Little Green Dots
Ann says
About three months ago my roommate Mara got some sweetened matcha from the big Tully’s store downtown, and it looked so good! So I ran off to the store and got myself some plain matcha. If you don’t know what matcha is, it is green tea that has been ground up to a fine powder. It is what the Japanese use in their tea ceremony, I believe. Just mixed with hot water, it tastes a little funky. Not my favorite. But mixed with steamed milk and sugar or honey it is delicious, and beautifully pale green.
Since Mara’s container of the stuff suggested baking with it, I had the idea in my mind for a long time for these cookies. I wanted to make plain and simple matcha cookies. No extra flavors. These cookies are light green and very round. They are JUST shy of a true shortbread cookie. With a cup of tea of any kind they are wonderful. Good with old milk too. They are also adorable.
Green Matcha Shortbread Cookies
Yields about 26 cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 14 tablespoons butter (just short of two sticks)
- 1 tablespoon matcha
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a large glass bowl soften the butter. I can never plan ahead so I always defrost my butter in a glass bowl to get it to “room temperature” in the microwave for a couple minutes on defrost. On top of the butter plop your flour and salt. On top of that, sift the powdered sugar and matcha. Whisk all of these together without starting to mix in the butter. You can do the dry ingredients in a separate bowl but I hate the extra clean up myself. Anyway, then crack the egg into the bowl and go at the whole mess with a wooden spoon. It’s a think dough so make sure it is well incorporated and you don’t have any chunks of matcha hiding anywhere. Grab a cookie sheet and using a tablespoon measure get level tablespoon amounts of dough and scrape them into your palm as neatly as possible. Quickly roll the dough into a ball and flatten it just slightly. Place the ball on the pan until your sheet is full. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. They will not be browned but a nice light green. Allow to cool on a paper towel and enjoy!
Abe says
The key trait of these cookies has already been called out by Ann: they are adorable. I do not use words like that lightly, so understand that I’m not kidding around here. They’re perfect little light green circles, shortbread in texture, with a mild green tea flavor. Of the choices, I recommend taking them with milk. Two percent. Yes.
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