My love affair with matcha continues with these brown butter matcha brownies. I think I am on a crusade to matchify every classic dessert, and I am #notsorry about it! The reason I love adding matcha to desserts is not only for the vibrant green color or that smokey aroma of matcha. I love doing it because it helps balance out the sickening sweetness that exists in a lot of desserts. Case in point, brownies. Brownies are an amazing dessert, but most of the time, I can only have one piece because of how sweet most brownies are. Adding matcha to a classic brownie recipe balances out that sweetness, making it possible for you to have TWO instead of one. 🙂
Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
- Unsalted butter – I used browned butter for these brownies for that extra nutty flavor. I would recommend using unsalted butter, so you can control the amount of salt in your brownies.
- White chocolate – In a typical brownie recipe, you often see chocolate being used, but since I wanted that green matcha color to shine through, I decided to substitute that with white chocolate.
- Matcha powder – Matcha powder provides the color and slightly bitter taste of matcha to these brownies. Make sure to use high quality culinary grade matcha powder to get that vibrant green color. As always, I use Aiya culinary grade matcha powder. Use cookingtherapy10 to get 10% off your purchase.
- Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness to these brownies.
- Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness to these brownies and a moisture. You can also use dark brown sugar for this recipe. Dark brown sugar will make these brownies more fudgy and sweeter.
- Eggs – Adds richness to these brownies. I would highly recommend room temperature eggs because that makes it easier to incorporate with other ingredients.
- Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the brownies. Substitute with vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean.
- Salt – Brings out the flavor of other ingredients.
- All purpose flour – This is the main dry ingredient of the recipe. You can make this recipe gluten free by substituting with sweet rice flour. Keep in mind that this will change the texture of the brownie and make it more dry/less fudgy.
Making my matcha brownies
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8×8 baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside. Next brown your butter. Heat unsalted butter over high heat until all the butter has melted. Then lower the heat to low and cook until brown bits start to appear. Remove from the heat. Next add white chocolate to a small bowl. Sift in the matcha powder. Pour the browned butter over the top and stir until a uniform green ganache appears. Set aside.
Combine granulated sugar, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to whisk the mixture until it is thick and cream (5-10 minutes). While mixing, stream in your matcha chocolate ganache. Whisk until a uniform green mixture appears. Lastly, sift your flour into the bowl. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the green mixture. Be careful not to deflate the batter too much. Mix until just combined. Spoon the batter into your prepared pan.
Bake brownies for 20-30 minutes. After 20 minutes, take out the brownies and smack the pan onto a flat surface to get rid of some of the air bubbles. Sprinkle some flaky salt on top and put them back in the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes. Let brownies cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Tips on how to make the perfect matcha brownies
- Use a light colored pan to brown butter – It is a lot easier to brown butter using a light colored pan because it helps you see the color of the butter as it cooks. You are less likely to burn the butter.
- Sift matcha powder – Matcha powder tends to clump up easily, so it’s best to sift it before using it in a recipe.
- Beat sugar and eggs until thick and creamy – Beating the eggs and sugar incorporates air into the brownies, creating a lift in the final product. This helps provide lift without any type of leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder.
- Smack the brownies on the counter – This helps get rid of air bubbles in the brownies and creates a more fudgy texture.
Did you make these matcha brownies?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Brown Butter Matcha Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter browned
- 4 oz white chocolate
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp flaky salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 8x8 baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Heat the butter over high heat until it melts. Lower the heat to low. Heat the butter until small brown bits start to appear. Remove from the stove.
- Add white chocolate and matcha powder to a small bowl. Pour the brown butter over the top and stir until all the chocolate melts. Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes.
- In large bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until thick and creamy (5-10 minutes).
- While mixing, stream in your matcha chocolate ganache from step 4. Whisk until a uniform green batter appears.
- Lastly, sift your flour into the bowl. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the batter using a until a green batter forms.
- Spoon into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes.
- Take out the brownies and slam them on the counter to get rid of some the air. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the top and put the brownies back in the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
1.4K
Great recipe! Super delicious and that brown butter added a depth of flavor. Highly recommend finishing with flakey salt.
Thanks Freddie! I’m so glad you liked the brownies!
Will it work I fold the chopped white chocolate at the end instead of melting it into a ganache?
Hi Trish. I am not sure. White chocolate not only provides flavor but also adds moisture to the brownie, so this could change the texture of the brownie. Let me know how it goes.
Hi Trish! Folding in the white chocolate at the end instead of melting it resulted in very dense and dry brownies with more of a bread-like texture. I would recommend following the recipe!
Hi, the bottom of my matcha brownies seem to always get stuck at the bottom of the parchment paper when im slicing them even if I’ve let it cool for about an hour already, they don’t come off easily. What can I do about this? Thanks!
