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Enjoy your afternoon tea with these buttery, crispy Green Tea Cookies with Matcha powder. The unique flavor of matcha in the cookies is surprisingly delightful!
I have always had a sweet tooth starting at a young age. As I got older, my taste bud for sweets has evolved and I’ve come to appreciate baked goods and confectionaries that have different tones of flavor and preferably not overly sweet. When comes to flavoring in the sweet department, my absolute favorite is matcha (Japanese green tea powder). The earthy, slightly bitter taste with a sweet hint of vanilla-like aroma of matcha is utterly dreamy and alluring, which makes it a delightful ingredient to work with. It is subtle but unmistakable.
And good news for matcha lovers! You can now find every imaginable snacks and sweets available in matcha flavor. Specialty stores, mini markets and even food courts at the departmental stores in Japan are offering matcha flavored goodies with an astonishing array of selection. Since I’ve been inspired to cook and bake with matcha, I’m excited to share one of my favorite butter cookies, Green Tea Cookies (抹茶クッキー) with you today.
Watch How To Make Matcha Green Tea Cookies 抹茶クッキーの作り方
Love butter cookies? Then you’ll love these homemade green tea cookies with decadent white chocolate.
What is Matcha?
Before I begin talking about these cookies, let me share a bit of info on Matcha with you.
Matcha is a type of tea leaf powder that has a beautiful vivid green color. However, it’s different from the “green tea” that you drink with Japanese meals. That’s green tea too, but matcha green tea leaves are grown and harvested differently. The leaves are grown under shade.
For those of you who want to try this recipe, I hope you can find 100% pure matcha powder in your local Asian grocery store. The good quality ones should have very beautiful green, not dull green. Japanese grocery stores around my area sell Maeda-En matcha and you can also get it on Amazon. It’s a bit pricey but matcha is expensive in Japan as well.
Green Tea Cookies with White Chocolate
These cookies are really delicious even without white chocolate chips (if you’re not a fan of white chocolate). However, I highly recommend it as the green tea powder brings its characteristic bitter flavor to the cookies, and the sweetness from white chocolate chips actually balance out the cookies quite well.
If you add regular chocolate chips, the milk chocolate can be too strong and it ruins the unique matcha flavor and fragrance so I don’t recommend it.
Without the chocolate, the cookies may not be sweet enough. I’ve also tried rolling the chilled cookie logs over white sparkling sugar (large sugar crystals) for this recipe before slicing the dough. To keep the recipe simple, I omitted the sugar for the blog. If baking with only white chocolate chips is not sweet enough for you, this is a great way to add some more sweetness to the cookies. The large sugar crystals will keep its shape and give a nice sweetness and sparkles to the cookies.
Buttery, Crispy, Green Tea Cookies
This type of cookies is known as butter cookies. They also go by shortbread cookies or sable cookies.
They are unleavened cookies, which means that leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda is not used in the recipe.
The ingredients are simple: butter, sugar, and flour. They often include vanilla extract, but we can omit it for matcha flavor.
I am often asked by JOC readers about the texture of these cookies. They are crisp rather than chewy or soft. If you have tried and love shortbread cookies, you can expect the same crispy texture.
Another FAQ (frequently asked question) I get about butter cookies recipe is whether we need to chill the dough. I know it’s an extra step and it’s not fun to wait around. However, the chilled dough will give clean, sharp edges for the cookies and holds its shape better in the oven. So before baking, make sure to chill the dough (in a log shape) and slice into rounds (or roll out the dough, chill, and cut out).
I hope you enjoy making this matcha flavored Green Tea Cookies recipe. They are perfect for a cozy afternoon snack or for your cookie swap during the holiday season!
Similar Recipes:
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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- 240 g all-purpose flour (plain flour) (2 cups; If you're using a cup measurement, please follow this method to measure. Otherwise, the amount of flour tends to be more than you need.)
- 15 g matcha green tea powder (2 ½ Tbsp; 1 Tbsp matcha is 6 g)
- 170 g unsalted butter (¾ cup; softened)
- 130 g confectioners’ sugar/powder sugar (roughly 1 cup)
- pinch kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 50 g white chocolate chips (¼ cup)
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Gather all the ingredients.
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Combine 240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour and 15 g (2 ½ Tbsp) matcha green tea powder in a large bowl.
- Sift the flour and the matcha powder.
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In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat 170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter until smooth and creamy. It’s important to soften the butter ahead of time.
- Add a pinch of salt and blend.
- Add 130 g (roughly 1 cup) powder sugar and blend until soft and light. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Add 2 large egg yolks and mix well until combined.
- Gradually add the flour and matcha green tea powder mix and blend until the dough is smooth.
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Add 50 g (¼ cup) white chocolate chips and blend well.
- Cut the dough in half and shape into 2 cylinders, about 1.5 inches (4 cm) diameter, 7" (18 cm) long.
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Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 2 hours (or overnight). Optional: you can place the logs on a bed of rice while chilling. It’ll keep the dough in a nice cylindrical shape, so your cookie slices won’t be flat on one side.
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Preheat the oven to 350 ºF (175 ºC). Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking liner. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap, and with a sharp knife, slice the dough into ⅓ inches (7 mm)-thick rounds. Place them on the baking sheet, leaving about 1” (2.5 cm) between rounds.
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Bake the cookies at 350 ºF (175 ºC) for about 15 minutes, or until the edge of the cookies starts to get slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes; then carefully transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. If you pack the cookies in an airtight container, they will keep for at least 4 days.
- You can also freeze the unbaked logs of dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 months. Let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before cutting and baking. Do not let the dough fully defrost.
Recipe is slightly adapted from A Food Lover's Journey, originally from Okashi Treats by Keiko Ishida.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on November 11, 2011. Since then the post has been updated with new video, new pictures, and updated recipe in July 2016.
Hi Nami, my 2 girls has been a fan of green tea cookies since they tried it at a friend’s place last CNY. This year they are bugging me to bake some and I googled for a easy recipe and saw your posting. Immediately I gathered all the ingredients and started baking. Must say its a big hit with the girls, loved the bright green color! 2 thumbs up!
Hi Jocelyn! Aww I’m so happy to hear you and your daughters enjoyed the cookies! Yes they are beautiful colors and it’s not too sweet either. I love any sweets with matcha, and I hope to share something more using green tea one day. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami!
I was wondering if these cookies will turn out soft and chewy or hard. And which cookies do you suggest these green tea ones, or the vegan style on your blog as well?
Hi Eric! It’s more like sable cookies. It’s not soft or chewy like typical American cookies. It’s hard to suggest which one as everyone has preference. I tend to like crunchy cookies while my husband prefers soft kinds…
The original recipe of the green tea & white chocolate cookies is from the famous cookbook, and the vegan cookie recipe was a guest post by my fellow blogger who’s famous for making excellent baked goods so I am sure her cookies are really good, too.
It’s up to you. 🙂 I’m sorry I can’t be helpful…
Okay, Thanks, do you think these textures are eatable for the elderly? I was hoping to make these for my grandma. She is unable to bit on such hard foods.
I see. I have a grandma who likes cookies and sweets, so I understand your concern. 🙂 It won’t be hard like biscotti or Japanese rice crackers. You can break with hands easily. It’s not chewy so it won’t stuck on teeth. I think it should be okay. My grandma would be able to eat this (referring to one with white chocolate chips). 😉
Awesome 😀
Thanks Nami!
Hi Nami! Great job on the photos! I love the vibrant green on the cookies. I was wondering if you are able to convert the recipe into cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons for me as I’m unsure how to measure/convert them into grams.
Thanks. =)
Thank you Candice! As I mentioned in my response (my comment #105), I rather not to provide recipe with cups/Tbsp, etc since it is not accurate. So please understand it’s not very precise recipe. 🙂
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 Tbsp. matcha powder (I remember it was less than 3 but more than 2)
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup + 1 Tbsp powder sugar
Ohayou Nami san! 🙂
I just made these cookies and I should have taken your advice and bought a weight measurement scale. I used Australian tablespoon measurements and 2.5 Tbsp of Matcha Powder was way too much I think. I’m going to reduce it to 1.5 Tbsp next time.
I don’t know how these are meant to taste, but mine turned out slightly chewy / crumbly and quite bitter. They taste good but are they meant to be bitter or sweet?
Also, how do you get your logs to be so perfectly round? My cookies looked a bit more oval when I cut them and not as pretty as yours.
Domo!
Hi Sunny! Thank you for trying this recipe!
I checked and 1 Tbsp. of matcha is 6 gram. So original recipe calls for 15g and it’s about 2 1/2 Tbsp. I also want to mention that quality of matcha is really important. If the color is not beautiful matcha green color like you see in the picture, the tea quality is not as good. I’ve seen some dull green matcha and I can’t guarantee the flavor is correct.
