Matcha (green tea) White Chocolate Cookies

I have a deep fondness for anything made with green tea, particularly Matcha or green tea powder. I used to buy matcha to make green tea ice-cream at home but I have been wanting to use it for baking too. I finally got around to it yesterday when I baked my first batch of Matcha White Chocolate Cookies with the kids.

There are many different versions of the matcha cookie recipe but the one that I used was modified from a Martha Stewart Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I did tweak the recipe a little bit more by adding extra matcha:

Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon matcha
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) white chocolate chips (I used a bag of Ghirardelli white chips)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha, and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

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These cookies are so easy to make but taste absolutely divine! They are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I love that I did not use any artificial coloring to get that green tint. The next time I make them I may reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup but Hubby and the kids love them just the way they are. Martha's chocolate chip recipe also mentioned to "Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.". I never got to find out if these matcha cookies can be kept for that many days. Thanks to my 4 in-house cookie monsters, these are already long gone. :-)


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This is the first of a 2-part St. Patrick's Day post. Click HERE for part 2 and see how I packaged these cookies for an easy St. Patrick's Day gift.