Thanks for trying the recipe first off. If the brownies are sticking, bake them for a few minutes longer until they are the texture you prefer! Let me know if you have any more questions.
How did you get the top not to brown? Made these (so good!!!) but the top browned and puffed up.
Hi Amy. First off, thank you so much for trying this recipe! If the top is browning and puffing up, I am guessing that might have something to do with your oven temperature being too high. A lot of ovens have inaccurate temperatures so the temperature inside the oven is different from what it says on the dial. For example, the oven temperature inside my oven is 50 degrees higher than what it says on the dial, so when I preheat my oven to 350 degrees F I actually move my oven dial to 300. I solved this issue by getting an oven thermometer. It might be worth it to get one, so you know if that’s the issue. I hope this was helpful!
Thanks! I actually do use an oven thermometer and my issue is the opposite of yours, 50-75 degrees lower than the dial reads. Sounds like maybe I should have avoided put it on the top rack? Do you think that would make a difference? (also sorry I had meant to put 5 stars previously but guess I messed up, hope this will also count).
You should rarely bake anything, especially brownies on the top rack. You’ll get too much browning on top! Unless that’s what you are going for 😁
Thanks for the tip!
Hi Amy,
The taste of this matcha brownie is amazing !! The browned butter makes a difference. However my brownie doesn’t look moist at all it looks like a super dense muffin …. 🙁
Hi Gabby. Oh no! If your brownie is dense, I would play a little bit with the amount of butter and chocolate. This will improve the “fudginess” of the brownie. I would try adding another tablespoon of butter and/or another ounce of chocolate to increase the moisture in the brownie. Let me know if you try it!
After far too long on the internet looking for the perfect matcha dessert recipe to satisfy my cravings, I chose this one, and I’m glad I did! Turned out excellent even with a few deviations: I didn’t have time to let the eggs get to room temp, and I accidentally used a cup of white chocolate (though, I used a little less granulated sugar also). My oven is not the most precise and after the additional 10 minutes the knife wasn’t coming out clean, so I popped it back in for another 10 (so 30 mins total). Came out just right after that, with a little browning on the top that I actually like. These had a super moist interior—VERY fudge-y—and a nice chewy, slightly crisp edge and top. The Maldon salt on top is a must. Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to make it again for guests now that I know how to make it 🙂
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
So excited to give this recipe a try! Does reducing the 200 g granulated sugar by half affect the consistency?
Hi Esther. It will affect the consistency a little bit because sugar adds moisture in addition to sweetness. You can mitigate that by reducing the amount of sweet rice flour as well. I am not sure how much less however because I haven’t tested it with half the sugar. I hope this helps!
Hello! I’ve been eying this recipe for a really long time and I’m really excited to try it out sometime this week, it looks AMAZING! But since my entire household is mildly diabetic, I was wondering if you have any tips on how I may reduce the sugar amounts and how to tweak the other ingredients in order to still achieve such a lovely texture?
Hi Sharon. First off, I want to caveat this by saying I have not tried making it with less sugar. You could try substituting the sugar with date syrup like this one https://www.justdatesyrup.com/collections/shop/products/just-date-syrup. It still gives you sweetness and moisture without processed sugar. Let me know if you try it!
Can’t wait to try these! Would leftovers be okay in the freezer?
Hi Billy! Yes they will keep in the freezer! Freezing them might change their texture however. To help prevent that from happening, wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight freezer bag.
This looks beautiful! Could I replace the white sugar with a zero cal sweetener such as erythritol or xylitol? How about half half? Would that affect the texture of the brownies?
Hi Joyce! Thank you so much for saying that! I have not tested this recipe with different sweeteners, so I can’t say for sure it will work. My gut tells me it should be okay, but it will probably change the texture of the brownies. This a pretty fudgy brownie recipe, so it should be okay? The only thing I would be aware of is that matcha is inherently bitter, so maybe sample the batter before you bake it to make sure it’s sweet enough for you. Hopefully this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.
So I replaced half the white sugar with xylitol and texture was great! Nice gooey and chewy. Being one of those who can’t tolerate too sweet I did find the amount of sugar to be too sweet for me. Maybe 1c sugar or sweetener total may be enough for me.
That’s great! I will keep that in mind for my parents who have low sweet tolerance too.
I did use dark brown sugar packed into 1/4 cup so that could be the culprit. If using dark brown should I loosely pack it?
Ya I think loosely packed will help or even using less dark brown sugar. Maybe try 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar. For reference, 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup.