As far as taste, it’s not sweet like ordinary cookies. It’s sable so it’s crispy/crunchy, not chewy, and little bitter. Not strong bitter, just a hint of bitter coming from matcha. The white chocolate should help you with sweet part.
Regarding the log… I probably played the playdough a lot with the kids. Just kidding. I just took time to make a good shape. Mine is not perfect either as I don’t really have patience. =P Just roll evenly and fix while I make into logs… Sorry I can’t help much. No tricks. 🙂
Wow! Thanks for the quick reply Nami 🙂
I just took the cookies to my Japanese class and they all loved it, so maybe it was just me being overly critical of my own baking. I think you may be right about the green tea powder too; I couldn’t find Maeda-en so I used Uji No Tsuyu brand instead. The powder was quite green, but not as bright green as yours.
We try to make something Japanese to share each week so I’m going to make your Matcha ice cream next. Yay! And I’m also going to try making matcha panacotta with saffron maybe. I think the taste would be quite interesting.
Domo Arigato!
Doitashimashite! 🙂 Matcha Pannacotta sounds wonderful!
Ouuu! I’m totally gonna try this! Think I can replace the powdered sugar with honey? Honey and matche just go so well together..
Hi Julie! I’m not sure if honey would work since I’ve never tried it. Honey is more dense compared to powder sugar so it’s hard to compare for me as I don’t have much baking experience. Let me know if you tried. 🙂
Hi Nami- I tried making these cookies and instead of using powder sugar I used granulated sugar instead. Do you think it would make a difference in taste ie, sweetness?
I have never tried using regular sugar for this recipe so I am not sure how it can be different.
However I did a little bit of research and it looks like powder sugar (confectioner’s sugar) is common ingredient especially for Sable.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Do you think I could substitute almond flour for flour in this recipe instead?
Hi Deborah! You can, but it’ll be a slightly different texture. 🙂
Do you think you could use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose?
Hi Lori! I assume it will work, but I just have never used it so I can’t guarantee… Hope it will work out! 🙂
I have a question, may i use regular sugar instead of powdered sugar?
I’m wondering if it would make a difference to the cookies?
Hi Lena! I thought of the same question when I saw the original recipe and did a bit of research. Sable is usually made of powder sugar, not regular sugar, which is why we get that texture different from regular cookies. More crunchy texture, and not chewy cookies.
thanks!
Why do you use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Minka! For sable type of cookies, powder sugar is commonly used. 🙂
How to prevent the cookies to become brown?
Hi Jason! Maybe your cookies are either close to heat sauce OR cooking for a little bit too long. Adjust the oven rack and/or baking time. Hope that helps. 🙂
I’m thinking if the white chocolate chips were chopped up a bit it would make them easier to slice
Hi Kathryn! Yeah that’s true. Or simply you can reduce the amount of chocolate too. I personally don’t need to add chocolate….I love the bitter matcha taste alone. 🙂
Does it have to be unsalted butter?
Hi Emmy! Yes you should use unsalted butter otherwise the cookies would become salty. 🙂
Hi! Took ’em out of the oven a little while ago, they turned out great! I was worried they’d come out of the oven brown, but they stayed nice and green.
Since it’s the holiday season, I wanted to go for a christmassy touch, and added 1/3 cup of candied cranberries in addition to the white chocolate. They look nice and taste great!
Hi Mollie! Thank you so much for writing your feedback here. I’m happy to hear that your cookies came out well, and what a wonderful idea to add cranberries! Merry Christmas! 🙂
What should be the texture of the cookies after they’re baked? Also, do i have to refrigerate the dough? Can I just bake it right after forming the dough.
Hi Shirley! These are like the texture of shortbread cookies. Crunchy, crispy… hmm how do I say… typical icebox cookies. Yes, you need to refrigerate before cutting (otherwise it’s hard to slice nicely without losing the round shape). If you want to cut out the cookies, I suppose you can do so after you roll out. Not sure how different the texture will be. Sorry I’m still learning how to bake, so I may not be the right person to respond to your questions. 🙁 Hope that helps…
I followed the recipe, everything went well till the cutting of the cookie dough. It fell apart, I could not get a clean cut. Is there something I might of done wrong?
Hi Alyssa! Sorry it didn’t came out well. Well, it’s a little hard to know what went wrong as I wasn’t there. A few things to check.
First, please use a kitchen scale for this recipe (as I mentioned), especially the amount of flour… it’s hard to control the texture when it’s not properly measured. Also, please use the right size of eggs. Other ingredients should not affect too much, I think… I’m trying to make sure your dough was right texture…
Do you think the chocolate chips were too much in the dough? I made this mistake in the very beginning. I put a little too much, and the dough and chocolate chips just got separated when I tried to slice the log.
In step 8, you see how I slice. Do you think your knife was sharp enough to slice smoothly (before falling apart).
I’m not sure if any of above will help, but that’s what I can think of right now…
I also had this problem, I couldn’t figure out why even though I used the metric system for measurements. It turned out that the chocolate chips I used were extremely hard and when I tried to cut the slices, it would not make a clean cut and “fell apart” around the area of the chocolate chips so the chocolate chips were ironically chipping off the dough. I would recommend using a softer chocolate chip brand or reduce the amount to 1/4 cup (I used 1/2 cup and would estimate 80% of the slices were not clean cuts)
Hi Andrew! Thank you for your feedback! I updated the recipe with 1/4 -1/3 cup of white chocolate chips as that causes the reason for crumbling dough. Hope this will work out for everyone! Thank you again! 🙂
Hi Nami,
How long does the matcha powder last? Can you use expired matcha to make dessert. I found it on amazon dot com for $10. Would love to try this greentea cookies. Thank you.
Hi ZZ! I checked a tea company online and it says 3-6 months in airtight bag (unopened), and should be kept in refrigerator, freezer, or cool place. Once it opens, it should be consumed in less than 2 weeks (that’s recommended because the best quality goes down after that).
When did it expire? I would open and taste and if the color is still good (not dull green), I may use it…. just the quality is not perfect… maybe use for a practice run for some recipe? Or make one cup of matcha latte to decide? 🙂
Thanks Nami for the information.
One more question: How do you store your matcha powder (the one you used in your greentea & white chocolate cookies recipe). I dont use it regularly so want to make sure it would last a lot longer and not having to get another new can.
Freezer, refrigerator, or cool place. 🙂
this recipe works so well! Though the dough kept crumbling, putting in the fridge works 😀
thank you!!
Hi E! Thank you so much for trying this recipe, and thank you for confirming that refrigeration is necessary (some readers asked before if they can skip this process). I appreciate your feedback! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Refrigeration is definitely necessary if possible overnight as what you’ve mentioned as the dough tend to fall apart if it gets soft. Just passed some to my friends today and they loved it!
Thank you!
So happy to hear that! Thank you E! 🙂
Made these today for colleaugues, these cookies are so delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe! ^^
Hi Lea! I’m so glad you happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies! 😀 Thank you so much for letting me know! <3
After the dorayaki I wanted to try this, these cookies are so delicious!
I bought the matcha tea specifically to make this recipe, was the first time that I tasted this green tea and I love the flavor.
Thanks for the recipe! =)
http://14th-division.deviantart.com/art/Green-Tea-and-White-Chocolate-Cookies-452804425
Hi Shiva! So glad to hear you enjoyed these cookies! Thank you so much for trying, and sharing the link with me. I just shared it on my Facebook fan page. 🙂
Hi, May I know if these cookies are crispy or chewy?
They look wonderful !
Thank you Xuan! More crispy like sables. I hope this helps. 🙂
Hi thanks for the recipe! Your cookies look great unlike mine which are incredibly dry. I think it might be due to the size of my egg yolks? Do you mind specifying the weight of the egg yolks you used? Thanks!
Hi W! According to Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_egg_sizes), American size large egg is greater than 57 gram. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Nami! The cookies look awesome!!! Going to try bake some tomorrow! But I just got a question, is it necessary to chill the batter in the fridge for serveral hours before baking? I’m sorry if I’m asking a silly question as I’m still new to baking. Thanks!
Ops! I think I found the answer while reading the previous feedback.
Hi Jasmine! No problem. I hope you enjoy(ed) the cookies. 🙂
Since there is more than one Emily from the feedback here so i add my daughter’s name Athena following my name. (I am the one asked for Osaka shopping tips 😉 My daughter failed many times making cookies. The cookies usually came out in rough texture，chewy and dry. She followed recipe step by step and had chilled the dough too. She is guessing something had went wrong when combining butter，sugar and flour. We usually use Japanese flour and soft brown sugar三温糖. Combine ingredients with a spatula. Do you have any advice for us，Nami?
Hi Emily! Thank you for asking the questions. It’s very hard to answer why it went wrong as I wasn’t in the kitchen, and anything can be a reason why it went wrong. I need to see each step to pin point what could be the cause, but it’s obvious I can’t do that… 🙁 But since you mentioned she used 三温糖, try using regular granulated sugar for this recipe. It’s “butter cookie” texture and it works great with regular white sugar. Hope this helps!
