I’ve been looking for recipes for matcha cookies for awhile now. Matcha macaroons were attempted but not quite perfected so a recipe for that will have to wait, but it’s coming! This recipe by Ahu Shahrabani [1] is actually quite good. It’s a little sweet but you can definitely taste the matcha flavour and the green colour comes out very nicely. Something I’ve noticed with many recipes that use matcha is that they ask for culinary grade matcha. I don’t know what this is so decided to find out. It seems there are different grades of matcha that are best used for certain purposes. [2]
Ceremonial matcha seems to be the highest grade and quality of matcha. This matcha is made from the youngest leaves with the veins and stems removed. This is a sweeter tasting matcha. This is quite common in stores when buying matcha to whisk with hot water to form a drink.
The culinary grade matcha isn’t necessarily a lower quality matcha, just processed differently and a little less sweet than the ceremonial matcha. It is processed for the purpose of cooking and baking.
When determining the quality and grade of the matcha the following characteristics are considered:
- The colour of the tea
- The texture, quality and density
- The quality of the product – is it stem or is it leaves?
- The fineness of the powder
- Whether there has been any prolonged exposure to oxygen
- How it was ground up
- Treatment prior to processing
More can be found out about the 5 grades of matcha in Discover the different grades of matcha green tea powder, [2].
Ingredients:
- 0.5 c unsalted butter
- 7/8 c granulated sugar
- 1 c + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1.25 matcha powder (culinary grade)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
Directions:
- Cream together butter and sugar in mixing bowl. The creamier and airier it looks the fluffier and chewier the cookie.
- Incorporate the eggs into the mixture one at a time.
- In separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients little at a time.
- chill the dough for at least an hour or up to overnight. The longer you chill it, the better.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Roll the dough into balls the size of ping pong balls and place them on a non-stick, parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms are just start to become golden brown and cookie no longer looks wet in the middle.
- Remove. Let cool on rack.
Modifications: I was thinking about this and then it occurred to me, instead of adding matcha powder, some kind of chai spice powder blend could be substituted. I’m sure that would make an excellent spiced cookie. I’ll have to try that!
Alternate tea choices: Matcha has such a special texture and flavour it’s not like other teas in this regards. It’s a powder rather than a leaf that is then steeped. It’s hard to substitute other teas for the matcha powder in this recipe. The modification above of using chai spices instead of matcha powder is the one tea alternative that comes to mind. If you really want to change things up, which I may try, add a more traditional leaf tea, like actual green tea leaves or white tea leaves. The flavour may not be as strong but it may make for an interesting looking cookies.
Notes:
The first note is in the recipe by Ahu in [1] she refers to 1 stick of butter. It seems 1 stick of butter in Canada is 1/2 c of butter. More can be found on measurement conversions in How to measure butter, [3].
And second, I’m no cook, chef or baker so everything I make is based on the enjoyment of creating something new, cooking, baking and especially tea! I hope you enjoy the recipes, both making them and the tasting the results!
References:
- Green Tea Matcha Cookies, Ahu Shahrabani, March 2016, AHU eats, URL: http://www.ahueats.com/2016/03/green-tea-matcha-cookies.html
- Discover the different grades of matcha green tea powder, Epic Matcha, URL: https://epicmatcha.com/matcha-green-tea-powder/
- How to measure Butter, dairygoodness.ca, URL: https://www.dairygoodness.ca/butter/butter-tips-tricks/how-to-measure-butter
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