It’s been such a long time since I’ve revisited this matcha cookie recipe. I first developed this recipe for matcha cookies a few years ago when I was first beginning my love affair with matcha. That love has since grown, so I wanted to take a chance to improve this recipe with all the knowledge I’ve gained in the past few years. I tested this recipe a few times over the past week, and made some huge adjustments that improved not only the texture but taste of this recipe.
Ingredients
I’ve added notes and tips to the ingredient list, so make sure to read through them.
- Flour – This is the main dry ingredient. The balance between this ingredient and butter are what helps create the perfect cookie texture.
- Baking soda – Baking soda helps the cookie spread. Make sure to use baking soda, not baking powder.
- Salt – Brings out the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Matcha powder – The addition of matcha powder balances out the sweetness of the sugars in this cookie. It also gives the cookie its pretty green color. My favorite matcha brand is Aiya Matcha. I used their culinary grade matcha powder for this recipe. Use cookingtherapy10 to get 10% off your purchase!
- Butter – I used browned butter for this recipe. Brown butter is when you heat butter on the stove until it turns a golden yellow color and brown specs begin to form at the bottom of the pan.
- White sugar – White sugar encourages browning and spread in the cookie.
- Brown sugar– Brown sugar adds moisture and makes the cookie more chewy.
- Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the cookie. You can substitute vanilla extract with vanilla paste.
- Eggs – I used room temperature eggs in this cookie recipe because they are easier to incorporate.
- White chocolate chips – Any type of white chocolate should work for this recipe!
Tools you will need
- 2 baking sheets – You will need 2 baking sheets so your cookie dough can be placed 2 inches apart. Be careful not to crowd the baking sheet.
- 2 mixing bowls – One is for dry ingredients, and one is for wet ingredients.
- Parchment paper – Parchment paper makes it easier to clean your baking sheets after you’re done baking, and it prevents your cookie from sticking to the baking sheets.
- 1 3 tablespoon ice cream scoop – An ice cream scoop makes scooping cookie dough so much easier. I would highly recommend it.
Making my matcha cookies
These cookies take a little bit of patience and time, but they are well worth it. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then brown your butter. Use a light colored pan to heat your butter over medium heat until it turns a golden yellow color. Pour it into a heat proof bowl and set aside. Next step is to combine your dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and matcha powder into a medium-sized bowl. Make sure to sift your matcha powder to prevent clumping. Set aside.
Combine your brown butter, brown sugar, and white sugar into a large bowl. Add in your vanilla extract and eggs. Whisk until it is a light and creamy texture (~1 minute). Finally combine your wet and dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until a green dough forms. Add in your white chocolate chips and combine.
Rest your dough for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the liquid to rehydrate the dough. This will allow your cookies to bake more evenly. After resting, use a 3 tablespoon ice cream scoop to scoop cookie dough onto your baking sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes. You are looking for the bottoms to be a light brown color. Once out of the oven, cool for 10 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack. Cool the cookies for another 15 minutes before serving. Cooling the cookies will help the cookies hold its shape.
Tips for making the best matcha cookies
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Make sure the brown butter is not too hot – Cool down the butter before combining with the rest of your wet ingredients, so the heat from the butter doesn’t cook the eggs.
- Why use brown butter – Brown butter creates a cookie with a crispy outside and a chewy center.
- Which pan should you use to brown butter? – Make sure to brown your butter in a light coloured pan so you can see the color of the butter as it browns. This helps to prevent you from burning the butter.
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Sift matcha powder – Sifting the matcha powder will prevent clumps from forming.
- How to get the perfect thin, chewy texture – Whisk your wet ingredients until you get a light and creamy mixture. This is the key to getting crispy and chewy cookie.
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Rest the dough at room temperature for 30 minutes – Resting the dough allows the liquid to distribute throughout and ensures the cookie bakes more evenly. It also helps to cool down the dough, so your butter melts at a slower rate. The faster your butter melts, the more your cookies spread in the oven. I personally like a thinner cookie, and I live in a cool/dry environment, so I rest the dough at room temperature. If you live in a hot/humid environment and/or if you like a chunkier cookie, I would recommend resting the dough in the fridge.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the dough – The key to getting consistent round cookies is an ice cream scoop. It is the cleanest, most efficient way to form the cookies.
- How to prevent your cookies from burning – In the first few tests of this recipe, I burned the bottoms of my cookies because they were too close to the broiler. To fix the issue, I moved my oven rack, so it was in the top third of my oven and the farthest away from the broiler. This way my cookies could cook through without burning the bottoms.
- Use an oven thermometer – The other key to getting perfect cookies is the correct temperature. The other reason my cookies used to burn is that my oven is 50 degrees higher than what it says on the oven dial. That’s why getting an oven thermometer was a life changer. It’s a $7 well worth it.
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Storing cookie dough – Freeze cookie dough for safe storage and pull out in case of cookie emergencies. You don’t need to thaw them out before baking. Simply put them on a baking sheet and throw them in the oven.
