Japanese green tea cookies are made with a special green tea powder called Matcha. It is a very strong green tea. It is bright green in color as it is made from leaves that are grown in the shade and are not fermented. Did I mention this tea is pretty strong?
If brewed as tea this powder would make the tea quite bitter but as a flavoring in cookies it gives the cookie a beautiful color as well as flavor.
I went to the local Japanese store to buy this powder. The owner excitedly showed me an array of matcha flavored products that had just arrived from Japan. One of them were these matcha cookies and the most surprising was matcha flavored Kitkat. After trying these cookies I can understand why the flavor is so popular. Unfortunately, it was way too strong for me. I should have waited for my dad's visit before making them. He likes green tea, he would have liked them. I nibbled on half a cookie at a time and finished them. They had an addictive taste and I would have loved them had they not been as strong.
Recipe adapted from here
You will need
75 gm unsalted butter
65 gm sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg yolk
120 gm all purpose flour
7 gm matcha powder
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Beat softened unsalted butter in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the salt and the egg yolk and beat well. Sift in the flour and matcha powder and form a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll into a cylinder, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking with parchment paper. Remove the cylinder from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices on the baking sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Cool on a cooling rack.
Store in an air tight container when they are completely cooled.
If brewed as tea this powder would make the tea quite bitter but as a flavoring in cookies it gives the cookie a beautiful color as well as flavor.
I went to the local Japanese store to buy this powder. The owner excitedly showed me an array of matcha flavored products that had just arrived from Japan. One of them were these matcha cookies and the most surprising was matcha flavored Kitkat. After trying these cookies I can understand why the flavor is so popular. Unfortunately, it was way too strong for me. I should have waited for my dad's visit before making them. He likes green tea, he would have liked them. I nibbled on half a cookie at a time and finished them. They had an addictive taste and I would have loved them had they not been as strong.
Recipe adapted from here
You will need
75 gm unsalted butter
65 gm sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg yolk
120 gm all purpose flour
7 gm matcha powder
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Beat softened unsalted butter in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the salt and the egg yolk and beat well. Sift in the flour and matcha powder and form a soft dough. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll into a cylinder, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking with parchment paper. Remove the cylinder from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices on the baking sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Cool on a cooling rack.
Store in an air tight container when they are completely cooled.
Few years ago there was a trend -- adding matcha in just about everything. I started looking it in all stores that I used to go to. Then I tried matcha ice cream once and that didn't really go very well. So I stopped looking for matcha powder because I'm sure I won't like it, then why spend the money :-)
ReplyDeleteGreen tea cookies look good.
ReplyDeletei agree the green tea has a strong flavor, i used small quantity to make the icecream but the aftertaste was refershing
ReplyDeleteLovely color and sadly I cant find this tea here...
ReplyDeleteOMG - I have some matcha in thee pantry - need to try these
ReplyDelete