matcha cookies with white chocolate and brown butter

these matcha cookies are a little slice of green tea goodness, featuring nutty brown butter and creamy white chocolate nestled into a soft, chewy dough infused with earthy matcha. curl up with a plateful of these matcha cookies and your favourite book for the ultimate cozy evening.

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THESE MATCHA COOKIES HAVE A WAY OF MAKING TIME SLOW DOWN – featuring earthy matcha weaved through chewy cookie middles and puddles of melty white chocolate. the brown butter brings a cozy, toasted note that almost wraps around you like a soft blanket – SO brew a cup of tea, grab a MATCHA cookie (or three), and let the world fade awAY FOR A MOMENT.

why you will love this simple matcha cookies recipe

• unique flavours – the combination of the earthy matcha, toasty brown butter and sweet white chocolate gives these matcha cookies a somewhat sophisticated state that’s really different from your typical cookie.

• they look really good!! – the pale green colour of these cookies mixed with the flecks of white chocolate make for a really interesting looking cookie – these would be quite striking as part of a cookie platter or on a dessert table.

• great for making ahead – the longer you let the matcha cookie dough rest in the fridge, the better, as chilling in the fridge will help enhance the flavour of the browned butter. you can easily make the dough in advance and bake these to bring to gatherings and parties.

learn how to make matcha cookies

to make these matcha flavored cookies, we’re going to start off by browning the butter to add an extra toffee-like depth of flavour to our matcha cookies. let the butter cool after browning, then add granulated sugar and brown sugar.

mix all of that together, then add some heavy cream, a splash of vanilla and a large egg and mix that in. then add flour, baking powder, some baking soda, salt and matcha powder and mix all of that together. add white chocolate chunks or chocolate chips and mix those in. once your matcha cookie dough is formed, split it into equal sized cookie dough balls and let it chill in the fridge.

once they’re ready to bake, bake until soft and chewy, then remove from the oven, and we’re done!

matcha cookies ingredients

• butter – we’re going to use unsalted butter here. if you would prefer to use salted butter, just remove the extra salt from the dry ingredients. for this matcha cookie recipe, i decided to brown the butter for an extra depth of flavour that works so well with the matcha. this is one of my favourite butters to use in cookie recipes.

• brown sugar – i decided to use a small amount of light brown sugar because in this matcha green tea cookies recipe – it helps give them more of a chewy texture and a nicer caramel-like flavour. this light muscovado sugar is one of my favourites. if you don’t want to use brown sugar, you can also just use all granulated sugar if you don’t have brown sugar on hand – the other ingredients in this matcha cookies recipe, such as the cream and the brown butter, ensure that these cookies stay soft and chewy even if you don’t use brown sugar.

• granulated sugar – this recipe uses a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar. the brown sugar keeps these matcha cookies soft and chewy and the granulated sugar helps them spread.

• egg – we’re just going to use one large egg in this matcha cookies recipe – make sure it’s at room temperature so that it’s able to combine easily with the rest of the ingredients.

• vanilla extract – optional, but a splash of it will add a nice, subtle vanilla flavour to your matcha cookies.

• double cream or heavy cream – this is optional but i like to add a small amount of heavy cream to my matcha cookie dough to keep my matcha cookies chewy and add a lovely richness to them. you can skip this, or use milk if you’d rather not use the heavy cream.

• flour – we’ll be using plain flour or all purpose flour for this matcha cookies recipe.

• baking soda and baking powder – i use just a small amount of baking soda and baking powder in these matcha cookies to get a good balance of spread and thickness.

• matcha green tea powder – we’ll need about a tablespoon of matcha powder to make these cookies – use culinary grade matcha or if you want that vibrant colour in your matcha cookies, ceremonial grade matcha will work best (bear in mind that ceremonial grade matcha is more expensive).

