Made with white chocolate, butter, and cream and dusted with Japanese green tea powder, this decadent Matcha Chocolate (or Matcha Nama Chocolate) is simply irresistible. It’s rich with a truffle-like texture and just the right touch of sweetness.
This Matcha Chocolate, or what we call Matcha Nama Chocolate (抹茶生チョコレート) in Japan, simply melts in your mouth.
As I was testing this recipe, I knew I won’t be able to stop eating them so Mr. JOC took them to work. He told me later, “The green tea chocolate disappeared in seconds.” I promise you, it’s really good!
Green tea powder, or matcha (抹茶), has a unique bitter taste to it. The flavor of “matcha” is quite different from the green tea served at Japanese restaurants. Matcha is typically used for making tea at the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. This tea tends to be thick and exceptionally bitter, but it goes quite well with wagashi (和菓子), a traditional Japanese confectioneries that are very sweet by itself.
The color of matcha is a bright, beautiful green color, so if your matcha powder doesn’t have that nice vivid hue to it, your matcha is well past its prime. The green tea powder is also quite pricey, especially if it is of tea ceremony quality, but the culinary grade is good enough for baking and making these chocolates.
As you may already know, green tea delivers a healthy dose of antioxidants and cancer-fighting power. Catechins in green tea are also known to have many beneficial health properties and matcha has greater potential health benefits than other green tea.
In Japan, there are many varieties of green tea chocolate in stores, including green tea Pocky’s, Melty Kiss, Kit Kat, and the popular ROYCE’ Chocolate.
When I made ROYCE’ copycat Nama Chocolate two years ago, I received many requests for the green tea version. I love anything with green tea, so I’m really happy to finally share this green tea version with you this year. Right in time for Valentine’s Day!
The cooking process for this recipe is very similar to the regular Nama Chocolate recipe, but white chocolate is used instead of regular chocolate. My only advice for you is to work fast to melt the white chocolate while the cream is warm.
Rich, yet not so sweet, decadent truffle-like matcha green tea chocolate, it is simply irresistible. If you love green tea sweets, this will be the ultimate treat for you.
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Matcha Chocolate
Video
Ingredients
- 14 oz white chocolate (you‘ll need 4 Lindt White Chocolate Swiss Classic Bars and measure the weight to get 400 g; see Notes)
- ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream (see Notes)
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder)
- 2 tsp matcha (green tea powder) (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. You will also need 1 8- x 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
- Chop 14 oz white chocolate into small pieces so it will melt quickly.
- Cut 2 Tbsp unsalted butter into small pieces.
- Add ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream into a small saucepan and bring it ALMOST to a boil over medium heat. Keep an eye on the cream; when you see bubbles around the saucepan, remove from the heat.
- Immediately add the white chocolate and butter. With a rubber spatula, mix all together.
- The mixture will start to solidify, so melt the chocolate and butter while the cream is still warm.
- Once the mixture is smooth, sift and add 2 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) into the mixture.
- Mix and combine together until the color is homogeneous.
- Into a prepared the baking dish lined with parchment paper, pour the green tea chocolate mixture.
- Tap the baking dish a few times on the kitchen countertop to remove any air bubbles. Flatten the surface with the rubber spatula if necessary. Refrigerate for 4–5 hours (or overnight).
- Lift the parchment paper to remove the green tea chocolate from the baking dish. Run the sharp knife under hot water to warm up the knife and wipe it dry completely.
- Slice the 8- x 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) chocolate block into 4 smaller squares, then cut each square into 9 small pieces.
- Dust 2 tsp matcha (green tea powder) on top of the chocolate. Store the chocolate in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve chilled.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in the refrigerator for 2–3 days, but it‘s best to enjoy it sooner.
Notes
- Make sure the bowls and utensils you are using are perfectly dry. Even a small amount of water/steam can “seize” the chocolate melting process.
- When buying white chocolate, make sure that it contains cocoa butter because some inferior brands contain vegetable fat. White chocolate should be ivory-colored (white chocolate made with vegetable fat is white-colored).
- The fat content for heavy (whipping) cream is 38%, which is used to whip cream.
- Separation (oil came out of the chocolate) happens when you get the chocolate too hot. When chocolate gets too hot, the cocoa butter separates from the solids, and there is no way to salvage it (although you can bake with it and it tastes fine). The best way to prevent separation is to use gentle heat (simmer on lowest heat) and stir frequently. Since we’re not using a double boiler in this recipe, make sure you do not bring the heavy whipping cream to a full boil. Remove from heat as soon as you saw bubbles around the edges of the saucepan.
- Seizing happens when moisture is introduced to melted chocolate (even a tiny amount of liquid or steam). It happens all of a sudden from a smooth bowl of liquid chocolate to a lumpy, grainy mass of chocolate.
Hi I just wanted to ask like what’s the role of butter is it only for fat and texture because other day I had seen another recipe which had the same recipe but the butter was around 226g which is 8oz I kinda feel like 226gm of butter is a lot for 400gm of chocolate and would make it very difficult to woke with it as it will be very soft and sticky…….I haven’t yet tried the recipe just waiting for your answer
Hello Sinan, Thank you for reading Nami’s post.
Please note that Nami’s recipe only requires 2 tablespoons (28g) of butter for flavor and texture. It is possible that your recipe used a different type of milk or chocolate that doesn’t contain a sufficient amount of fat.
We hope you try Nami’s recipe and see how it turns out. 😊
Hi Nami! I tried to make this recipe from memory but had it wrong and had added the warmed heavy cream last, so in the wrong order. I already melted the chocolate and whisked in the matcha, but upon adding the heavy cream, there was slight seizing, but definite separation happening. Would it work to just add in heavy cream from the fridge next time? Does the heating of heavy cream still benefit if the chocolate is already melted?
