These matcha tea cake cookies have a subtle sweetness tempered with a hint of warm and spicy cardamom. Enjoy a few alone or alongside a glass of tea.
When I wrote about all the reasons I do not blog much anymore, I left a reason off the list: the dishes. My, how they multiply! A lack of ability to match my recipe ides with the calendar is probably another one. If I was on my game, I would have shared a recipe for green cookies well before St. Patrick’s Day, not well after.
I’ve had this matcha cookies recipe saved since 2015, which is when, I think the use of matcha as an ingredient in baked goods probably peaked. But, I didn’t want to wait another year to try out former trends, so here we are.
I’m going to go on record and call matcha the new saffron – it’s pricey! The expense is part of the reason I hadn’t baked with it yet.
My feelings towards green tea were also a stumbling block. Most green tea tasted chalky or bitter until I tried the Yogi brand, which has a subtle spice and sweetness.
Those same qualities, I figured, would also make an enjoyable green tea cookie. And since my feelings towards cookies know no bounds, cookies are never a bad place to start with anything.
I enjoyed these soft, green pillow puffs in part because I wasn’t immediately sure if I liked the taste of baked matcha. Instead of falling tastebuds first into something delicious, the almost nutty flavor made consider each bite. The experience was not unlike a good dose of hot sauce, where you sort of start to like the sensation of what you are eating underneath it.
So, my first matcha dessert experience was definitely positive. If you want to play too, I suggest you start with cookies. But who and I kidding, I’ll always say that. Enjoy!
Matcha Tea Cake Cookies
Ingredients
- For the cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons matcha tea powder
- 2 tablespoons water
- For the topping
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon matcha tea powder
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom together in a medium-size bowl. These are your dry ingredients.
- Next whisk together the granulated sugar, canola oil, eggs and vanilla extract in another medium-size bowl. These are your wet ingredients.
- Stir the 2 tablespoons of matcha powder and 2 tablespoons of water together in a third bowl. Now stir the matcha mixture into the wet ingredients.
- Once combined, stir these now-green wet ingredients into the flour mixture until just combined.
- Scoop 1-inch balls of dough at least 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator and chill the dough for at least 20 minutes.
- While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until set at the edges and very lightly browned on the bottoms. The baking time might be a few minutes longer and your cookies slightly puffier if you chill your dough more than 20 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, sift together the confectioners’ sugar and remaining 1/e teaspoon of matcha powder. Dust over the cookies and serve
Notes
NOTESI bought Mighty Leaf brand green tea at World Market for use in this recipe. You can also find powdered green tea matcha at many health food stores, Asian markets and Whole Foods stores.My very slight adaptions to this recipe were to omit 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract (I've never cared for the taste) and to halve the amount of topping needed. I had more than enough to sprinkle over my cookies; a task made much more enjoyable by using my OXO Baker's Dusting Wand.
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