• salt – a small amount of salt added to the dry ingredients helps balance out the sweetness in these matcha cookies. i added about 1/4 tsp but you can add up to 1/2 tsp if you’d prefer your cookies to be a little less sweet.

• white chocolate chunks or white chocolate chips – i make these matcha cookies with white chocolate because the white chocolate complements the match flavor really nicely. however, if you want to make these matcha cookies without white chocolate, and would rather make them with milk chocolate or dark chocolate, you can do this too. chocolate chips will work fine, but i personally love to chop up a chocolate bar for those melty puddles of chocolate in my matcha cookies.

tools:

• large bowl – for the matcha cookie dough

• medium bowl – we’re going to mix all of the dry ingredients separately before adding them to the dough, so you’ll need a separate bowl for this

• pot or pan – for browning the butter on the stove

• baking sheets or baking tray – you’ll need a big baking sheet lined with parchment paper for baking the cookies

• spoon or silicone spatula – there is no mixer needed for this recipe! just a spoon or silicone spatula will make it easier to fold the ingredients gently and prevent over mixing.

step by step instructions

for full measurements, keep scrolling down to the recipe below.

step one: add unsalted butter to a pan or pot and heat up over medium heat. keep stirring until golden brown and toasted. you’ll know you’re done when the butter starts to smell almost caramel-like. (detailed instructions on browning butter in faqs section).

step two: add the browned butter to a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape out all of the milk solids from the bottom of the pan and into the bowl. put this in the fridge or freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes until the browned butter has cooled.

step three: once the butter has cooled, add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar to the bowl, and mix these together until combined.

step four: add the large egg, the heavy cream and the vanilla extract and mix this into the butter and sugar mixture until combined.

step five: in another bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sift the matcha green tea powder in, then mix all of this together.

step six: add the dry ingredients to the matcha cookie mix and gently fold them in.

step seven: add white chocolate pieces or white chocolate chips and gently mix them into the matcha cookie dough.

step eight: split the dough into equal sized matcha cookie dough balls, then let them chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes.

step nine: preheat oven 10-15 minutes before baking, and line a baking sheet or baking tray with parchment paper or baking paper.

step ten: place the matcha cookie dough balls on the lined tray, making sure to put space between them so that they have enough room to spread.

step eleven: bake the matcha white chocolate cookies for 12-13 minutes, depending on their size.

step twelve: remove the matcha cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet so that they are firm enough to pick up.

step thirteen: let’s eat!

tips and notes

• keep an eye on the butter when browning it – butter can quickly go from nutty and toasted to burnt. once the butter starts to smell caramel-like and toasty, and you can see it start to turn a dark golden brown colour, remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into another bowl.

• make sure you give the browned butter time to cool before adding the rest of your ingredients. this is why i like to place it in the fridge or freezer for a while before going ahead with the rest of the recipe.

• if you want to keep this matcha cookies recipe easy and don’t feel like browning the butter, you can always just melt the butter normally and use it like that instead. but i would really recommend browning the butter for that extra depth of flavour!!

• i would recommend using room temperature eggs when making these matcha cookies. this will just make it easier to mix the ingredients and help the ingredients incorporate better.

• if using salted butter instead of unsalted, leave out the extra salt stated in the recipe.

• to make this matcha cookies recipe chewy and soft, i like to add a tablespoon of heavy cream to the cookie dough – this will bring back any moisture lost from browning the butter, and also add some richness to our cookies. if you don’t have heavy cream on hand, you can absolutely just leave this out, or you can use milk instead of the cream.

• sift the matcha green tea powder before you add it to the dry ingredients to avoid any clumps in the dough.

• you can use culinary grade or ceremonial grade matcha for these matcha cookies. while ceremonial grade matcha will give you a better colour and appearance, it’s also more expensive and the nuances in flavour will probably be lost in baking. for that reason, culinary grade matcha will also work fine.

