Photo of vibrant green pandan crinkle cookies on a gold sheet pan

About These Pandan Crinkle Cookies

After seeing the everlasting popularity of my bakery-style ube crinkle cookie recipe (one of the most popular on Hummingbird High!), I wanted to create another holiday cookie with a Southeast Asian twist—like these Soft and Chewy Pandan Crinkle Cookies!

Looking for more pandan desserts? Check out my recipe for Gluten Free Pandan Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake (that went viral on social media)!

To develop the pandan crinkle cookies, I started by swapping out the ube jam and extract in my ube crinkle cookie recipe with pandan extract.

But pandan, while delicious, has quite a subtle flavor on its own. So to get its flavor to truly shine, I added made some tweaks to the recipe: doubling the amount of pandan extract worked wonders, and resting the dough overnight really strengthened its flavor. Oh—and a little vanilla goes a long way!

Close-up photo of pandan crinkle cookies on white parchment paper

Before You Bake—Let’s Talk Pandan Extract

Traditional pandan desserts are made with fresh or dried pandan leaves. Although I tested a version of the recipe that used real pandan leaves (in fact, the way I infused the cookies with pandan was very similar to the method I used to infuse Thai tea in these Swirled Thai Tea Cookies with Condensed Milk), I didn’t love the results. It added a lot of extra work for just a so-so improvement on flavor!

So, I decided to double down on just using pandan extract for the pandan crinkle cookies. My favorite extract? Butterfly Pandan Flavoring Extract.

Butterfly Pandan Extract

Butterfly Pandan Flavoring Extract

Butterfly makes a thick, almost paste-like extract that mixes beautifully into most doughs and batters. The extract is colored too, so there's no need to add any additional food coloring to get the vibrant green of these pandan crinkle cookies!
Buy Now

Pro-tip: you can buy the extract online, but I usually find pandan extract (for cheaper!) in the baking aisle of most Asian supermarkets.

Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High grabbing a pandan crinkle cookie from the sheet pan

Making Pandan Crinkle Cookies (With Pictures and My Expert Tricks To Help You)

Photo of pandan cookie dough just after it's been mixed together
This is what the pandan cookie dough looks like after it’s been made—note how it’s a steady green color throughout. It will be soft and sticky; chill it overnight to make it easier to work with!
Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High scooping pandan cookie dough into her hand
When you’re ready to assemble the cookies, use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to scoop out a portion of dough. For a bakery-style professional look, I scoop it directly into my hand.
Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High rolling the pandan cookie dough in between her palms to make a cookie dough ball
I then roll the dough between my palms (similar to how you would a ball of Play-Doh). Watch out! The dough will be sticky. You can dust your hands with a light coating of the confectioners’ sugar to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High tossing the cookie dough ball in a bowl of confectioners' sugar
I then drop the cookie dough ball into the bowl of confectioners’ sugar and toss until completely coated. Make sure there are no “bald” spots of green—check out my baker’s notes to learn why.
Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High flattening the cookie dough ball
Once the dough ball is completely coated, I pick it up and flatten it gently in between my palms to form a “hockey puck” around 2-inches wide. Flattening the cookie dough helps the confectioners’ sugar stick to the dough as it bakes in the oven. I then toss it one more time in the sugar to make sure it’s completely covered.
Photo of Michelle from Hummingbird High placing the prepared pandan cookie dough ball on a sheet pan in a hopscotch formation
Arrange the cookie dough balls in a “hopscotch” formation on a half sheet pan. Don’t cram more dough balls into the pan because this recipe makes big cookies! This arrangement allows the dough balls to melt with plenty of space between each one.
Photo of the baked pandan crinkle cookies on a gold sheet pan
Here’s what the pandan crinkle cookies look like after they’ve been baked. Each cookie dough ball will spread into about a 3.5- to 4- inch crinkle cookie. Be careful not to slam the sheet pan on the counter when removing the cookies from the oven; doing so will cause the confectioners’ sugar to fall off the cookies.