Did you make my matcha cookies?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Brown Butter White Chocolate Matcha Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp matcha powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brown your butter. Heat your butter over medium heat until it turns a golden yellow color. Pour butter in a heat proof bowl to cool. As the butter cools, it will get darker in color.
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and matcha powder in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- Next add in white sugar and brown sugar to your butter. Mix to combine. Once well combined, add in your eggs and vanilla. Whisk together. Whisk until you get a light and creamy texture (~1 minute). This is the key to getting a crisp and chewy cookie.
- Once the wet ingredients are well mixed, slowly add in the dry ingredients from step 3. Combine with a spatula until a green dough forms.
- Add in the white chocolate chips and mix until they are well incorporated.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 3 tablespoon (1.5 oz) ice cream scoop to scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets. Cookies should be 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes.
- Let cookies cool for 10 minutes before putting them on a cooling rack.
- Cool cookies for another 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
5.1K
I have a question. Why is there a need to use two different sugars?
Hi Shania! The two sugars work in different ways to create the cookie. White sugar causes the dough to rise more and spread out less, and the brown sugar does the opposite. Therefore, both are used to create a balance between how much the cookie rises and how much the cookie spreads out. I hope this answers your question!
Hi Becca, I decided to try your matcha white chocolate cookies today but I was disappointed with the result, it seems to have spread really fin and it’s quite buttery, did I do something wrong? Thank you!
Hi Victoria.
1. Try reducing the amount of butter you use to 3/4 cups. The cookies should still bake well and it will have less of a buttery taste.
2. I am not sure why your cookies are spreading too thinly. A few reasons that can happen is your oven might be too hot. Your dough might not have chilled long enough. Make sure to bake your cookies on the middle rack.
Thanks for the tips, hopefully they’ll be better next time!
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi! Thank you so much for your recipe! It was delicious! My only problem was that it didn’t really spread out. Is there a reason for that? The only difference I did was half the recipe because i didn’t want to bake a lot & cool the butter in the fridge for about 3 mins. Just to speed up the cooking after the browning. I kept the temp. time the same though. Would that be the reason? Thank you!
Hi Kristabel! Thank you for trying the recipe. If your cookies are not spreading out, it could be a few things.
1. You could be adding too much flour. You should be scooping the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon instead of scooping the flour with a measuring cup. When you do the latter, it compresses the flour and you end up adding more.
2. The temperature of your oven might be inaccurate. Most ovens even really high end ones don’t have accurate temperatures. It could be worth it to get an oven thermometer. They’re pretty affordable. I have one because my oven isn’t accurate.
3. Are you creaming the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy? This helps them spread.
Hi! Was wondering if you can sub out the white sugar for some honey/maple syrup instead — reading your previous comments about how the white sugar causes rise in the cookies and wasn’t sure if honey/ms would create that same effect.
Hi Andrea! I have not tried substituting for honey or maple syrup, but I think it should still work. Substitute 1/3 cup of honey for white sugar. Because honey has 20% more water, I would add 1-2 tablespoons more flour to make sure you have the correct consistency for the dough. When you bake the cookies, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Honey browns faster than white sugar, so it will also burn faster. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
Hello there! I’ve baked these cookies a few times already and they spread out pretty thin every time and they’re huge. On your directions it says to have the dough sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes. Is that correct? Or is it supposed to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes?
Hi Christine! If you want to make them smaller, you can use a smaller cookie scoop and cook them for less time (~5 minutes). Yes I let them sit out at room temperature, but you can also put them in the fridge. If you want chunkier cookies, I would mix the butter and sugar less. I hope this helps!
Can I freeze these and cook them for another day?
yes you can!
Hi, Becca! Just a quick question, by whisk you mean using the whisk attachment of the Kitchen Aid or paddle attachment? Thank you!
Hi Raven. I mean the paddle attachment.
Awesome! Thank you! Your recipe is delicious, already tried it and they are chewy.
I love hearing that!
Brilliant recipe, easy to follow and end result is delicious 🤤
Thank you so much Sopania! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
I tried these today and they turned out INCREDIBLE!!! so amazing and my friends loved them too 🙂 If you like matcha flavoured deserts, you HAVE to try this recipe!!! Thank you soo much <3
Thank you so much Danielle! I’m so glad you and your friends loved them 🙂
Can I put this in the fridge for at least an hour so my cookies will be chunkier?
Yes you can!
Hi Becca! I’m planning to try your recipe. Should I make any adjustment to your recipe if I want to put more matcha powder? I’m planning to put 2 tbsp of matcha but I’m afraid they might turn out to be too dry. Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Zia. I would reduce the flour by a tablespoon. 16 tablespoons = 1 cup. So use 1 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons of flour.
If you’re unsure if 1tbs matcha is enough when making these, I would definitely advise to follow your gut and add more. I found when making these that I could barely taste any matcha flavour at all and the colour was not as vibrant as those pictured, more of a dark brown/green colour. I also found I needed to increase my baking time to 15 minutes or the centres were raw even after cooling on the trays.