• once you add the flour and dry ingredients to the matcha cookie mixture, gently mix until just combined to avoid over mixing the dough. over mixing can make your cookies tough and less soft and chewy.

• feel free to adjust the amount of matcha powder in your cookies to your taste if you want a stronger matcha flavour.

• for the melty pools of white chocolate in your matcha cookies, chop up a chocolate bar and add that in instead of making your matcha cookies with chocolate chips.

• feel free to add any other mix ins that you like to your matcha cookies – something like macadamia nuts would work really well with these cookies!

• to keep these matcha cookies easy to make, i would recommend chilling the dough balls in the fridge for around 30 minutes before baking them so that they are less sticky and greasy. chilling them will also ensure that they don’t spread too much in the oven.

• use a cookie scoop or weigh out the cookie dough balls so that all of the cookies are equal and consistent in size. this matcha cookies recipe makes 8 cookies, each weighing about 80g (about 2.8oz) each.

• if the matcha cookie dough becomes too soft to handle while you’re working with it, just place it in the fridge for a few minutes to firm it up a little.

• adjust baking time as needed. every oven is different, so i recommend keeping an eye on your matcha cookies as they bake. i like to take them out of the oven when they’re very slightly underdone as they will continue to cook as they cool once they’re out of the oven. over baking might make your matcha cookies dry and cakey and we definitely don’t want that! i baked these cookies for 13 minutes, but keep in mind that baking times will depend on how big your cookies are, so be sure to adjust times according to that. bigger cookies will take more time to bake.

• i used 1/4 tsp of salt in the matcha cookie dough, but you can always increase this if you want your cookies to be a little less sweet. i would recommend increasing the salt instead of reducing the sugar if you find the cookies too sweet.

• once your matcha cookies are out of the oven, don’t worry if they are too soft to pick up and look underbaked – don’t bake them for too long! let them cool on the baking sheets for a good 10-15 minutes before trying to pick them up as they will continue to cook as they cool.

• use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. while i add both metric and cup measurements for this recipe, i always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients for most accurate results.

• if you do decide to use cups, bear in mind that this recipe uses higher than typical flour measurements, as it takes into account the fact that most people tend to scoop their flour.

• for an extra touch, add some more white chocolate pieces to your cookies once you take them out of the oven – the warm cookies fresh out of the oven will melt the white chocolate pieces and make the cookies look a little nicer.

• store any leftover matcha cookies in an airtight container at room temperature to keep them fresh.

frequently asked questions

1. what do these matcha cookies taste like ?

   – i would say that these matcha cookies have a distinctive grassy, earthy taste from the matcha green tea powder, which is then balanced out with the sweetness of the cookie base and the white chocolate. the brown butter also adds a lovely, rich and nutty note that really compliments the matcha.

2. how do i brown the butter for this matcha cookies recipe ?

   – to brown the butter for these matcha cookies, start by adding butter to a pan. melt this over medium heat and stir constantly as the butter melts. the butter will melt and then begin to foam and sizzle. you’ll know the butter has browned when the foam starts to tone down a little and the butter looks golden brown underneath the foam. the butter will start to smell slightly nutty and toasty. this usually takes about 5-7 minutes. once this happens, remove the pot from the heat and transfer the browned butter to your mixing bowl to cool.

3. can i use regular butter instead of brown butter to make these matcha cookies ?

   – while you can use regular butter to make these matcha cookies, browning the butter adds a rich, nutty flavour that really complements the matcha and the white chocolate, so i would highly recommend it.

4. can i use salted butter in this matcha cookies recipe ?

   – yes, you can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. if you do use salted butter for your matcha cookies instead of unsalted, just leave out the extra salt in the dry ingredients.

5. do i have to use vanilla extract in this matcha cookies recipe ?

   – the vanilla extract in this matcha cookie recipe is optional. i like the subtle vanilla flavour in these matcha vanilla cookies, but if you would prefer not to use it or don’t have it, that’s also completely fine.