I tried granulated sugar. It works great! Thanks Nami.
Great! Thanks so much for letting me know! 🙂
Hi,
I tried this and turned out really great. I had a tough time to save it for my friends!
What would be your suggested baking time if I want to make a tiny bite size version which is 1 inch is diameter and 1/4 thick?
First time I baked this in regular size, I followed the time, and the bottom turned out to be brown, luckily it didn’t affect the taste!
LOVE your recipes! I appreciate your work!
🙂
Hi Apa! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies. 🙂 The bottom tends to turn brown when you use dark baking sheet. Baking time should be adjusted based on your oven and baking sheet, and of course your preference for cookie texture. For small bites, I am not sure exact time, as I have never tried with small bites, but for the first batch, stay around in the kitchen and when the edge of cookies start to turn brown, take out the baking sheet. And as soon as it cools down a bit, transfer to a wire rack so it won’t burn the bottom. Hope it’ll work out! Thank you so much for your kind words! xo
Sensei!!!! Please advice, i make your cookie dough but no time to bake, how long can I keep in the fridge or should i freeze it? Becos it contains egg i am not sure if i can keep in fridge for days. Help!
Hi Ivy! Sorry for my late response. I just read your comment here but we discussed over Facebook. I only leave the dough overnight but should be safe in fridge for 2-3 days or freezer for longer time. 🙂
Can i use almond flour for this recipe?
Hi Micah! Good question…. I’ve never tried making these cookies (Sables in general) with almond flour, so I’m not sure. If you go ahead and try, please let us know how it went. I’m curious to know. Thank you! 🙂
matcha is the best!! ur cookies look so tempting, nami can i subtitute white choco chip with sliced almond? since my dad having diabetics 8 years ago we put small amount of sugar in food and drink
a little bit out of topic, regular mirin you used to cook, takara hon mirin and honteri mirin mizkan are there difference among them? i would like to buy mirin but there are some types of mirin in grocery store. hope you can give enlightment to me 😀
thanks before nami!!
Hi Riska! Sure, you can substitute the white chocolate chip with sliced almond. 🙂 I hope your dad can still enjoy this green tea cookies!
Regarding your question about mirin, have you read this Pantry page about Mirin?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/mirin/
I mentioned the difference in these two products. I recommend using “hon mirin”. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Hi! i tried making this cookie, but as i was cutting it (after leavig it it the refrigerator for about 3 hours), the dough crumbled and so didn’t make a nice full circle. Is it because my knife wasn’t sharp enough? i think it was the white choc chips that were hard to cut thought so the dough just came apart
Hi Ruth! I think I mentioned in the recipe or post about the amount of white chocolate chips – they do make it tricky to cut (by the way a sharp knife always makes cutting very easy and makes a huge difference). A lot of readers made these cookies with the exact recipe (same amount of chocolate chips) and they said cookies were fine. I feel it’s a bit hard too just like you said. Please adjust the amount of chips next time if you had trouble. The original recipe requires same amount of chips too. Also keeping the dough overnight in the refrigerator might help too. 🙂
This is a wonderful recipe. I don’t usually bake, but this was a very easy to follow recipe. Green tea flavor comes through very well. I couldn’t find white chocolate chips at any grocery stores, so substituted with Ghirardelli’s white chocolate baking bar (used only 1/2 bar) chopped to chip size.
This is more like shortbread than cookie, but I LOVE shortbread, so absolutely no complaint. I will be making 2 more batches and giving away for Christmas (with read bows).
Hi Hisayo! Yes I’d say this is sable style cookies than American style cookies. So glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I don’t know if you remember but you featured my blog post on your site over a year ago after I made your cookies? I just wanted to tell you I’m still baking, and loving, them. Thank you for sharing the delicious recipe! Although I have now ran out of matcha and am using the less-green tea powder I bought in Korea. I wish I stocked up on more when I was in Japan.
I hope you’re well and congratulations on how well your site is doing.
Best wishes,
Laura
Hi Laura! Yes I remember! 🙂 I’m so glad to hear you enjoy this recipe and thanks so much for your kind feedback! Is it hard to find matcha there? Maybe online shop? These days there are many online matcha shops, and I hope you can find a good source. Thank you for your kind words! My blog is fortunate to have good readers like you. 🙂
hi nami,
i’m just wondering how long can the cookies keep?
Hi Sue! Probably about 2-3 days for the best taste/texture. 🙂
Hi, thanks for the recipe! I followed your recipe to the dot but find that the mixture is really dry and crumbly, and I can’t roll it properly into logs. Is that normal or am I missing something?
Hi Stephanie! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Once in a while I receive feedback from readers about the dough which is a bit crumbly just like you described. However, most of feedback (and final pictures I receive and share on FB fan page) are pretty successful. First, I highly recommend to measure by gram. Second, the size of eggs might matter in the texture of the dough. Not to mention the temperature of the room you make etc. I personally don’t have any problem as long as I don’t put too many white chocolate chips. I had problem with slicing the dough when I put too much chips. Hope this helps…
Thanks for your quick reply Nami! It might be because it’s a cold and dry day here 🙁 Any tips on what I can use to soften/moist the dough when this happens? I love the idea of your green tea white choc cookies and am not ready to give up this recipe yet..!
Only way is to add liquid in the dough but we don’t include milk or vanilla extract etc, we can increase either egg yolk or butter. I hate to add random amount of egg yolk (not a whole egg yolk that’s too much), and increasing butter isn’t too appealing so… Maybe reduce the amount of flour tiny bit? Remember, over mixing the dough also cause the dry crumbly texture so when it’s combined don’t mix too much. Hope this helps. They are really yummy cookies and this is one of readers’ favorite recipes.
Hey Nami! I’m a newbie to baking here. Do you mind answering my question? Do you really need the white chocolate chips or is it optional?
Hi Gizelle! You can definitely omit it, but matcha has a bit bitter flavor so white chocolate balances out. 🙂
I made this today, and my whole family loved them! They ate them ALL today (in ONE day)! It’s a great recipe. I understand that these are meant to be crispy cookies, but is there any way to be able to make them a bit softer? I do like them crispy/crunchy but sometimes, I like making things a bit softer. Thanks!
Hi Megumi! Happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kidn feedback! These are sable cookies, so they are meant to be harder than those soft cookies. I’m not an expert in baking, but I think this recipe won’t work to achieve softer cookies… 🙂
That’s ok! I think these cookies are delicious anyway! Thanks, Nami-san!
Thank you Megumi! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Just wondering if i can substitute matcha powder with cocoa powder? And would it be same amount?
Because i have to make a bery big batch (100+ cookies) so i won’t have enough matcha powder 🙁
Thanks alot!
Cecile
Hi Cecile! Sure you can do that. I think the same amount should work in this recipe (I haven’t tried, but my best judgement….). Wishing you good luck with making 100 + cookies!!!!
Delicious recipe!! Made these for my friends last night and were a hit!! One friend was scared by the concept of the green tea being the core ingredient but with encouragement tried it and ended up taking home a “doggy bag” (as we like to call it in Australia) of biscuits at the end of the evening. Perhaps this is just in Australia but the green tea powder is very expensive here. Is this usually the case?
Thanks again for a tasty treat!! Now for the next recipe…
Hi Tamera! I’m so happy to hear your friends liked this recipe! Haha, I know new food can be very intimidating, especially when it’s green and you hear “bitter”. LOL.
Yes, green tea powder IS expensive even in Japan. Maybe just slightly cheaper but there are more high end green tea powder in Japan that price is pretty much the same. I spend $8 for 1 oz.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/green-tea-powder-matcha/
It’s cheaper than buying green tea baked goods or drinks though. It takes a long time to make green tea powder and labor intensive… so that’s why.
DO NOT buy cheap matcha. It’ll not taste good and awfully bitter and the color is not bright green (it’ll be yellow green). I had green tea latte at a cafe and it was so horrible… I’d dislike green tea if I tried that for the first time. 🙁
Hi Nami,
Just wondering whether this cookies can be rolled and cut into shape using cookie cutter instead? I want to make this for christmas and would like them in shape.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Ica! Sure! 🙂 Sounds like you’re making Christmas tree or wreath? 🙂 Hope you enjoy these cookies!
Hi!! I’m really interested in baking this! But can I use self-raising flour instead of all purpose flour? If so, what’s the exact measurement to that then? The same? THANKS((:
Hi Jazreel! I’m sorry but you can’t use it. Why?
Self-rising flour includes a leavening agent (such as baking soda) to rise. So if the recipe does not include baking soda along with flour, you are basically adding “unnecessary” leavening agent (baking soda) in the recipe.
I hope this makes sense. 🙂
Hello Nami! I made these cookies today, and they turned out absolutely beautiful and delicious.
