cakes my friend Kim gave me I tried to figure out the cookie that they use. It seems to be these tiny biscuits I used to give to my kid when she was teething. Use Marie biscuits is a great Filipino alternative. I found these in mini packs that have 4 cookies inside. I used all 10. If you get the big cans of them you will need 40 Marie cookies in total.
Freeze Dried Mango - What I love about Snowflake Crisps is that there is always a fruit moment. I've seen dried cranberries used or freeze dried strawberries. I decided to use Mango as that is what I had. I think any freeze dried fruit you like would be okay.
Banana Chips - I also added some banana chips to add more crunch. You can also add nuts, but I don't like nuts with marshmallows. Hence the banana chips instead. You can add nuts if you want. Use about ¼ cup.
How To Make Ube Snowflake Crisp
Here are step by step directions on how to make Ube Snowflake Crisp, which I adapted from Cooking in Chinglish.
First cut each cookie into 4 pieces. Grab 3 or 3 cookies and just snap them in half with your fingers and snap each half again. Place into a bowl.
Snap the freeze dried mango in half and place that in a bowl. You can place it in the same bowl as the cookie pieces. I don't know why I placed it in separate bowls.
In a large pot dump in the bag of marshmallows, 1 stick of butter, ¼ cup of Ube Halaya and 2 Tablespoons of Ube Cookie Butter.
Turn the heat to medium and wait for the marshmallow and butter to melt. Keep mixing so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
After about 2 minutes everything should be melted. Turn down the heat to your lowest setting.
Add in the milk powder.
Mix well until it's fully combined.
With the heat still on low so that the marshmallow mix stays soft, dump in all the cookies and dried mangoes. I also added in some banana chips. You don't need too.
Mix until everything is coated in the Ube marshmallow mixture making sure the bottom of the pan has also been scrapped.
Transfer everything to a pan that has been lined with parchment paper.
Using the flat part of a spatula press down so that the top is as flat as you can get it.
Top with more milk powder. I kinda over did it here as I had to dust most of it off. You will just need to dust about 2 tablespoons all over and just use clean hands to spread it all over.
Top with another piece of parchment paper and use something small and flat like a cutting board to flatten it some more.
Take off the parchment and small cutting board and place a large cutting board over the pan and invert the Ube Snowflake Crisp on the cutting board.
Spread more milk powder on this side as well.
Cut into small cubes or rectangles for serving.
How To Serve and Store Ube Snowflake Crisp
These are so good out of the gate. I mean so good I ate 6 squares before I even shot the thing.
You can keep these Ube Snowflake Crisps out on the counter for up to 3 days. If you do leave them out over time the freeze dried mango will start to get soft so just be mindful of that.
The best way to store them is to actually freeze them. Yes you can freeze marshmallows. They will retain their chew and the freeze dried fruit will not get soggy.
Cut into small square and then place in a ziplock bag. Just take one out every time you have a craving. They are actually good frozen. Haha. Otherwise to defrost just leave them on the counter for 10 minutes or so. Ube Snowflake Crisps can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Equipment
- 9x13 Baking Pan
- 2 Pieces Parchment Paper
- Large Pot
- Small cutting board
Ingredients
- 10 oz Marshmallow Bag (get the mini marshmallows)
- ½ Cup Butter
- ¼ Cup Ube Halaya
- 2 Tablespoons Ube Cookie Butter
- 1 ¼ Cup Milk Powder plus more for dusting
- 40 Marie Cookies
- 1.7 oz Freeze Dried Mangoes
- ½ Cup Banana Chips
Instructions
- First cut each cookie into 4 pieces. Grab 3 or 3 cookies and just snap them in half with your fingers and snap each half again. Place into a bowl. Snap the freeze dried mango in half and place that in a bowl. You can place it in the same bowl as the cookie pieces.
- In a large pot dump in the bag of marshmallows, 1 stick of butter, ¼ of Ube Halayaand 2 Tablespoons of Ube Cookie Butter. Turn the heat to medium and wait for the marshmallow and butter to melt. Keep mixing so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
- After about 2 minutes everything should be melted. Turn down the heat to your lowest setting. Add in the milk powder. Mix well until it's fully combined.
- With the heat still on low so that the marshmallow mix stays soft, dump in all the cookies, dried mangoes and banana chips.
- Mix until everything is coated in the Ube marshmallow mixture making sure the bottom of the pan has also been scrapped.
- Transfer everything to a pan that has been lined with parchment paper.
- Using the flat part of a spatula press down so that the top is as flat as you can get it.
- Dust 2 tablespoons of milk powder all over the top. Then top with another piece of parchment paper and use something small and flat like a cutting board to flatten it some more.
- Take off the parchment and small cutting board and place a large cutting board over the pan and invert the Ube Snowflake Crisp on the cutting board.
- Dust more milk powder on the other side and cut into small squares. You can get between 30-60 squares depending on how big or small you cut them.
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