Some recipes come from tradition. Others come from curiosity. These BBQ passionfruit cookies came from a little bit of both.

This one started with Isra from Tunisia, who answered the call to help choose my next flavor. She’s already inspired one Tunisian cookie (still coming!), but this time she flipped the script and picked something unexpected: a savory American flavor—barbecue.

Which, naturally, led to a fair amount of panic.

Isra was convinced these would be amazing. I was fairly certain they wouldn’t work at all. She was right.

My first attempt leaned safe: a sugar cookie base with barbecue and passionfruit, plus star anise and white chocolate chips. It was good—really good, actually—but it didn’t read as BBQ. It was missing something.

So I went back to basics and asked the better question: what actually makes barbecue taste like barbecue?

It’s not just savory. It’s layered with sweetness that caramelizes, spice that lingers, and smoke that adds depth. In other words, a lot of the same elements that make a great dessert.

These cookies don’t exactly taste like barbecue sauce. They land somewhere more interesting—sweet, smoky, bright from passionfruit, and just a little unexpected.

If you’re a fan of savory-adjacent desserts, stayed tuned–this is the first in a series of three. And if you like spicy cookies, check out my harissa-spiced carrot cookies and my mango chile cookies.

Smoky BBQ Passionfruit Cookies

Recipe by Sarah

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Sweet and just a little smoky, these BBQ cookies balance subtle spice and passionfruit for a dessert that feels unexpected but completely irresistible.

Difficulty: Easy

Yield

2

dozen

Prep time

15

minutes

Baking time

10

minutes

Total time

25

minutes

Ingredients

• BBQ Cookie Dough

• 1 cup Butter

• 1/2 cup Sugar

• 1/2 cup Brown sugar

• 1/8 cup BBQ sauce (I am not affiliated with Sweet Baby Ray’s in any way, but that is the brand I used)

• 1/8 cup Passionfruit pulp

• 1 Egg

• 1 Egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

• 2 3/4 cups Flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoon Smoked paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger

• 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon

• BBQ Spiced Rolling Sugar

• 2 1/2 tablespoons Sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon Smoked paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

• 1/16 (a pinch) teaspoon Cayenne

Directions

• BBQ Cookie Dough
• In a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Add the barbeque sauce, passionfruit pulp, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined. The result may look curdled, but don’t worry. When you add the dry ingredients, this problem will go away.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, paprika, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cayenne.
• Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
• Rolling Sugar
• Whisk the sugar, paprika, cinnamon, and cayenne together. Set aside.
• Assembly
• Optionally, chill the dough for 30 minutes. This will make the dough a little easier to work with, but it will result in less spread. If you like puffy cookies like I do, chilling this dough is for you. If you like cookies a little more spread out, don’t chill the dough.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Roll about one tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll it in the sugar spice mix until fully coated.
• Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press the tops down with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a measuring cup.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.