I did have some trouble with the dough being very crumbly, and it’s possible I overmixed it. I measured all the ingredients out in grams, and I used 1/3 c mini white chocolate chips. I also used the exact matcha you recommended. When I cut the dough into rounds, I found that it held together if I cut it a little larger than 1/4″.
I am planning on making the cookies again this week, and I will experiment with mixing the dough less and adding less flour. I’d love to hear your thoughts on any other changes I might make.
Hi Miche! Thank you for trying these cookies! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed them.
I apologize for my late response. I just found your comment in my (accumulated) inbox… so sorry!
I feel reducing the chocolate chips will prevent from breaking into pieces, as the dough will be held together better without chocolate chips… I hope your next batch went well. Again I’m sorry for my late response.
Hi Nami,
Thank you very much! This is a wonderful recipe! the cookies tasted great and they were gone within a day =)
Hi Juliet! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Made these today and they are delicious! Thanks so much for posting the wonderful recipe!
Hi Pam! So happy to hear that you liked this recipe! Thanks for trying and for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I just tried making these today, but the dough was too crumbly for me to shape it into logs without breaking. Should I add more butter or is oil a better option?
HI Jjtaime! Thank you for trying this recipe! Some of my readers (above) commented that the dough was crumbly. I usually use metric (gram) to make so it’s exact recipe as this recipe, but once in a while when the weather is dry or humid, the outcome changes. Unlike soft chewy cookies, these are more like sable cookies so the dough is very different. You could add more butter/oil if you like, or reduce flour a little bit to begin.
I think I actually mixed both metric and cups, hence it turned out so crumbly. It taste great, so I will make it again and not be lazy. Thank you!
Hi Jjtaime! I’ll try to make video for this recipe and will try to make some variations to see what works best. 🙂
Hello Namiko! First of all thanks very much for this Recipe!
I tried this recipe yesterday and the cookies turned out reaaaaally deliciouuuus…BUT..BUT..they were super crumbely 🙁
After they rested in the fridge, I tried to cut them into slices, but they just fell apart, so in the end I didn´t have nice and round circles like you did, I had some broken pieces of cookie, but they were still really yummy 🙂
so what did I do wrong? do I have to add more butter??
regards!
Hi Nadeshiko! Thank you for trying this recipe! This type of cookies is sable and hard cookies. And I understand about the crumbliness as some of my readers mentioned and I also experienced following this original recipe. You can reduce the amount of chocolate (which helped me) or increase the amount of butter a little bit. Depends on the moisture in the air, the dough gets drier or more moist, so we might have different outcome. Hope you give it a try again. I plan to make this again and hope to make this recipe a bit better…
Hi Nami!
First, thank you for all these recipes.
I’ve just tried making the dough and it was extremely crumbly as well– I ended up adding two yolks as I feel mine were too small? The dough is sitting in the fridge for now, I’ll try actually cooking it tomorrow and see what happens o.o/
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for reading my blog and trying out my recipes!
Hope the cookies turned out well. I’ll be working on this recipe once again and try to film the video. Most of my readers who tried this recipe and showed me their result seem like they did okay, but I also hear some feedback on crumble dough. So I hope to improve the recipe. 🙂
What can I do to make the cookies less dry? During the mixing process and the result after being baked in the oven?
Hi Jo! I recently (maybe 1-2 week ago?) edited the recipe and it should be less crumbly. However, please note one thing. These cookies are not soft and chewy cookies. They are butter cookies/sable/shortbread, so maybe that’s why you think it’s “dry” after baked?
Hi! Can i substitute all purpose flour with top flour which are finer?
Hi jthq! What’s top flour? Is it cake flour? I think you can, but the texture will be slightly different. 🙂
I’ve tried your banana cake, deep fried katsu and they are all great!
I’m gonna try this cookies and the green tea chiffon for a matcha loving friend. Wish me luck!
Hi Lee! I’m so happy to hear you liked my recipes! Hope your matcha recipes will come out well! 🙂
Everything worked out flawless in my case! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Miki! AWESOME! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! I’m so happy you liked this recipe! 😉
i loved it. i made it for a bake sale at my school.
Hi Kristen! I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi nami! Do these cookies freeze well?
I plan to make 300 for a event im hosting 🙂
Hi Adrienne! Wow 300!!!! I’ve never made that many, and never freeze the baked cookies… (I’ve frozen the dough before, which works). I recommend testing once before the event?
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi Sandra! You can make about 24-28 (It’s written in the recipe top area. 🙂 )
Hi Nami,
I was wondering if you have any recipes for a meal in a jar? Like a soup where all you need do is pour in boiling water and Voila, instant dinner!
My nephew, since he has returned from Japan, is in “everything japanese” mode and he lives alone and works late so he really doesn’t have time to make a healthy dinner when he gets home.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks, Melissa
Hi Melissa! I don’t have a meal in a jar. I’ve seen them, but it’s not a common meal in Japanese cooking. I highly recommend freezing the foods. Lots of meals can be made ahead of time and freeze them, so all he needs is to defrost and reheat. This list may not be a complete list, but it’s a good start: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tags/freezer-friendly/
Hi Nami: these matcha cookies are so delicious! They are so addictive. My mother said the flavouring reminded her of some Chinese green ingredient (laver, moss? don’t know the English equivalent) that is often used to make green laver-covered crackers or to cook with peanuts as a side dish.
Now my problem is that they cookies got brown on the edge and the bottom was pretty brown as well. How can I tell that they are ready? Yours had just a tiny bit of light brown on the edge. I even shortened the baking time for the 2nd pan of cookies. Still brown & ugly. I think my logs weren’t as thick as yours and that could have contributed to the “burning” look on the thinner cookies. I ended up with 3 smaller logs because I couldn’t roll them properly.
The other issue is when I cut the logs after taken them out of the fridge from chilling overnight. Each piece is not as flat as yours. When I cut the log, the knife tends to lean to the right instead of straight down. Should I have brought the logs to room temperature before cutting? If yes, how long? Two minutes?
Thanks in advance for your baking help.
Hi Christina! I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies! Hmm I’m not sure which Chinese green ingredient your mom is talking about, is it a type of seaweed? Other green ingredient that I know of is pandan leaves which is commonly used in Malaysian cuisine.
It can be your oven too. Each oven is slightly different and my new oven heats faster on the left side (and annoys me like crazy as I can’t open the oven door and rotate for some recipes). Maybe the temperature can be too high? If you think the cookies get darker too fast, reduce the temp. Also darker pan gives darker cookies on the bottom of the cookies. Is your baking sheet dark?
You can leave it out for a few minutes if it’s too stiff, but with a sharp knife, it should slice cleanly. Sometimes when the chocolate chips are in “wrong” area, the cookie piece gets crack from that white chocolate chip area. But I usually fix it with my fingers. It should be chilled dough before going to the oven. Not room temp dough. Otherwise, the cookies get flat. Hope my tips are helpful…
No worries. It’s not pandan leaves. It’s an ingredients often used in Shanghai. If I ever get the English name I’ll for sure to let you know & hopefully with photos.
Guilty. One of my baking sheets was dark but the other one not. Still the cookies got golden burnt edge & bottoms. I’ll have to remember to reduce the baking time in the future.
I see. I think the white chocolate chips might be the culprit.
Thank you again Nami for taking the time to answer my questions.
Happy New Year in advance to you and your family! Health & happiness for 2017!
Thank you Christina! Happy holidays to you and your family! xo
Hi Nami:
Thank you for a yummy recipe. I made them over the weekend and have eaten half of them already. I just can’t eat them before bedtime as I understand matcha has caffeine and I was up all night last night!
Hi SeaDee! Haha, I can relate. They are so delicious we finish them very quickly… Matcha shouldn’t be too strong in this recipe, but each one should react to caffeine differently.
Gah, I did everything and midway baking they are all burnt Gah!!!!!!!!!!!????????????
I’m sorry yours didn’t come out well. 🙁 If you could tell me a little more, maybe I can help what went wrong? As I wasn’t there, it’s hard to pin point… as I am not familiar with your ingredients, oven (everyone has different hot spot, and oven temperature may not be exact temperature despite the oven says so), etc. This recipe is very popular and made by many people so far. I’ll be happy to help finding out the problem source.
Those biscuits are a beauty: soft and crunchy at the same time, light and fluffy, not too sweet, and the matcha is but a subtle aftertaste! I’ll be using this recipe for sugar cookies from now on, the texture is unbelievable!
Hi Fumettosa! Thank you for trying this recipe! So glad you liked this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This was tasty. Second time around I followed the instructions and left dough in fridge. Better shape when cut, true, but more importantly the 15m bake time is for cold dough. If you’re going to skip the fridge then bake for less time with room temperature dough.
Brush the tops with egg yolk and dust with table sugar halfway thru.
