If you’re looking for a fun project with the kids this Halloween, look no further. I’ve teamed up with my friends at Matcha Kari (matcha.com) to bring you an easy matcha based cookie recipe with easy decorations- a cute cookie with minimal work.
This cookie base keeps its shape well and is not too heavily matcha-forward. You get a little bit of creaminess and bitterness from the matcha, and if you are a hardcore matcha fan, I recommend you increase the matcha content by 50%.
If you aren’t familiar with Matcha, you can read up about it HERE. A staple in Japan and many eastern Asian country, Matcha has been making its way across the US the last decade. I have been using matcha in my beverages and bakes (drop cookies, macarons) for as long as I’ve been baking- if you’ve been around for a while, perhaps you remember our Dalgona Matcha recipe!
Please watch the video below to get your techniques down, and please do yourself a favor and grab an oven thermometer – this piece of equipment can help to determine if your oven temperature is accurate, and most home ovens are not. A lower temp than expected can result in cookies spreading and undercooking, and a higher temp can risk cookies burning.
Recipe: Matcha Sugar Cookies
Yields approx. 1 doz 3-inch round, 1/4 inch thick sugar cookies – Feel free to scale this recipe to your quantity needs.
Ingredients:
- 1 stick (4 oz.) salted butter, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder (if you get the kind with aluminum, some folks can taste it!)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp Matcha Powder – we like Matcha Kari (matcha.com) brand specifically because it retains its color and flavor well during a bake, a truly high quality matcha!
Equipment:
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer for the Dough
- Guided Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters- Round and Square, keeping in mind you can achieve both these looks with just one shape, if you want!
- Piping Bags or zip lock bag for your buttercream
- Double Sided edible food pen
Decorations:
In the spirit of keeping things as easy and as accessible as possible, I chose to decorate my cookies with store-bought icing eyes, black sanding sugar and leftover buttercream. I used a piping tip with some ridges on one side, flat on the other, to make the mummy bandages. Watch the YouTube video to see the easy-peasy technique.
Directions:
- In a stand mixer or with your hand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream your butter and sugar
- Add your egg, and beat until combined
- Add in your sifted matcha (important to sift to get rid of clumps… you don’t want to bite into a cookie with a pocket of powder), and baking powder beat to combine, add vanilla and mix to combine
- Add in flour, mix just enough so that the dough pulls away cleanly from the bowl, don’t overmix as that will result in a tough dough
- Wrap in plastic, store in fridge until ready to use
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
- Roll our your dough to 1/4 or 8mm (buy our guides here), cut out, place on baking sheet
- Put your cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes prior to baking to help them set a bit more, you want to bake the dough cold
- Bake 3-inch cookies approx. 10-12 minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet until ready to decorate
Tips/Tricks/Modifications:
- Cookie dough and baked cookies can be frozen: simply store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When ready to use, let your dough defrost in the fridge overnight (wrapped). Let your cookies come to room temp IN the airtight container.
- The thickness and size of your cookie impacts your bake: the thicker or larger, the longer you’ll want to bake. You can tell your cookie is fully baked when it no longer looks raw and “oily” in the center
- Yes, you can decorate these cookies with anything: royal icing, buttercream, fondant, modeling chocolate, dip or drizzle them with chocolate. There are no limitations!
- Don’t love Matcha? Omit it and you’ll have a decent sugar cookie base
If you end up making these, I would love for you to tag me on IG / TikTok, etc.
And if you have any questions or comments, as usual, please drop them below. Thank you, and see you soon!
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