Easy Matcha Cookies 抹茶クッキー (4-ingredients)

Matcha cookies with white chocolate on a white plate.

5 from 2 votes

Easy Matcha Cookies 抹茶クッキー (4-ingredients)

These delicious and Easy Matcha Cookies 抹茶クッキー (4-ingredients) are a green tea shortbread that is soft and chewy. They have a beautiful green color, taste wonderful and are so easy you can make them perfectly the first time! (Matcha is expensive so I have also added a budget friendly option.)

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Chilling time for dough2

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Fusion, Japanese

Servings: cookies

Calories: 147kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

Stand mixer Substitute: hand mixer or food processor

Ingredients

2 sticks salted butter, softened (226g) Cut into 1-inch pieces. Substitute: unsalted butter with a pinch of salt.
1½ Cups icing or caster sugar Icing sugar gives a better texture but needs to be sieved, so I usually use caster sugar.
2½ Cups all purpose flour (300g) Cake Flour also works
3½ Tablespoons matcha powder Or 2 level Tablespoons and 1 heaping Tablespoon. Substitute: green tea powder, if you don't need the vivid green hue (better for your wallet too!) Don't use more than this or it'll be a bit bitter.
½ Cup White Chocolate Chips OPTIONAL- omit if you don't have a sweet tooth as white chocolate is sweet.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/ 175C or 155C fan. Temperature control is very important- if not, your cookies will be brown.
Mix the matcha powder with the flour well. Be gentle as the matcha powder is very fine and will fly around. You'll get a better result if you sift the mixture, as matcha clumps easily, but I confess I don't!
Beat the softened (but not greasy) butter in a stand mixer till smooth. (If the butter is greasy, it's been left out for too long.)
Mix with the sugar till you get a light mixture. You will need to stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl every now and then.
Divide the flour mixture into 4 approximate batches. Add 1 batch (i.e. ¼ of the mixture) to the mixing bowl at a time- make sure to start the mixer at the very lowest speed or your matcha powder will fly away!
Repeat till all the flour has been incorporated well. You'll see the cookie batter change from a dull to a bright green color.
Note: if using white chocolate chunks, gently fold them in with a spatula now.
Divide the dough into 2 and roll each batch into a log, about 1-2 inches in width.
Cover with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or till firm, if you want perfectly round cookies. (Place the logs on a tray of beans or rice, if you want them to be perfectly round, and not flat on 1 side.)
Note: If you're in a hurry, chill for at least 15 minutes (just long enough that they won't melt in the oven but note that the dough will be very soft when you slice into the log, and the dough will get compressed, which will affect the texture a little.
Once the dough is chilled and firm, slice into ⅓ inch thick rounds. If you find the dough too hard to cut through, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before trying again.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not let the edges turn dark brown, or the cookies will be over-baked .(They also look nicer when all green!)
Once baked through, remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

If you're using a stand mixer, do not halve the quantities, or there will be too little butter to beat well.

Variations: Make the recipe above without the matcha powder to get a cream coloured dough. Roll the cream-dough and the matcha- dough so you get a swirled cookie.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its accuracy.

Nutrition