These matcha brownies turned out great! I got a 10/10 review from a friend. The brownies are flavorful but not too sweet. The texture is moist and more fudgey than chewy, but they may get chewier after sitting for longer. Relatively quick and easy to make, though I took a few shortcuts: I added the matcha powder and white chocolate pieces to the brown butter saucepan (one less bowl to wash), didn’t sift the flour (lazy), and didn’t bang the pan (forgot). Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank you so much Jeanette! And I love all your shortcuts!
Gonna have to try these – and have you heard your recipe won for brownies on David Chang’s Recipe Club?! Check out the podcast.
Thanks for saying that! As soon as I read this comment, I went and listened to the podcast episode. Then proceeded to hyperventilate for 10 minutes. Let me know what you think if you try it.
I was also led here by the Recipe Club podcast on brownies! Congratulations on your win and I think it is a great recipe every step of the way! I was won over by the white chocolate, which doesn’t deserve such a bad rap with the hosts…
This was a PERFECT recipe for matcha brownies and that the extra time put into whisking the base in step 5 helped make these fudgy. I left them in for a bit too long but the crispy top layer that developed was a great contrast to the insides — happy accidents! They probably won’t last long because my husband and I have been nibbling on them all day, so I’m already planning to make another batch (and more to leave as Christmas front porch goodies)!
Hi Georgette! Thank you so much for the kind words! I agree white chocolate gets a bad rap. It’s so good when used in the right way. I hope the brownies make your Christmas a little bit sweeter! 🙂
Like a few others, I also made this recipe after hearing it on Recipe Club! The texture is delightfully fudgy/gooey on the inside, while the edges and top provide a great crunchy contrasting bite. Overall super yummy 🙂
I reduced the granulated sugar and brown sugar lightly (~10%) without issue. Next time I’d increase the matcha amount since I like the bitter flavor and would prefer it to be stronger (may also depend on the matcha powder you own). Agree with a previous commenter I might just dump the white choco & matcha into my pot of brown butter next time to save a bowl, as well as skip browning the butter altogether since I feel like it’s not as useful in a recipe where matcha and white chocolate – both pretty dominant flavors – are already present.
Hi Anthony. Thank you for trying the recipe!
The Recipe Club episode brought me here! I want to make these “brownies!” This may be a silly question, but is the white chocolate supposed to be sweetened or unsweetened for this recipe? Are white chocolate chips okay?
Hi Cass. That’s not a silly question. I don’t believe there is an unsweetened version of white chocolate. White chocolate chips should work! Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thank you for the guidance! I made them and they were so so good!
These brownies are FANTASTIC! I have a lot of trouble making brownies from scratch for some reason, but these came out perfect and were a hit with friends. It had the perfect fudgey chewiness , nice crackle top, and yummy matcha and white chocolate flavor. I used Trader Joe’s Matcha packets since that’s what I had on hand and they worked great. I’ve made quite a handful of recipes from this blog, and all of them have been amazing, so thanks for sharing these recipes!!
I love how your brownies looked! Thank you for making them and all the other recipes 🙂
Hello I want to ask my brownies were very fudge in the middle but on the side were like muffin can I ask what did I do wrong ? 😭😭
Hi Casey. The brownies are supposed to be more fudgy in the center than at the sides. If you want brownies that are more fudgy throughout, you can try baking them for less time. The only downside of baking them for less time is that the center might not cook through adequately. Let me know if you try it!
Yes I tried it and it’s not fudgy anymore, it’s more like cake, it’s still yummy thanks for your advice . Is it because I only use half cup of granulated sugar that’s why it’s not fudgy anymore ?
Hi Tang. Yes that is probably the reason. Sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the brownie. If you want something that is similar in texture, you could try to reduce the amount of flour to try to get to the texture you want. Essentially, the texture comes from a balance of wet and dry ingredients. Alternatively, you can try using alternative forms of sugar such as date syrup. This is my favorite date syrup brand: https://www.justdatesyrup.com/products/just-date-syrup. Let me know if you try it again and how it turns out!
I only had 3oz of white chocolate, so I supplemented with an oz of dark chocolate and it surprisingly gave it “dirty matcha” vibes if you’re a fan of those. Would definitely do the dark chocolate again. Perfect fudgey interior, beautiful cracked top, and satisfies that brownie craving, but way more fun than a regular brownie! Definitely going to be making these foreeeever.
I love the idea of “dirty matcha”! So glad you enjoyed them!
Came here from a popular Tik Tok! He didn’t credit you but I just googled ‘matcha brownies’ and your recipe was the first thing I found with the exact same measurements since having to watch the tin Tok over and over to make it was annoying haha. Anyways I just wanted to say thank you for your recipe, I LOVE it and made it 3x this week!! I added half a teaspoon of almond extract in my last batch and it was delicious. I’m obsessed with matcha and this was the perfect satisfying treat.
Wow that’s crazy! Thank you for trying the recipe! I gotta try these with a teaspoon of almond extract.