Matcha cookies that are healthier with anti-oxidant rich ingredients and are buttery delicious alone or as a sandwich cookie filled with frosting.
Superfood matcha cookies made with Matcha powder are both soft yet sturdy, and rich with the unique flavor of Matcha and awash with the powerful antioxidants that Match tea brings. I love cookies that make you feel great, much like my chocolate sugar cookies, and and my 4-ingredient milano sandwich cookies.
Why You'll Love These
Easy roll and slice cookies. These matcha cookies are easy to make as roll and slice cookie. Other names for this type of recipe is shortbread cookies or icebox cookies or refrigerator cookies or sables.
Nutrition. These cookies are full of Matcha, a green tea high in antioxidants, and coconut oil which is fat-burning and a quick source of energy. Read more about Matcha below.
What is Matcha?
Matcha powder is a quality version of green tea. It has origins from China, dating back to 1100s. It is made from crushing leaves from a plant called Camellia Sinensis. While both green tea and matcha tea come from the same plant, green tea is just dried leaves, while matcha is those leaves ground into a powder, and only the best of the best leaves are chosen.
As a powder, Matcha is healthier and provides more antioxidants than any other tea, and up to 137 times more than ordinary green tea.[source]
Ingredients
The ingredients in these vegan cookies are free of butter, and refined-sugar-free. The ingredient list is short and wholesome. I used in these cookies:
Flour - to make them gluten-free use a GF flour.
Coconut oil - melt in the jar by setting it in just-boiled water. Coconut oil makes these cookies soft and don't impart a coconut flavor. If you want to be sure to avoid a coconut flavor, use refined coconut oil.
Organic cane sugar - I used to make these with coconut palm sugar but that left a rough texture sometimes so I switched to organic cane sugar, fair trade and it works beautifully.
Dairy free milk - I used oat milk but any milk works well.
Matcha Powder - ceremonial grade, not culinary grade which is bitter.
Steps to Make
You can make these matcha cookies in two ways:
- By rolling out the dough and using cookie cutters, or
- By preparing them as true icebox cookies which means molding the dough into a long cylinder, chilling, slicing and baking. So they are as easy as pie to make, and basically fool-proof.
In general, follow these steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Add flour, matcha and sugar and stir up.
3. Then add milk and coconut oil and mix with a hand mixer.
4. You can either dust a surface with flour and roll dough flat. Then cut circles with cookie cutters. Then place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for baking.
5. Or roll the dough into a cylinder shape and freeze for 15 minutes, set it on a stack of towels and cut slices ¼-inch thick. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for baking.
6. Either way, bake cookies for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven, cool in pan 2 minutes, and on a cooking rack for 10 minutes.
8. To make a sandwich cookie, spread frosting one one cookie and sandwich with the other.
Recipe Tips
These cookies are truly fail-proof but here are a few tips to help them turn out right:
1. Measure your flour carefully. You can weigh but I have had good luck by simply loosening the flour in the bag, then spooning lightly into the measuring cup and leveling off.
2. If you choose to roll the dough into a cylinder instead of rolling it out and cutting circles, roll the cylinder in parchment paper to make it easier to get a cylinder shape. Then, when you freeze and cut, set the dough roll on a double folded kitchen towel to make a cushioned surface so when you cut the circles will stay round.
3. Another tip when cutting a cylinder, using a sawing motion with your knife again to not distort the circles.
How to Make Ahead
To make these cookies ahead of time, mix up the dough. Roll and freeze as an uncut roll. Freeze for three months. Before baking, bring dough back to just chilled by allowed the dough to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
How to Store
Storage : Chill the rolled, uncut dough for 5 days or freeze for three months. To store baked cookies, leave unfrosted in the refrigerate for 5 days. Once frosted, eat right away or they will soften.
FAQS
Matcha cookies are gaining in popularity and questions are increasing. Here are a few answers.
How Nutritious is Matcha?
