13 Easy Ways to eat matcha

Everyone who’s read a magazine or newspaper in the last decade must have heard about the health benefits of green tea, thanks to its anti-oxidant (specifically a type of catechin called EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate) content. Drinking green tea (sans sugar and milk!) can improve your health in a whole range of ways, ranging from:

• better cardiovascular health
• lower inflammation levels
• reduced risk of developing chronic diseases
• lower risk of dying from early deaths, for people with diabetes

By the way, the above is not from a dodgy source, but taken directly from the Harvard Medical School Health Publishing’s website! (Note: green tea is a magnet for lead, so there have been concerns about the amount of lead in green tea and matcha. However, ConsumerLab has tasted the premium matcha brands in the US and found that the lead content in them is not an issue.)

Matcha is a type of green tea that has been gaining in popularity over the last few years. There are a few differences in how you consume it though.

What’s the difference between matcha and green tea?

Matcha is basically young green tea leaves that are grown under shade to increase the chlorophyll content, then ground into a powder. With regular green tea, you steep the leaves (or tea bags) in hot water, drink the resulting tea then toss the tea leaves away. When you drink matcha, you ingest the leaves themselves.

To be honest, I drink green tea at home, but not matcha, as green tea is easier to make! (You have to sift the matcha powder to get rid of clumping, then whisk the matcha and hot water together to form a foamy tea that you drink.) Instead, I prefer to drink green tea bu add matcha powder to my bakes.

Here’s a compilation of 13 easy ways you can eat matcha, starting today!

Matcha mantou buns

Easy 1-rise matcha mantou bun recipe

Check out this recipe

You can also create 2 doughs, 1 with matcha and 1 without, to form a lovely spiral mantou that is perfect for entertaining.

Vegan iced matcha latte

If you wanna try a matcha latte but are vegan, try this recipe instead (sub out the honey with sugar that doesn’t contain bone char)

Check out this recipe

Matcha latte

If you’ve never made a cup of matcha before, this post is a great place to start! Although I did say it’s healthier to drink as is (sans milk and sugar), it does taste PHENOMENAL with both!

Check out this recipe

Matcha swirled cookies

These pretty cookies remind me of my spiral mantous! You could swap out the matcha powder for cocoa powder to get chocolate swirl cookies

Check out this recipe

Korean green tea and omija dasik no-bake cookies

I’ve been to Korea 8 times- fell in love with it after visiting for a friend’s wedding in 2010 which led me to start an online shop selling Korean beauty products in Singapore!- and had these cookies several times. However, I never knew that they didn’t need to be baked. How cool is that!

Check out this recipe

Matcha and black sesame shortbread

I spent my 4 University years in Scotland (the picturesque little town of St Andrews to be exact) so shortbread has a firm place in my heart (and stomach).

Check out this recipe

Matcha Energy Balls

If you love to snack, here’s a matcha recipe for you! Matcha does make a great coating for truffles- I use them for my vegan chocolate truffles (which I sell in Singapore), yum!

Check out this recipe

Matcha pancakes

Adding matcha powder to your pancakes (or to your home made cake/ bread) is a great way of incorporating some matcha in your diet!

Check out this recipe

Mini almond and matcha bundt cakes

Pretty matcha mini bundt cakes that will make you the Hostess (or Host) with the Mostess!

Check out this recipe

Vegan matcha cake with buttercream

A vegan matcha cake with a 5-star review, so no one misses out!

Check out this recipe

Matcha ice cream

When people think of matcha, they usually think of Japan. This recipe is by a born and raised Japanese (now living Down Under) so it can’t get more authentic than this!

Check out this recipe

Savoury matcha recipes

In case you’re wondering, it’s not just sweet foods that go well with matcha!

Matcha pesto

Jacqueline is married to an Italian and lives in Italy, so this should be a great recipe! 🙂

Check out this recipe

Matcha seasoned salt

I’ve eaten Japanese food my whole life but never heard of Matcha seasoned salt so this recipe was fascinating for me! To be fair, I could have eaten it and not known what it was!

Check out this recipe