Green Matcha Cookies （小抹茶饼干）
Don't these just look like little turtle shells? I would totally name these "turtle cookies," but I don't want to over fluff the fact that this entire recipe was an accident.
If you've followed my blog long enough, you'd know that I always craft my cookie recipes so that they spread only moderately. This is simply because I prefer taller, chunkier cookies over flatter cookies any day. If you look at my Black Sesame Cookie recipe, you can see that my cookies tend to lean on the less-spreadable end of the spectrum.
In this recipe, however, I started using butter-- which is a fat that I don't typically use. But my recent reconciliation with butter has conflicted me in ratio and ingredient pairings. In this case, I tried making green matcha cookies with butter, only to see them BARELY spread (I like unspreaded cookies, but not cookies this tall!), and even crack on top! I diagnosed my recipe a few times, and I realized that the butter wasn't at fault, but rather the baking soda! My baking soda had been sitting on the counter for a few months already, and presumably it had decomposed to the point where the spreadable properties wouldn't activate in the oven!
Oddly enough, this cookies came out amazing! The texture was a little different from the typical cookie, as it was lighter and airier. Furthermore, as aforementioned, it maintained its shape throughout the baking process so it was definitely thick to chew through. This contrast between light and thick made these cookies incredibly enjoyable. These little green matcha cookies may not be resemble the typical cookie, but they are DELICIOUS for sure!
I adapted this recipe from Easy Sugar Cookies from Stephanie on Allrecipes.com, except omitting the vanilla extract, adding matcha powder, adjusting the ratios, and of course, adding expired baking soda (shhh....)
Watch my YouTube video presenting this process! (This is my first video and... honestly, I was so awkward here, I couldn't even fold my dough correctly in front of the camera... sorry I'm camera shy lol. Hopefully I'll get used to it as I move forward!)
Recipe
Servings: 18 cookies
Level: Easy
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (old and decomposed hehe)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 heaping tablespoon organic matcha powder
- (Optional:) 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and matcha thoroughly. Add in egg. Continue to whisk until color lightens and mixture becomes fluffy.*
- Combine dry with wet ingredients, transferring dry components into wet around 1/3 of portions at a time. On the final third round, add in semi-sweet chocolate chips if your heart desires.
- Cover bowl with seran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove mixture and scoop around 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough. Roll into a smooth ball and place onto the lined tray. Leave around 1 1/2 inches between each dollop.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes.
- Remove cookies onto a cooling rack and let cool for roughly 10 minutes. Bite into your thicc, fluffy cookies and enjoy! Cookies can be left at room temperature in an airtight container, layered with parchment/wax paper and a slice of bread, for up to 1 week. Afterwards, freeze in an airtight container/ziplock bag. When desiring further consumption after so, simply warm in oven or microwave for 10 second intervals to restore homely warmth in your cookies!
