Enjoy your afternoon tea with these crisp and buttery Matcha Cookies. The unique flavor combination of matcha and white chocolate 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 are preferably not overly sweet. When comes to flavoring in the sweet department, my absolute favorite is matcha (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 snack and sweet 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 selections. Since I’ve been inspired to cook and bake with matcha, I’m excited to share one of my favorite butter cookies, Matcha Cookies (抹茶クッキー) with you today.
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 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.
Adding White Chocolate Chips
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 matcha brings its characteristic bitter flavor to the cookies, and the sweetness from white chocolate chips actually balances 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.
Instead of white chocolate chips, I’ve also tried rolling the chilled cookie logs over white sparkling sugar (large sugar crystals) before slicing the dough. This is a great way to add more sweetness to the cookies. The large sugar crystals will keep their shape and give a nice sweetness and sparkles to the cookies.
I’ve also seen JOC readers adding macadamia nuts instead of white chocolate chips. Great idea!
Buttery and Crispy Texture
This type of cookie is known as butter cookies or icebox 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 are not used in the recipe.
The ingredients are simple: butter, sugar, and flour. They often include vanilla extract, but I omit it because it’s too strong for matcha flavor.
These cookies are crisp rather than chewy or soft. If you have tried and love shortbread cookies, you can expect a similar crispy texture.
Don’t Skip Chilling the Dough!
Chilling the dough intensifies the flavor of the dough and retains its shape in the oven (so the butter in the dough doesn’t melt fast). Hold tight for just 2 hours. You can clean up the kitchen and preheat the oven during this time.
If you like to cut out the cookie dough, roll the dough into a large disk, chill, then roll it out again before cutting it out into shapes.
I hope you enjoy making this Matcha Cookie recipe. They are perfect for a cozy afternoon snack or for your cookie swap during the holiday season!
More Cookie Recipes
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Matcha Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (please weigh your flour; click the Metric button for weights; or learn how to measure flour with a measuring cup)
- 2½ Tbsp matcha green tea powder (1 Tbsp matcha is 6 g)
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (softened, at room temperature)
- 1 pinch Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 130 g confectioners’ sugar (1 cup + 2 tsp)
- 2 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
- ¼ cup good-quality white chocolate baking chips
Instructions
Before You Start…
- Please note that this recipe requires a chilling time of 2 hours. Gather all the ingredients. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale; click the “Metric“ button above to convert the measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the method in my post How to Measure Flour: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.
To Make the Dough
- Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) and 2½ Tbsp matcha green tea powder in a large bowl.
- Sift the flour and the matcha powder.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat ¾ cup unsalted butter until smooth and creamy. Tip: It’s important to soften the butter ahead of time. Leave the cold butter out on the counter for 1 hour or microwave it in 5-second increments until softened.
- Add 1 pinch Diamond Crystal kosher salt and blend.
- Add 130 g confectioners’ sugar (1 cup + 2 tsp) and beat well until soft and light. As you blend, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl occasionally.
- Add 2 large egg yolks and mix well until combined.
- Gradually add the flour and matcha mixture and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Add ¼ cup good-quality white chocolate baking chips and mix until just incorporated.
To Chill the Dough
- Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a cylinder about 1½ inches (4 cm) in diameter and 7 inches (18 cm) long.
- Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 2 hours. Tip: You can place the logs on a bed of uncooked rice while chilling. It’ll keep the dough in a nice cylindrical shape so your cookie slices won’t be flat on one side. To freeze for later: You can also freeze the unbaked logs of dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 months. To bake, let the frozen log sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing and baking. Do not let the dough fully defrost.
To Slice and Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap the plastic wrap. Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into rounds about ⅓ inch (7 mm) thick. If the dough is too hard to slice, wait about 5 minutes before slicing. Place the sliced dough on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of space between the rounds.
- Bake the cookies at 350ºF (175ºC) for about 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies get slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes; then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before serving.
To Store
- You can keep the cooled cookies in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for at least 4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on November 11, 2011. Since then the post has been updated with a new video, new pictures, and an updated recipe in July 2016.
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! 🙂
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…
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! 🙂
Does it have to be unsalted butter?
Hi Emmy! Yes you should use unsalted butter otherwise the cookies would become salty. 🙂
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
Why do you use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Hi Minka! For sable type of cookies, powder sugar is commonly used. 🙂
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!
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! 🙂
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
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!
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
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, 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. 🙂