Hi Allab! Yeah butter cookies usually require chilling time to hold the shape. Otherwise the cookies will be droopy (or flat, without sharp edge). Glad you enjoyed these cookies. Thank you for your tip! xoxo
Hi! This is a great recipe. Thanks!
I tried making it and it tasted delicious. So good! However, my cookies turned out to be quite hard. Any suggestions on why this happened? Wondering if I’m missing a step.
Thank you!! Love your recipes
Hi Novi! Thank you for trying this recipe! Really hard? This is butter cookies or shortbread, so it should have that cookie dough consistency. If it’s too soft, when you cut and bake, the cookies become too droopy. It should have the edge even after baked. 🙂
My sister made these cookies. They were excellent! Quite easy, no complex procedures. Delicious, the sweetness was just right (not too sweet). She says she will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe Nami!
Hi Vicky! I’m so happy to hear your sister tried this recipe and you enjoyed these cookies! Thank you so much for writing your kind feedback, Vicky!
Wonderful cookies! I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of leaving out the white chocolate chips (because I didn’t have any) and instead adding in a tsp of vanilla extract, then sprinkling them with sanding sugar after slicing/before baking. I can’t wait to try them with the white chocolate chips – I think that sounds fabulous – but I did love the additional crunch the sanding sugar provided. I refrigerated them overnight and they held up beautifully, the buttery, not-too-sweet hint-of-bitter-macha flavor was very grownup and sophisticated (and additctive!); the color absolutely gorgeous. I would add to ensure the pinch of salt you add is healthy (esp if using unsalted butter, which I always bake with) as it sets off the sweet and hint-of-bitter flavors. I will make these again and again!
Hi Liz! Thank you for your kind feedback! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies. I’ve also made with sparkling sugar and turbinado sugar around the cookies too, and it’s lovely (I like the look too!). Thank you so much again for your kind words. I’m really happy that you enjoyed these cookies. 🙂 xo
Made these two days ago and already they’re gone! Delicious and as pictured. Thanks for a fantastic recipe ????????
Hi Rachael! I’m so glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
thank you for sharing such easy to follow recipe’s . I’d surely try this with my grand kids when visiting back to Japan .
Hi Marly! I’m glad to hear you enjoy my recipes. I hope you will enjoy making these cookies with our grandchildren! 🙂
Yes, I made it and I really doubt I am the only one made it. It’s such a crap. The dough is totally wrong texture, it basically falling apart. I am so frustrated with the dough and I didn’t lost my appetite to try the taste because I really don’t want another big disappointment.
Hi Cecilia! Thanks for trying this recipe and I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. This recipe is probably one of the frequently made recipes on my site and you can see the pictures of my readers’ beautiful green tea cookies on different social media (#justonecookbook) and also comments posted before yours. I’m happy to help to see what went wrong if you could give me a bit more information about your experience. Again, sorry yours didn’t come out well.
may i know can i omit the egg yolk since my family got allergies to egg?
I am so sorry but this recipe requires egg and you can’t omit it… 🙁
Hi, would like to ask if semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips can be used instead, cause I’m not really a fan of milk/white chocolate. Thanks!
Hi Cherie! They are very chocolately and if you use high grade matcha, you may not want to ruin the distinctive matcha flavor with chocolate flavor… which is why it’s subtle white chocolate.
If you don’t like the white/milk chocolate, you can roll the dough (when it’s logged and before cutting) in sugar too. It adds good amount of sweetness (like white chocolate) without disturbing matcha taste. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I didn’t make them cute like yours though, I actually made witch fingers for Halloween and these taste great, are easy to make and give it just the look I was going for! I will definitely make them again to go with my white peach tea! <3
Hi Allison! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! So glad this recipe worked out for you. 🙂
Hey there! I followed the recipe’s instructions exactly (using cup/tsp/tbsp), but my dough turned out super crumbly and I was unable to use it all together! Is it possible the conversion from g to cups is off?
Hi Gabby! You might have done this but I have to ask… to measure 1 cup of flour, did you do this step? 1) Fluff up the flour several times with a spoon. 2) Using the spoon, sprinkle the flour into your dry-cup measure (the one that measures exactly a cup at the top). 3) Scrape off the excess with a knife. If you scoop up flour with a measuring cup, your 1 cup can be 150 grams. A properly measured cup of all purpose flour weighs 4.25 oz (120 g). I’ve made this recipe with measuring cups as well, just to make sure it works, but please remember, it can’t be precise…
Hey Nami, thanks so much for the quick reply — I appreciate it!
I ended up remaking them with the technique you described (and made sure to weigh them properly just to double-check) and yes, they came out perfectly!
Thank you so much for taking the time to clarify. These cookies are delicious and I’m so glad I made them a second time. Happy holidays!
Hi Gabby! Awww! I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you so much! I test my recipes several times or more and measure each ingredient correctly (I take it seriously), so my recipes “should” work, except for occasional typos… 🙂 Happy Holidays!!!!
I recently made these for the holidays, and they were a resounding hit among family and friends.
Hi Frances! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. So happy your friends and family enjoyed these cookies! 🙂 xo
This recipe is GOLD. We have been using this recipe to make cookies for a fundraiser and it is a hit every. single. time. Perfectly bitter and sweet. Sometimes we had a sprinkle of sea salt on top of each cookie before baking it to elevate the taste. Thank you!
Hi Louids! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy you’re enjoying this recipe. 🙂 Yeah, sprinkle of sea salt… delicious, enhance the matcha flavor more. Thank you for writing!
I am very interested in making these! I feel like they would be super fun for St. Patrick’s Day since they are vibrant green! Do you think a hand mixer can really handle the dough well? I don’t want to burn out the motor on my hand mixer with a super thick dough… >.>
Hi Samantha! I am so sorry for my late response (Today’s St. Patty’s Day…). I think hand mixer can be a bit too fragile from Step 8 (adding flour). Change to a silicone spatula and mix. 🙂
How long can you keep dough in fridge? 5 days?
Hi Amber! I read online before that homemade cookie dough can be kept in the fridge for 3-5 days and 6-12 months in freezer. But I’ve never kept the dough for a long time so I can’t personally tell my experience… I think for the best result, bake it soon while the eggs are fresh. 🙂
I’ve literally never left a comment on an online recipe but this was really amazing, thank you! I especially liked that the ingredients were in grams and everything was so specific. I made this as a gift for a friend and they turned out delicious!
Hi Clara! Aww thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for taking your time to write this comment. 🙂
Hi, my cookie turns out so soft and crumbly. Is this how you intended the recipe to be? It’s also a bit too sweet for me, next time I’ll give less sugar. Thanks for the recipe
Hi Siska! Thank you for trying this recipe! These cookies are sable/butter cookies/shortbread cookies, so they are hard and crisp kind, not soft and chewy cookies. So it’s kind of crumbly before you put into a log shape.
And I always ask this question first to anyone who mentioned about crumbly… Did you measure the flour with a scale or cup? Because the weight of flour is very different if you use a cup and measure incorrectly… and I have a video for this.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-measure-flour/
If you measure the flour (and all the ingredients) with a scale, please ignore the comment above.
I think you can work with less sugar, but I follow the original recipe from this Japanese cookbook (mentioned in Notes). I would reduce the amount of white chocolate chip so you won’t alter the cookie dough recipe. 🙂
Hope that helps!
Hi Nami,
Thanks for the recipe. I chilled the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours but when I cut, the dough was broken into small pieces :(. Any advice?
Hi Bamboo Ng! First of all, did you use the scale? If you use a cup measurement, flour tends to be more than actual amount (See the video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HMZ5Dt-Qag). However, this cookie is more like sable type cookies and it’s not soft chewy cookies. So the dough is a harder kind. If you leave the dough out for a little bit longer, it might be slightly easier to slice. BUT when we bake the cookies, we want them to be still chilled so the shape will remain, instead of droopy cookies.
These are sooo good!!! Thank you for the recipe!
I made them the second time today – delicious!
I also made chocolate cookies with this recipe. I swapped the matcha with cocoa powder and put semi sweet chocolate morsels instead of white chocolate (although next time I’ll use white for both I think). They came out just as good!
Great and easy recipe to experiment with different flavors 🙂
Hi Miya! I’m so happy to hear your feedback and thank you for taking your time to write here (as I’m sure other readers would love to try with different flavors too!). Thank you for trying my recipe, Miya!
Hello there! I love matcha so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. I just had a quick question, is the dough suppose to be dry? I thought I followed the recipe well enough, but when everything was mixed together it was almost too crumbly to make into a log. They turned out awesome either way, but in your pictures your dough looks so smooth…would me using an electric hand mixer make any difference?
Love your website and recipes by the way! Thank you!
