These matcha tea cake cookies have a subtle sweetness tempered with a hint of warm and spicy cardamom. Enjoy a few alone or with 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 of sweet with spice seemed like they 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

Yield: approx. 24 cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Inactive Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Subtly sweet with a hint of warm spice, these cookies are great enjoyed alone or with a glass of tea.

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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 green tea powder
• 2 tablespoons water

For the topping

• 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom together in a medium-size bowl. Set aside.
2. Next, whisk together the granulated sugar, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in another medium-size bowl. Set aside.
3. In a third bowl, stir the 2 tablespoons of matcha powder and 2 tablespoons of water together.
4. Stir the matcha mixture into the wet ingredients you mixed together in step 2.
5. Now add this newly formed matcha mixture into the dry ingredients you mixed together in step 1. Stir until just combined.
6. Scoop two tablespoons of dough, form into balls, and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until add dough is used, leaving at least 
2 inches of space between each dough ball.
7. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator and chill the dough for 20 minutes.
8. While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
9. Bake the cookies for about 
10 minutes until set at the edges and very lightly browned on the bottoms.
10. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
11. Once cool, sift together the confectioners sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of matcha powder. Dust over the cookies and serve.

Notes

I used OXO's Baker's Dusting Wand to sprinkle the confectioner sugar-matcha powder mixture over the cookies.

If you chill your cookie dough more than 20 minutes, no problem. Just note you may need to bake your cookies a few minutes longer, and the cookies may look slightly puffier.

Recipe very slightly adapted from Food & Wine magazine, February 2015.