My Best Recipe Tips

Making The Recipe Fit Your Schedule

Let me warn you now—the recipe instructs you to chill the dough overnight to flavormaxx the pandan! But real talk: you can make the cookies without the overnight rest, too. You don’t even need to adjust any of the recipe steps (beyond skipping the overnight chilling), either.

Just note that if you bake the dough right away 1) your dough will be a little sticky and hard to scoop (I recommend chilling for at least 1 hour to help with this) and 2) the pandan flavor will be VERY subtle. In my opinion, it’s worth it to rest the dough overnight!

My Secrets for Getting Picture Perfect, Bakery-Style Pandan Crinkle Cookies

  • Most baking recipes instruct you to sift confectioners’ sugar before using in the recipe. Confectioners’ sugar tends to clump when stored; sifting removes these lumps. However, you don’t need to sift the confectioners’ sugar for these pandam crinkle cookies. Why? I find that the lumps in the confectioners’ sugar help coat the cookies more thoroughly. The lumps also break up into interesting crinkles when baked!

  • Coat the cookies generously with confectioners’ sugar. I mean it. Ideally, you don’t want any green spots showing on the cookie dough balls. These show up as “bald spots” on the cookies, ruining their crinkle effect. Additionally, the cookies will absorb some of the confectioners’ sugar as they bake. So err on the side of caution and cover them with a THICK layer of confectioners’ sugar!
Photo of vibrant green pandan crinkle cookies on a gold sheet pan
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Get the Recipe: Soft and Chewy Pandan Crinkle Cookies

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 12 minutes
Total: 37 minutes
Servings: 15 cookies
Author: Michelle Lopez
These Soft and Chewy Pandan Crinkle Cookies offer a fragrant pandan flavor, striking green color, and a classic powdered sugar crinkle finish. The recipe uses tested technique tweaks—like a generous amount of pandan extract and an overnight rest—to deepen the flavor and guarantee soft, tender cookies with bold cracks and chewy edges. It’s an easy, festive twist on a holiday favorite and a great introduction to baking with pandan!
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Ingredients

For the Pandan Cookie Dough

  • 1 ¾ cups (7.85 ounces or 223 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup (7 ounces or 198 grams) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (1 stick or 4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pandan extract
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Assembly

  • 1 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) confectioners' sugar

Equipment

  • a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop

Instructions
 

  • First, mix the dry ingredients for the dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Cream the sugar and butter, then add the eggs, extract, and dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 3 to 5 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
    Reduce the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only after the previous one has been fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the pandan and vanilla extract all at once, beating until combined and completely green throughout, about 1 minute.
    Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
  • Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  • When ready to bake the cookies, defrost the cookies, and prep the oven and baking pans. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and set on the counter to thaw slightly while you preheat the oven.
    Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three half sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Coat the cookies. Place the confectioners' sugar in a medium, shallow bowl.
    Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the cookie dough into balls. Then, working one by one, drop each cookie dough ball into the bowl with confectioners' sugar. Toss until completely and generously coated.
    Place the cookie dough balls at least 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.
  • Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still soft.
  • Serve and store. Serve warm, or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Freezing the cookies: To freeze the pandan crinkle cookie dough, follow the instructions to scoop the cookie dough into balls. However, don’t drop them into the confectioners’ sugar! You won’t freeze them coated. Instead, scoop them onto a lined quarter sheet pan. If you’re not planning on baking them right away, there’s no need to space the dough apart.
Loosely wrap the sheet pan with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour, or until the cookie dough balls are solid. Place the frozen cookie dough balls in an airtight container or zip-top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, there’s no need to thaw the dough balls! Simply place on a lined sheet pan to thaw slightly as you preheat the oven. Then, once the oven is preheated, toss each cookie dough ball in the confectioners’ sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still soft.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
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Weeknight Baking:
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Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.

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