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’d say this dough is not soft dough like American cookies, but it’s butter cookies or Sable cookies… hard cookies. So when you make into a log, it is hard and crumbly. If you use volume measuring (instead of using a scale), you may end up with more flour too.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-measure-flour/
Hi There,
I tried this recipe with wheat flour with Japanese Green matcha Hamasaen. For the matcha I used 2,5 small teaspoons. Unsalted cream butter, and 2 small eggs. When preparing the dough I got a little fright as with the handmixer everything came out in small little pieces and it looked quite dry.. But after I started to hand kneed the dough the texture felt perfect.. I’d Say around 12/14minutes in the oven and 2 hours in the refrigerator.. I used a sushi mat to roll the cookies round ^^.. The cookies came out perfect! Soft, crumbly little with a bit of bitterness and a lovely sweet touch. I made a picture of the cookies incl. with a small ribbon over a stash of cookies. It was not that easy to get them in shape, but for me they look fine. My family loved it and even put whip cream ontop of the cookies!
Thanks so much for the baking fun!
Hi Yessica! Thank you SO much for your kind feedback, and I enjoyed reading your cookie making journey. 🙂 So glad yours came out well. Thank you so much for taking your time to write here. xo
EXCELLENT DETAILS! Very good extra info, explanations so helpful and of course ur pics. Can’t wait to make these!
Thank you Suzanne! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Which matcha did you use for the recipe?
Greetings from Germany!
Hi Linda! I use oen of these matcha for my baking these days:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-powder-matcha/
Hi there! So excited to make these. Do you think they would work okay with gluten free flour?
Hi Kate! I haven’t tried with GF flour yet so I can’t tell… if you decide to try, let us know. I’m sure other people with GF diet will truly appreciate that. 🙂
To Gingerbreadman: Cookies are crunchy, not soft.
I recommend rolling the edges in sugar. I tried adding 1/2 c white chocolate chips instead of 1/4 and the recipe came out fine. I recommend doing a trial run first, at the temperature recommended and the adjust the temp and time, based on your oven. I ended up going 325 degrees for 12 minutes.
350 at 15 burned the first batch–but that might just be my oven. I ran out of white sugar for the edges so went with red sugar because I’m making these as Christmas cookies and they were EPIC. Delicious!
Hi Jillayne! First of all, thanks so much for answering to previous commenter. 🙂
Thanks so much for your kind feedback on this recipe and I’m so happy to hear you liked them. Wow, you could add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips? AWESOME! I think the crystal sugar coating will look pretty too. Love that you used the red sugar. So festive!
Thanks again for writing!! Happy Holidays!
Nami-san, these cookies were so delicious! I made them for my annual cookie exchange party and it was a hit. Luckily, I had very high quality matcha from Uji that my mother gave me, which helped with the flavors I’m sure. I also made a second batch and substituted matcha/white chocolate with chai tea/vanilla and they turned out great as well.
One question, do you think I could make the dough a head of time and freeze it? Would I have to defrost the dough before baking it? Let me know if you have tried this before!
Hi Yuri! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies. Thank you for your kind feedback! Your chai tea and vanilla cookies sound fantastic! I’d love to have that one day!
I usually make all the cookies at one batch, but you can freeze, defrost in the fridge until you can slice, and bake. 🙂
This is the second time I’m trying this recipe. The first time I tried it, it turned out okay (lovely taste), but when I was making the dough, it cracked a lot and was hard to shape it. The second time, the dough was dry and cracking when I was shaping it too, and I didn’t even add all of the dry ingredients. Is there a reason why this would happen?
Hi Min! It’s a shortbread style crispy cookie, so the dough is rather dry and hard than one for soft and chewy cookies. Having said that, make sure you measure flour correctly. I always recommend using a kitchen scale because the dough is already crumbly type, and if you use a cup to measure flour, you are adding more flour (Please see: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-measure-flour/). From my past experience with readers who have a crumbly issue, usually, it’s the excess flour so I wanted to ask you first. 🙂 Hope this helps!
These were a success today they are so yummy.
Hi Danielle! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I always thought that the whole purpose of the comments under the certain recipe is to share your experience of making that recipe… Not to let everyone to know how much you love the photo and how you looking forward to making that recipe… Out of all the comments I found just one person who actually made those cookies! I was trying to make them today and run into a little trouble and wanted to see if anyone else had a same problem. Wet and dry ingredients just didn’t want to come together, the dough was too crumbly and dry. Certainly not creamy like on your photos. I had to add more butter but even then it was dry. I managed to put couple of logs together, will bake tomorrow. Hope they will come out well. Matcha is expensive.
Hi Olga! This recipe was originally published back in November 2011, and that’s my very first year of food blogging when I started it as a hobby. The blogging community is wonderful and there are many bloggers who love cooking visit each others’ blog to leave a comment. So that’s what you saw. Community love. 🙂 Since then, this blog has become my full-time job and if you see my posts for the past 4 years, there are no bloggers’ comments like this post as I left the community and didn’t have time to visit everyone’s blog. So I apologize that these comments didn’t fit the need for users. Which is why I now created General, Question, and Feedback tabs last November, so my readers can get to older comments and discussion.
Thank you for trying this recipe. This recipe was actually not mine, and originally from the famous Japanese baker’s cookbook (in Japanese, using metric). The dough is crumbly and gets harder when chilled, like shortbread cookie dough. I also use gram measurement to make this recipe and it works for me. I always suggest not using a cup to measure, in case you use a measuring cup. 1 cup can be very different for each person, and sometimes it’s WAY too much flour. I’m not sure if you used a scale or not, but if anyone is reading this, I highly suggest to use a kitchen scale to follow the recipe. 🙂
Olga, I’m sorry yours didn’t turn out well. Just know that there are many readers who made this recipe in the past (it’s been up for a long time) and theirs also came out well (a lot of them share on Facebook and Instagram). So please don’t give up. 🙂
Not sure what you left out on the recipe, rounding dough and cutting half IS IMPOSSIBLE, way too sticky. Perhaps it should be refrigerated first before handling?
Hi Nick! Thank you for trying this recipe! It should be refrigerated and mentioned at Step 11: Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator until firm, at least 2 hours (or overnight).
This is a great recipe, my friend tried it and let me have one– it tasted SO GOOD. When I tried it the only annoying part is the butter (but that’s my opinion for pretty much anything with butter) so it’s pretty simple, smooth sailing~
(It’s also nice when you toast it again in the future, makes it all hard and crispy)
Hi Lisa! Thank you for trying this recipe! You mean to cream the butter? Yeah, I agree… Make sure to bring it to room temperature before you start. 🙂
I tried and these were really good. Can we substitute matcha with earl grey or lavender or other tea?
Thanks
Hi Fiona! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, you can do that. 🙂
Hello! I love the idea of matcha shortbread cookies! Thank you so much for this recipe. I have a couple of questions for you. What is the purpose for using powdered sugar vs cane sugar or brown sugar? Can I make these vegan? If I don’t have a mixer, can I achieve the same effect in the cookies? Thank you!
Hi Jackie! 1) These butter cookies (hard cookies) often use powder sugar. Each sugar has a different effect on baked goods. There are a lot of articles about the differences. 2) I’m not familiar with changing to vegan-friendly from recipes using animal products. 3) Yes, you can make this cookie without the mixer. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thank you so much for the easy and tasty cookies recipe! Just have a question about green tea powder. I don’t really taste the green tea in this cookie so I want to add more powder inside. Should I reduce the all purpose flour as well since I add more green tea powder? Looking forward your reply. Thank you
Hi Kristy! Yes, we usually adjust the amount if it’s a significant amount. 1 tsp, I don’t worry too much. but 1 Tbsp, I’d adjust. And as for the green tea powder – use higher quality matcha which has more prominent matcha flavor. Lower grade matcha doesn’t really have good taste either. 🙂
Hi Nami!
Do you know if this recipe will work well with cookie cutters??
Hi Barb! Yes, some readers rolled out and cut out with cookie cutters. Make sure you chill the dough so it keeps the shape in the oven. 🙂
Hi Nami, what are your thoughts in making a vegan version of this recipe eg use flax meal instead of egg, use vegan butter instead of dairy butter. Also is it possible to use a combination of stevia and raw cane sugar in lieu of confectioners sugar?
I appreciate your thoughts and guidance. Thank you in advance!
PS Ever since I discovered your website, I’ve been hooked! I love your recipes; the illustration as well as the tips are very helpful and makes a difference in trying the recipes for the first time. Keep up the excellent work and sending you lots of positive vibes!
Hi CHF! I really wish I am more knowledgeable about the vegan option, but in reality, I’m not and don’t know what’s the best way to substitute as I’m not experienced (I’m sure you know much more). I’m really sorry.
I’m happy to hear my website has been helpful and thank you for your kindest comment. Your comment made me very happy and excited. Thank you for reading my blog and good luck making it into more vegan-friendly recipes. I’ll be sharing more vegetarian/vegan recipes in the future. xo
(My star rating is really 3.5)
The recipe great and simple! I love that fact that the base of the recipe can be used with different flavours (blueberry, lemon ect.) But it dose fall short a bit. For starters I needed to use about 15g more of butter as the recipe was very crumbly, secondly the flavour didnt really come out for me(maybe I didnt add enought salt idk) and thirdly it took my 22 minutes before my cookies even started to change to a light golden colour.