6. why did my matcha cookies turn into a cake instead of soft and chewy?

   – the reason why your cookies turned cakey could be because of baking times. you should take your matcha cookies out of the oven when they’re slightly underdone as they will continue to cook and firm up on the tray as they cool. even if you follow the exact timings in the recipe, every oven will bake things differently so timings will vary depending on your oven. i highly recommend checking on your cookies every once in a while, especially towards the end of the recommended times to make sure they don’t over bake. these cookies took me around 13 minutes to bake for 80g dough balls, and they were perfectly soft and chewy.

   – another reason could be that there was too much flour in your matcha cookie dough. to make these matcha cookies as accurately as possible, i would recommend weighing out the flour using a kitchen scale.

7. can i make these matcha cookies without brown sugar ?

   – the brown sugar in the matcha cookie dough gives them some extra flavour and chewiness. however, if you don’t have brown sugar, you can substitute it with the same amount of granulated sugar. keep in mind that using all granulated sugar to make this cookie might result in a cookie that is less chewy and maybe even a little crispier. it will also probably spread more. i really don’t use that much brown sugar in the dough recipe so it shouldn’t make too much of a difference. and the browned butter and the heavy cream also keeps these cookies chewy, so it should be fine.

8. can i make these matcha cookies without heavy cream ?

   – matcha cookies and cream work so well together! the heavy cream helps add extra chewiness and richness to the cookies. however, it is also completely fine to omit the heavy cream for the cookies if you don’t have it on hand or would rather not use it. it will result in a less chewy cookie but it’ll still be delicious! if you’re looking for a substitute for the heavy cream, you could also just use milk instead for a somewhat similar effect.

9. why did my matcha cookies not spread ?

   – one of the reasons why your cookies didn’t spread might be due to your oven temperatures being too low. make sure to preheat your oven 10-15 minutes before adding your cookies in so that the oven is hot enough.

   – it could also be that your cookie dough is too cold. if you find that your cookie isn’t spreading in the oven, let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before baking it.

10. do i have to chill the dough to make these matcha cookies ?

    – i would highly recommend chilling the matcha cookie dough before baking it. this cookie dough isn’t too sticky, so it should be fine to bake even without chilling, however, chilling the dough in the fridge will help enhance the flavours of the browned butter and reduce spread in the oven, so i would recommend it if you have the time.

11. can i make these matcha cookies ahead of time ?

    – you can definitely make these matcha cookies ahead of time, as a longer chill time will enhance the flavours of the browned butter even further. i would recommend making the dough ahead of time, splitting into equal sized cookie dough balls, storing it in the fridge or freezer, and then baking the cookies fresh when needed.

    – if you store the matcha cookie dough balls in the freezer, you can bake them straight from frozen, but bear in mind that you might need to bake them for a little longer than stated in the recipe if baking from frozen.

12. can i make matcha cookie bars instead of matcha cookies ?

    – if you want to keep these matcha cookies simple and quick to make, you can definitely bake them as cookie bars instead of individual cookies. just make the matcha cookie dough as stated in the recipe and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to help deepen the flavours of the brown butter. press the matcha cookie dough into a lined 8×8 inch baking dish, top with some extra white chocolate and bake. keep in mind that baking times might differ for the matcha cookie bars.

13. can i make these matcha cookies without white chocolate ?

    – personally, i think matcha cookies pair best with white chocolate, but i think they’ll also work great with dark chocolate, milk chocolate or even just on their own without any chocolate! bear in mind that the milk and dark chocolate will have a stronger flavour, so it may overpower the matcha flavour slightly.

14. are matcha cookies healthy ?

    – while matcha itself has its health benefits, matcha and cookies mixed together wouldn’t really be considered a health food. but these matcha cookies can definitely be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet 🙂

15. how long do these matcha cookies stay fresh ?

    – when stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these matcha cookies should stay fresh for up to 5 days.

recipe