I am quite an experienced baker so I was surprised it didn’t turn out how I pictured. I think it could be due to the quality of my matcha powder, perhaps it is of a lower quality or potency compared to yours. Next time I would increase my matcha to 3tbs to achieve some sort of matcha flavour and perhaps reduce my brown sugar slightly, or not brown my butter so I can have a greener cookie.
It was a nice biscuit and was a balanced recipe if not for the matcha component.
Thanks for the feedback and trying the recipe! I would recommend using a different matcha powder next time. I use Aiya culinary grade matcha powder which holds it’s color really well with just 1 tablespoon. https://aiya-america.com/culinary-grade-matcha-100g-bag/ The kind of matcha powder used does matter.
Hi there!
Love your cookie recipe i made it with a rooibos matcha powder where it works AMAZINGLY but I have been struggling with the actual green matcha powder, had to add more for a greener colour and flavour and the bottoms burn easily. have been baking on the top rack to try avoid this, but what is the best solution – lower temp for longer or higher temp for shorter?
My cookies have also been temperamental with spreading and then not spreading :/
Hi Eva. Thank you for trying the recipe! Here are a few tips I can offer:
1. It seems like your oven might not have accurate temperatures. I would recommend an oven thermometer for more accurate temperatures. I used to burn my cookies all the time but after I got an oven thermometer, that happened less often.
2. I am not familiar with rooibos matcha powder, so I can’t speak to their quality. Good quality matcha powder is what gets you that vibrant green color and rich matcha flavor. I typically only use Aiya culinary matcha powder for that reason. Both the color and flavor hold up really well in the oven. You can purchase it online on their website https://aiya-america.com/culinary-grade-matcha-100g-bag/ or at some major grocery stories like Whole Foods.
3. In terms of spreading, cookies spread because the fat melts in the oven. I know I say in the recipe to rest the cookie dough at room temperature but that can be tricky if your temperature is warmer/more humid. In the Bay area where I developed this recipe, it’s typically pretty dry and cool most of the time. I would recommend throwing your cookies in the fridge to rest. Let me know if that helps with the spreading.
Hi Becca! This looks SOOO yum and I can’t wait to try making it! I am thinking of adding some macadamia nuts to it. How many would you recommend adding? Also, is the 1 cup of brown sugar lightly or tightly packed? Thanks 🙂
Hi Amanda! I can’t wait to see how yours turn out! I think the amount of macadamia nuts should depend on how many you want in your cookies. I would say about 1/2 cup would be a good amount. 1 cup of tightly packed brown sugar. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi! These cookies look amazing and I want to bake them but I have a question. Usually 1 cup of white sugar is 200g, so 1/2 cup would be 100g. But the metric converter is saying 118g for 1/2 cup. Do you think I should follow that (118g) or my instinct (100g)?
Hi Mario. I think you’re right. It should be 100 grams. I need to look into the metric converter! Let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi! I’d love to try your recipe but before that I’d like to confirm..
“Whisk until you get a light and creamy texture”.. can you achieve that with hand whisk or handheld mixer? Can you post a picture of that status of texture so we can know easier that we are good to go?
Thank you!
Hello! The texture should be like a brown whipped cream. Whisking for about a minute should get you there. Let me know if you have any more questions!
The cookie came out really nice and soft and spread nicely too. I just used 1.5 sticks of butter instead of 2 whole sticks. I couldn’t find the vanilla extract so I didn’t add any in either.
However, I do find that the cookies are a little saltier than expected… Next time I’ll definitely reduce the salt to maybe 1/2 tsp.
Hi Aly. Thank you for trying the recipe and for the feedback!
Hi! I want to try your recipe, but I only have tea bags at the moment.
Is it possible to use loose tea leaves or green tea tea bags instead of powder?
Hi Celine. Typically, the tea in tea bags are lower quality, so the flavor and color will be different. I can’t say how different since I have not tried it myself. Sorry I can’t be of more help. Let me know if you try it.
Best cookies…I have ever made…in my 30 years on this planet.
loll Thank you so much for making them!
First time baking since the start of the quarantine and these turned out so well. The texture was nice and crumbly – my partner did think these were a bit too salty, but I like cookies that way, so maybe I’d experiment with the amount of salt. The cookies I put on the shelf closer to the broiler definitely browned a lot better, so I’ll remember that for next time. Thanks for the recipe – such a great way to use up my matcha powder! Reading the tips as I went along was also really helpful.
Hi Tristan. Thank you so much for trying the recipe!
My coworker made these with a twist for the holidays. She left out the matcha and added in crushed candy canes. They were the absolute most delicious cookies EVER! She also rested the dough in the fridge. So yummy!
That sounds amazing!! That candy cane twist is so cool. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Sooo good!! One of the best cookie recipe I have personally ever made!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for making it!