I will try this recipe again and I do hope for a better out come as I do really like matcha
Hi Catherine! Thank you for your detailed feedback. I hope your next batch will come out well. 🙂
You’re blog is amazing!! This recipe is so detailed and the pictures are very helpful!! Most of all I really appreciate you putting both kinds of measurement units, it’s super helpful!
Hi Mei! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my blog. Thank you for your kind words! Besides the first 2-3 years of blogging (out of 8 years), all my recipes should have both measurements (unless I forget). 😀 Have fun cooking!
Hi. Did you bake at 350F with convection oven or convention oven? Thanks.
Hi Annika! I do have a convection oven, but since not everyone has it, my recipes are all written for conventional oven temperature. If you use the convection, please substruct 25 ºF. 🙂 So it should be 325 ºF.
My son and I just made this for 4-H baked sale today. We added 2 ingredients, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup white chocolate chips. No time to refrigerate the dough. Scoop it, rolled with our hands, pat it and baked it. The taste was AHMAZING!!!… This recipe is a keeper.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi Sarimah! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies! Thank you so much for trying and for your kind feedback! 🙂
Why do readers post reviews when they haven’t even tried the recipe? There are several problems with it:
1) Dough came out dry. I had to add more butter to make it stick. I didn’t read the notes on how to measure flour until after. This seemed pretty fussy to me.
2) the matcha flavor is very powerful. However my wife tells me she likes it. I guess it’s a matter of preference
3) the white chocolate chips are an excellent combo w matcha, however the dough deteriorates wherever a chip appears during cutting or dough formation
All in all it’s probably a good recipe if you measure your ingredients on a scale and have a better quality stand mixer (which I don’t). There are easier matcha cookie recipes out there than this. You’re going to be fussing with the shortbread aspect of it.
Hi Drew! This is a pretty old post, and back then when I post this recipe for the first time, my blogger friends visit my post to leave a comment (to support each other). This is my 8th year and I no longer belong to closer blogger community so you won’t see those supportive comments on my posts anymore. It’s something we do in the blogging community. Because of those old comments, I asked my web designer to create different tabs for review, question, and general, so my readers can access to questions and reviews easily instead of those earlier comments.
This recipe is from a popular Japanese pastry chef’s cookbook and we always use a kitchen scale when it comes to baking. As everyone scoop flour differently, it’s hard to control how to scoop flour. 🙂 Thanks so much for your feedback!
The cookies were easy to make and matcha:white chocolate ratio is perfect. They are not crumbly and holds its shape well. I used a leaf cookie press and the indentations hold. This will be my go-to matcha cookie recipe!
Hi Cherry! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad you enjoy this recipe too! 🙂
I baked these today, and they tasted real good! The white chcocolate actually does give the cookies a sweet kick to them. I do have a question though… Are the cookies supposed to be a lot browner on the bottom? (I’m still a beginner baker so if the answer is obvious, please forgive me!) It’s just that I can’t tell by the picture from the recipe…
Hi Kasumi! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and I’m glad you enjoyed it! The bottom of the cookies gets browner than the top because they are on the metal. If you use a darker baking sheet, it gets even browner than using a lighter color baking sheet. You can also control by the location of the sheet in the oven. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I love this cookies, I made this recipe twice far and planning to make again soon.
They are really tasty!!!
I have only one problem, each time when I take out the dough from the refrigerator and start to cut, it had to keep the slice in one pice, it split. I made everything like you said but every time I have this problem.
They are really tasty but they don’t have that perfect round shape.
Can you tell me what do I do wrong?
ありがとうございます
Hi Catalina! I think the only way to deal with this issue is to reduce the amount of chocolate chip. That has helped me. 🙂
Awesome recipe! I made it yesterday, but my dough kind of cracks and falls apart when I try to cut it. Do you think the dough was too dry?
Hi Jess! Thank you for trying this recipe! Mine did when I tried this recipe (source in the recipe)… so I reduce the chips slightly and it’s much better. Also, I suggest using a kitchen scale as you may be adding more flour than needed if you use a cup measurement. 🙂
Hey, thanks so much for replying. I did use a kitchen scale so I was a bit confused lol. But I am also guilty of adding a bit more chocolate chips than the recipe had called for. XD I will reduce them next time!
Hi Jess! Cracks are usually around the chips. So if it’s fewer chips, it won’t crumble much. That’s what I found out… 🙂 Keep me posted! xo
I found this a bit harder to do without a mixer but it worked! I am a novice baker but the cookies came out great! I accidentally put almost double the amount of chocolate chips and it was a delicious mistake. My cookie dough was too sticky so I balled it up in the fridge first and shaped later which worked out. Thanks for the recipe! Saving it for next time! Perfect amount of matcha:)
Hi Yumi! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! So happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies! Thanks for your kind feedback. xo
Nami, thank you for posting this recipe! I’m about to try this for the first time. The matcha powder that I happen to have at home is this one: Green Tea Powder (Fine Matcha) from Tienxi (https://tienxi.myshopify.com/products/japanese-fine-matcha). Is this the right kind?
Also, after mixing with the flour according to your recipe so far, it’s now a very, very pale green. I’m attempting to make green cookies to look like tennis balls (will use royal icing to draw the seams & labels). But it’s important for the cookies to look green. (Admittedly, my matcha is almost 2 years past the “best-before” date–could that be why it’s in very pale green color.) Should I add a little food coloring?
I’m not a baker at all. Thanks for any help.
Hi Carl! I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you in time while you’re baking. $10 for 100 g is really cheap (1/3 of what I pay for culinary grade matcha from the supermarket). It’s very hard to achieve the color without the actual nice color matcha (and it will be very bitter taste when the color is not beautiful). Matcha gets oxidize once it opens, so next time buy 30 g (it’s a typical can size in Japan) and use it all in 3 weeks or so. 🙂
Thanks, Nami. Actually, the pale green darkened more once mixed & baked; so they looked good (as intended to look like tennis balls). And they taste great. Thanks!
Hi Carl! What a relief! Thank you so much for letting me know! I’m glad you enjoyed them too. 🙂
With all due respect, there is no such thing as a “properly measured cup of flour.” If you were to ask 10 people to measure out a cup of flour, you would get 10 different amounts of flour by weight, ranging from your 120 g. to close to 200 g. You are to be complimented for making it clear that 240 g. is the correct amount for this recipe, but no serious baker uses volumetric measurements for ingredients such as flour, sugars, etc., so why even mention “2 cups?” Anyone who doesn’t have a kitchen scale should go out and get one before baking another thing.
Hi Dave! I agree with you, I have been trying to convince my American audience to use a kitchen scale… but it’s not in their custom to use metric system. I always encourage people to buy a kitchen scale (which is $10 on Amazon!). American’s proper way to measure flour is to fluff up flour, scoop with a spoon to a cup, and level off. It’s the closest number you get but each time varies slightly….
I made these cookies following the recipe almost exactly (left butter out on the counter overnight to soften, measured everything by weight) and they turned out fantastic! The only change I made was leaving out the white chocolate chips in the dough and adding a white chocolate drizzle after the cookies cooled instead. Beautiful cookies with great texture and awesome green tea flavor. I didn’t find them bitter but I used good quality matcha, so maybe that’s the difference?
Not sure if it’s just luck or leaving out the white chips and making sure the butter was very soft, but the dough was extremely easy to work with and shape and easy to slice after chilling for a few hours. Thank you, I will be making this again!
That’s okay, they just add some sweetness. 🙂
Is it possible to use brown sugar and not powder sugar?
Hi Connie! I don’t recommend it for this particular cookie recipe. 🙂
Extraordinary! I am so impressed! I am so excited to try all your recipes. My first Japanese recipe is going to be green tea cookies 😊Today I bought from the store Matcha Green Powdered Japanese Tea so fresh and so good🥰 I am thinking how it will be Homemade Maccha Chocolate because in my childhood the homemade chocolate was my favourite 😊
Thank you very much! Congratulations!
Hi Isabel! Ohhh you have to try this Green Tea Chocolate (https://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-chocolate/)! Hope you enjoy the cookies (I recommend using a scale to measure the right amount of flour)! Thank you for your kind words! xo
I made these for work and everyone loved them. I am making them again today for Chinese New Year. I actually left the dough in the refrigerator for a few days last time.
Hi Sharon! So happy to hear that you enjoy this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback! Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family!
I made them a few weeks ago and they’re great! I’m trying again today with a bit more matcha and a tiny bit less sugar. I might make a batch with houjicha powder too. Thank you for all your recipes!