Matcha powder is useful in baking and other recipes besides drinks. This is great news because there is potential to turn desserts into powerfully nutritious snacks.
So how nutritious is matcha powder in snacks? Well just a few teaspoons can add a slew of vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants that protect against disease, support the heart and anti-age!
One NIH study attests that matcha powder contains 137 times more antioxidants then other teas, even anti-oxidant-strong traditional green tea.
Also matcha boosts metabolism, making weight control easier.
Do Matcha Cookies Have Caffeine?
Do Matcha Cookies have Caffeine? Yes, because matcha powder contains 70 mg caffeine per teaspoon. Since this recipe calls for 2 teaspoons and makes 32 cookies, each cookie contains about 4 mg of caffeine. That compared to 95 mg caffeine in a cup of coffee.
How Does Matcha Affect Baking?
Matcha works like flour in baking, does not interfere with leaveners, adds structure and a gorgeous natural green color to your baked goods.
Can Matcha Powder Be Baked?
Yes, always choose the ceremonial grade for best flavor, as opposed to the culinary grade which is edible yet quite bitter. Ceremonial is far more expensive than culinary as it is made from the finest leaves yet the flavor makes it worth it.
More Healthy Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Copycat Milano Cookies
- 2-Ingredient Holiday Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Crunch Bars
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📖 Recipe
Matcha Cookies
Ingredients
Matcha Shortbread Cookies
- 1 cup flour all purpose or gluten free baking flour.
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 teaspoon ceremonial matcha powder
- ¼ cup dairy-free milk
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
- pinch of salt
Whipped Coconut Cream (optional)
- 1 can full fat coconut milk (solid cream scooped from a can chilled overnight in refrigerator)
- ¼ cup organic powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot or tapioca (for stiffening)
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 F
- Add flour, matcha, sugar and salt and stir up.1 cup flour, 2 teaspoon ceremonial matcha powder, ¼ cup organic cane sugar, pinch of salt
- Then add milk and coconut oil and mix with a hand mixer.3 tablespoon coconut oil, ¼ cup dairy-free milk
- You can either dust a surface with flour and roll dough flat. Then cut circles with cookie cutters. I used a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Then place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for baking.
- Or roll the dough into a cylinder shape and freeze for 15 minutes, then cut slices ¼-inch thick and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for baking.
- Either way, bake cookies for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, cool in pan 2 minutes, and on a cooking rack for 10 minutes.
- Frost or create sandwich cookies with a middle filling of plain white frosting or coconut cream.
Mix Coconut Cream
- Scoop only the solids out of the chilled coconut cream (or milk) can. Save the coconut water for another recipe. Blend up ingredients using a hand mixer until creamy.1 can full fat coconut milk, ¼ cup organic powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon arrowroot or tapioca
- Use a frosting piping bag or sandwich bag with corner snipped to pipe about 1 tablespoon of cream onto one cookie and top it with the other.
Storage
- Keep the cookies refrigerated in a sealed container, although by the next day the cookies will soften considerably.
- Best eaten the first day, while the cookies are flaky and the frosting is fluffy.
Making Cookies Ahead of Time
- To make these cookies ahead of time, mix up the dough. Either roll it in parchment to treat it like a sliced icebox cookie, or cut out your circles and freeze them on parchment before then adding them to a zip lock bag or container and freeze long term.
- Before baking, bring dough back to just chilled - I am not sure how long that would take. Perhaps a few hours? Or let them thaw either way in the refrigerator overnight. To let them thaw overnight, be sure to line sliced cookies on parchment and allow them to thaw in the arrangement you would be baking them in.
Kathleen
I just tried this recipe and I'm not sure why but it didn't work out for me!
Dee | Green Smoothie Gourmet
Could you tell me the amount of flour you used? Maybe I can troubleshoot.
Natalia
Hola buenas tardes hice la receta con los ingredientes y medidas que son y fueron buenos.
Dee Dine | Green Smoothie Gourmet
Muchas gracias, ¡estoy tan feliz de que te haya gustado la receta!