I still ate it btw… haha. It tastes great! Just looks a little funny.
Hi mi t, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us.
We recommend using warm heavy cream rather than cold one just out from the refrigerator so that the white chocolate will stay smooth.
When chocolate gets too hot during the melting process, the cocoa butter separates from the solids, and there is no way to salvage it. So please be careful. 🙂
Can you add brandy to this one as well?
Hi Yuta! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
We have never tried adding brandy to this recipe and are unsure how the outcome will be.
Please let us know how it goes!
Mine was so yummy and creamy but it was too soft to cut despite refrigerating for almost half a day. Could it be due to the extra matcha powder? I was following your recipe on YouTube which says 2 tbsp + 2 tsp before realising that the recipe here says only 2 tbsp.
Hi Jocelyn! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe.
We are sorry to hear that your chocolate came out very soft. Which white chocolate brand did you use?
If there are different ingredients or brands, it might not have the same texture as Nami’s one.
Two teaspoons of Matcha powder in the video are for sprinkling at the end. But even if you happen to add the extra to the chocolate, it shouldn’t change much texture. Try a different brand of chocolate next time?
We hope this helps!
I made this chocolate using the same Callebaut W2 White Chocolate 28% again but it turned out worse than the last time. Too soft and sticky to cut, so I had to freeze it. Didn’t have this problem with the dark chocolate recipe.
Hi Jocelyn! Thank you for trying this recipe again!
Nami used Lindt White Chocolate Swiss Classic Bars and never had the problem. It might be a difference in the ratio of the chocolate ingredient. Or the moisture was introduced to melted chocolate (even a tiny amount of liquid or steam) during the steps.
We hope this helps.
I made this tonight and it is delicious! It is perfectly balanced, I would like to try a less sweetened white chocolate in the future, I had a ton of Ghirardelli’s in my pantry for this batch. My boys enjoyed it as well. Will certainly make again and I am glad I doubled up on the recipe so I can share with my neighbor and coworkers.
Hi Haley! Awesome! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Thank you for the recipe! My mixture separated as I was mixing the matcha powder in – maybe because I was stirring it for too long? You don’t notice the separation because I’ve dusted the top with matcha powder, but just wanted to confirm that it doesn’t affect the taste too much?
Hi Wendy! We are sorry to hear that your mixture separated.
Please see the “TROUBLESHOOTING” at the end of the recipe card. We think that your heavy whipping cream was too hot or somehow the moister got into the mixture. We hope Nami’s Notes will be helpful.
As for taste, it will have a different texture and flavor, and you may notice that it is not a smooth creamy chocolate.
We hope you will give this recipe a try again. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
I just made it. It was absolutely delicious! So yummy and creamy. The only problem is that they are very morish 🙂
Wow! I’m forever grateful for this recipe… I still can’t get over the fact how easy this was and how well it turned out. I’m utterly amazed, and it’s all thanks to you, Nami! Thank you so much for sharing this :). My hunger for matcha is quenched (for now). Btw, in my country there’s only whipping cream with a fat percentage of 35%, which I used and it still worked! Maybe this might help other readers with the same problem. Have a nice day!
Hi Romy, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear it turned out well. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Is 35% fat for cream ok?
Hi Charlie, Yes. 35% and up should work for this recipe. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hi!
I tried making this matcha nama chocolate and followed your steps exactly, and used Lindt chocolates too, but the chocolate was quite stiff, and not soft like Royce’s nama chocolate. Any suggestions on where I might get it wrong?
Thank you for the recipe
Hi Vince, Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
If a small amount of water/steam was introduced to melted chocolate, seizing happens, and chocolate will get lumpy, grainy. So please make sure the bowls and utensils you are using are perfectly dry. If that wasn’t the case, the stiffness might be caused by fat amounts in a cream. To make it more creamy/soft, you may add an extra 1 Tbsp of heavy (whipping) cream (38% fat). We hope this helps!
Hi Nami! I was wondering if I can use all-purpose cream instead of heavy whipping cream? Or do you have any substitutes for heavy whipping cream? Thank you and looking forward to trying this 🙂
Hi Ysa, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! The heavy whipping cream that is used in this recipe contains 38% cream. So if your all-purpose cream contains less than 38%, you may have to add fat by adding butter, etc. Some readers tried Coconut Milk to make this too. However, we have never tested this recipe with substitutes, and we are not sure how the outcome will be… Let us know how it goes!
This came out great for me! We cant stop eating them! I have a question, can I use this match chocolate as mixture to my cookies? Thank you!
Hi MeAnn, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! We have never added this chocolate as a mixture in the cookies. Doesn’t it melt quickly? We have seen people use this as Sandwich Cookie Filling.😉
Long time reader – first time poster ^_^ Love your site
Any tips on using Genmaicha or Hojicha instead of Green Tea?
Do you think white chocolate base would be okay?
Thanks in advance! xxx
Hi Junko,
We have never tried with Genmaicha or Hojicha powder before. But it sounds great! We think it would work well with white chocolate as well.
Let us know how it goes!😉
I made this recipe and I have to say, do not skimp on quality ingredients. The quality of the white chocolate is important and the quality of the tea is critical to this dessert.
I loved it. I think it might have seized but even then the dusting of the matcha powder at the end hid this.
I loved it and so did my wife, but a word of warning. This is like a rich truffle. I had 2 and I was done. We added one to some hot milk this morning and had a great latte. It is a great dessert.
Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us.
We are so happy to hear you and your wife enjoyed this Chocolate!