Hi Juliette! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. Hope the hojicha one came out well too! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Can i roll the dough and use molds to get a different kind of shape? thanks
Sure! But I’d recommend putting the dough back in the freezer/fridge right before you bake to make sure it’s firm. You don’t want soft dough going into the oven because the shape won’t stay. The dough should be cold so it has enough time to cook before butter melt away. 🙂
these are sooo good!! do you know how many calories it is around per cookie? thank you !!
Hi Julie! Thank you for your kind words! I’m sorry but I’m not sure. However, I would like to incorporate calorie and nutrition information for the site in the near future… 🙂
Hello Nami! Hope you and your family are doing well. I am interested in trying many of your matcha recipes, but noticed that in your matcha recipes and matcha information post there are different links for Maeda-En Matcha for culinary quality and universal quality. Is there a difference? Can they be used interchangeably? For example, if I were to get culinary quality would I not be able to make green tea to drink? Please let me know. Thank you.
Hi Emmie! Thanks for your kind well wishes. Yes, the quality of these two is different (and the price too). For this recipe, I used the culinary level (see in my ingredient picture?), that’s why I link to it. Overall, I think the universal quality is good for baking and drinking (just a bit more expensive than culinary). 🙂
Made these today without the white chocolate. I rolled them out and used a cookie cutter which worked quite well. also brushed some of them with egg and sprinkled on shredded coconut. So good! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Jen! Thank you for trying this recipe! Ohh I love the idea of shredded coconut. Delicious! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 xo
Hi there! I was so excited to try these. But after I added in the flour mixture it was super crumbly. I tried to chill it but it’s still crumbly and not sticking together. I’m wondering what I did wrong?
Hi Melissa! I wonder if you measure flour with a cup measurement? That’s my first thought (as many people have same issue with not measuring with a scale). This recipe is a lot more crumbly than my other cookie recipes (this recipe wasn’t mine) but I still think it’s workable if you measure correctly. It’s just a tad crumbly… 😀
I do not care for “white chocolate chips”, never have. Can I omit? Is there a suitable substitution?
Hi Lorraine! You can omit it. I’ve seen people made it with macadamia nuts too, and some people skip altogether. 🙂
Would you be able to replace powdered sugar for brown sugar
Hi Josh! For this recipe, I don’t recommend. 🙂
Can we add raw sesame seeds to this?
Hi Jessica! As sprinkle or a small amount to replace the white chocolates? Sure!
Hi Nami
These cookies came out great. definitely will be a regular bake for me. I would like to inquire how to adjust the amount of ingredients (such as matcha powder & sugar) if I want to make a stronger green tea flavor plus also slightly increase the sweetness. I use Uji Matcha culinary grade powder. Also, can i substitute almond slivers for white chocolate. Please advise.
Hi Choo! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m glad your cookies came out well. I recommend a gradual increase in both… I haven’t tried adjusting this recipe so I can’t guarantee how it would work. It should be okay…
Hi! Can I make this without the egg? I’m hoping to make the cookies to someone with egg allergies who loves matcha. What do you think?
Hi Jenny! I’m not very familiar with converting regular recipes to egg-less version. I’m so sorry! 🙁
Great recipe! 🙂
Thank you so much Amy!
I followed the instructions and made 3 dozens of green tea cookies. It’s very easy, and they taste very good! Great recipe! Depending on how crispy you want them to be, you can leave them in the oven a few more minutes longer to make them crispier.
Hi Nicole! Wow 3 dozens!!! Matcha cookie heaven! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback!
This Green Tea Cookie recipe is amazing! The cookies turned out soft and buttery…it just melts in your mouth. The cookies had a great green tea flavor with subtle sweetness from the white chocolate chips.
Hi Geetha! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thanks so much for trying it and for your kind feedback! 🙂 xo
Hello! Love your recipes!
Just a question about baking cookies in general – are oven temperatures indicated set for fan mode or without fan?
Thanks!
Hi Ladyblue! Thank you so much! Without fan. I have both conventional and convection oven settings but I do not use convection (fan) since most people don’t have the option. 🙂
Hi! First of all I love your website. I am obsessed with cooking Japanese food and I feel like I’m learning something new with every new recipe I try so thank you! I just made these cookies and everything turned out perfect except for when I went to bake them. I have an oven thermometer that was reading 350 but after 9min it so the edges were starting to burn and the middle was not set yet 😩 I did cook them a little bit thinner than what you recommended and I also had the fan on in the oven. Not sure if that makes a difference but I always find things get baked a lot quicker. The bottom was also much darker than the top… Maybe it’s my oven? Anyway thanks for everything you do 🙂
Hi James! Thank you so much for your kind feedback on my recipes! 🙂
1) My oven can be both conventional (no fan) and convection (fan) but most ovens don’t come with a fan, so my recipes (most online recipes) are based on using conventional oven unless it states otherwise. So you were baking at 375F. Which explains why it was too fast to bake.
2) Do you use a dark color baking sheet? That’s also one of the reasons that contribute to the darker bottom on the cookies.
Hope this helps! Hope the cookies were still okay. 🙂
Just like green tea shortbread, so incredibly delicious!
Hi Mim! I’m so glad!!! Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Fantastic simple recipe and mine turned out with that perfect combination of soft centers with a bit of crispy edge. Big hit with my son’s foreign language Japanese group.
Hi Robert! Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe and glad to hear it was a big hit with your son’s Japanese group! Yay!! Thanks for your kind feedback. 🙂
This is a great & simple recipe! I tried both rolling the dough into cylinders and just scooping the dough with a small ice cream scoop. Cookies that are rolled and cut came out nicer looking & better tasting that those that were ‘scooped’. I, personally found the matcha flavour to be a little too strong but everyone else that tasted the cookies thought it was just nice, so all is well. 🙂
Hi Nikki! Thanks so much for trying this recipe (two ways!). I’m glad your cookies came out well. Free to adjust matcha based on your preference (and quality) too! Thank you for your kind comment!
I tried these cookies and they were amazing! They were so soft and buttery and they weren’t sweet at all! Definitely 5 out of 5
Hi Leni! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’m really happy to hear you liked these cookies!
Just baked these wonderful green tea cookies without white chocolate (as I don’t have any). Turned out so lovely – crunchy and buttery! Love it! I baked half and freeze the other for another time. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hi Pauline! I’m so glad you liked these cookies! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! xo
I followed the instructions but the dough was super crumbly for me. I was still able to hand roll them into cookie shapes and they turned out really delicious! I noticed that crumbly dough is a common theme among the comments – any other tips besides being more precise with the measurement?
In my case I divided everything into half portion, and had slightly more egg yolk than called for (bc my eggs are smaller), and the dough still crumbles. At least I can still bake the cookies!
Hi Yuzu! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I agree that these icebox cookies are quite crumbly but whenever I make this recipe (following this recipe) it works okay for me. Maybe we have slightly different measurements probably from egg (like you mentioned)…
Hi Nami,
Thanks for this recipe! Would this be workable if I swap it with genmaicha powder? Just happened to have it in my house 😅
Thank you!
Hi Shir! I’m not sure what type of genmaicha powder it is – is this for baking? Similar fine powder like matcha? I don’t feel comfortable to say you can swap as I don’t know this product…. Let’s say, if it’s really similar to matcha and 100% genmaicha powder (no sugar added etc), then I think it’s possible. Tastewise, I’m not too sure though since Genmaicha is milder taste than matcha. 🙂
Loved it! They have this lovely combination of crunchy and soft texture. They are sweet at the beginning and then a little bit bitter from the matcha which I think is great. I added chopped almonds as well and it’s great! Very easy to make and look FANCY so it’s perfect for guests😂
Hi Yael! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! So happy to hear you enjoyed them. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I just made these alongside a batch of your black sesame ice cream (to celebrate the newest addition to my kitchen: an ice cream maker). And these are delicious!! I ate three straight out of the oven.
I didn’t use white chocolate chips because it was a spontaneous decision and I hadn’t any in my pantry. So I just dipped them into granulated sugar. They taste a little bit like the sort butter biscuit you get where I’m from but with these nice little twist and a hint of bitterness. Very delicious.
I think they’ll easily become one of my favourites
Hi Zoe! Thank you so much for trying this recipe (with the black sesame ice cream)! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. The dipping in granulated sugar works. Thank you for your kind feedback!
These cookies were matcha heavy and bitter. And I love matcha. Next time I’m halving how much I put in
Hi Cyn! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your feedback!
I loved this recipe, I brought a batch into my restaurant just to see how customers would react and they were a big hit! I even had to make them a second and a third time, but some customers asked me if I could make a sugar free version, now the question is what can I substitute the powdered sugar with and what amount?
Help please 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Hi Alex! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Sugar adds moisture to the cookie dough, so I’m not too sure how it would end up with other replacement. I’m not expert in sugar-free cooking… so without testing, I won’t know… sorry. 🙁