Matcha cookies
These matcha cookies are a Japanese-style slice-and-bake butter cookie with a soft jade-green color and the gentle bitterness of matcha blended with rich butter. A little almond flour makes them melt in your mouth, while a coating of sugar around the edge adds a sparkly crunch. The dough is rolled into logs and chilled, so you can slice and bake whenever you like.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rising or chilling
- 1 hr 30 min
- Total time
- 2 hr 10 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Dough
Sugar edge (optional)
Instructions
Step 1
Let 120 g unsalted butter soften at room temperature, then put it in a bowl with 70 g powdered sugar and a pinch of salt and smear them together evenly with a spatula. This kind of cookie doesn't need creaming, because too much air makes the slices full of holes and prone to breaking. The mixture is ready when it's as smooth as thick cream with no lumps of powdered sugar left.
Step 2
Add 18 g egg yolks to the butter and stir gently until fully blended. The yolk binds the dough and makes the green of the matcha look warmer and richer. Stop when the mixture is glossy and uniform with no yellow streaks.
Step 3
Sift 160 g all-purpose flour, 30 g almond flour and 8 g matcha powder together into the bowl, then cut and press with a spatula until the dough comes together. Matcha clumps easily, so careful sifting gives the cookies an even color without dark green specks. The dough is ready when it's soft, evenly green and doesn't stick to your hands.
Step 4
Divide the dough in half, set each piece on plastic wrap and roll it into a log about four centimeters in diameter; if you like, roll the logs in 20 g granulated sugar for a sparkly edge. Firm, even logs give slices of the same size that bake at the same rate. The logs are ready when they're evenly round from end to end with no cracks on the surface.
Step 5
Wrap the plastic tightly around each log, twist the ends and refrigerate for about an hour and a half. Only cold, firm dough can be sliced neatly without squashing out of shape. The logs are ready when they feel as firm as cold butter when pressed with a finger.
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. A lower temperature than for regular cookies helps the matcha stay bright green instead of turning yellow. The oven is ready when the preheat light switches off and the oven thermometer reading is steady.
Step 7
Use a sharp knife to cut the logs into slices about seven to eight millimeters thick, turning the log slightly as you go to keep it round, and arrange them on the sheet about two centimeters apart. Evenly sized slices bake through at the same time. The slices are ready when the cut faces are flat, evenly round and the edges aren't broken.
Step 8
Bake on the middle rack at 160°C for 13 to 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, because overbaking makes the cookies lose their green color and taste bitter. They're done when the bottoms are just turning pale golden and the tops are still jade green.
Step 9
Leave the cookies on the sheet for about five minutes, then move them to a rack to cool completely for ten minutes more. Butter cookies are very soft straight out of the oven and only crisp up as they cool. They're ready when they snap crisply in half and the inside is no longer moist.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Kitchen scale
- Plastic wrap
- Wire cooling rack
- Refrigerator
Tips
- Choose a bright green baking-grade matcha and avoid any that looks yellowish, or the cookies will look dull and taste harshly bitter.
- You can mix chopped white chocolate into the dough to balance the bitterness of the green tea.
- The dough logs can be frozen for up to two months; when you need them, leave a log out for about ten minutes, then slice and bake as usual.
Storage
Matcha oxidizes and loses its color easily in light, so store the cookies in an airtight, opaque container at room temperature and enjoy them within a week.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The slices crumble when cut.
- The log was too cold or the knife wasn't sharp enough. Leave the log out for a few minutes to soften slightly and use a thin, sharp knife to cut in one clean stroke.
- The cookies turn yellowish brown after baking.
- The oven was too hot or the cookies baked too long. Check your oven with a thermometer and take the cookies out as soon as the bottoms turn pale golden.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
