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 and specifically matcha desserts. 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, Substitutions & Adjustments
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 for these matcha cookies
- 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 matcha 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 1 hour in the fridge to allow the liquid to rehydrate the dough. (If you want flatter cookies, rest the dough for less time) 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 10-12 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.
White Chocolate Matcha Cookies Video
Please note that I only made 1/2 the recipe in this video. I ran out of eggs the day I filmed it :(.
Tips for making the best matcha cookies
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. Additionally, butter that’s too hot will create a greasier cookie.
Why do I use brown butter?
Brown butter creates a cookie with a crispy outside and a chewy center. It also adds an extra nutty flavor to the cookies.
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.
Why do you need to sift the matcha powder?
Sifting the matcha powder prevents clumps from forming and results in a more even green color.
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. If you are looking for a crispier texture, see my crispy matcha cookie recipe.
Rest the dough in the fridge for at least 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. If you want a really chunky cookie, add more flour. If you like a thinner cookie, rest it for a shorter amount of time.
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.
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.
How do you store cookie dough?
Freeze cookie dough for safe storage and pull out in case of cookie emergencies. You don’t need to thaw them before baking. Simply put them on a baking sheet and throw them in the oven.
How do you store cookies?
Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They can be stored up to 7 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer. A good hack for storing soft cookies like these is add a piece of white bread to the container. The moisture from the bread helps the cookie keep its texture.
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
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp matcha powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light 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 in the fridge for 1 hour.
- 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 10-12 minutes.
- Let cookies cool for 10 minutes before putting them on a cooling rack.
- Cool cookies for another 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Rest your dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cookies spread more when the fat melts faster. Cooling down the dough will prevent the fat (ie. butter) from melting too fast, creating a chunkier cookie. If you like a thinner cookie, rest it at room temperature or in the fridge for less time.
- Some people have mentioned that the cookies don’t have enough matcha in them, and I think the biggest culprit for that is the quality of your matcha. I use Aiya culinary grade matcha which holds its flavor and color really well in the oven. However, if you think your matcha is lower quality, use at least 2 tablespoons to ensure both the color and flavor come through.
- Update 3/15/23
- Many people have mentioned they’ve had issues with spreading. A cookie spreads because the butter is melting too fast and/or the balance of wet to dry ingredients. Because of this issue, I added an additional 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour to the recipe and increased the resting time in the fridge to 1 hour to reduce the spreading. If you want a flatter cookie, don’t add the additional 2 tablespoons and rest for less time.
- Additionally, I have tested many cookie recipes since developing this one and have found that the texture and flavor of cookies in general is better if you rest the dough for 24 hours. This will further reduce the spreading. This dough can rest in the fridge for up to 72 hours.
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!
my cookies looked so good omg, I didn’t use salt I just substituted for salted butter and it still tastes awesome. Thank you for the amazing recipe !!
Hi Ivy. That sounds like a great idea! I love that substitution. I’m so excited you liked them! 🙂
This is the perfect matcha cookie recipe! I have never had cookies turn out with the perfect combination of chewy interior and crispy edges at the same time quite like this. I think the combo of the brown butter and two sugars really has an amazing effect on the flavor and texture. I chilled my dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes, as directed, before baking. The cookies puffed up beautifully instead of flattening out on the pan. Excited to try more of your recipes!!
Thank you so much Natalie! Your cookies turned out AMAZING. So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Hello. Tried your recipe. It was good however it was a little too sweet. Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar added and still maintain the chewiness of the cookie?
Hi Mimi. I haven’t tried reducing the sugar myself, but I believe it should still be okay. Some of the people who’ve made these cookies adjusted the sweetness successfully. For example, Brenda who commented on June 13, 2021 made a few adjustments including reducing the sugar successfully.
Hi Becca! I’m trying out your recipe today! Hopefully it will turn out well 😀 just one quick questions, if I want to make this less sweet to accommodate my family’s tastebuds, can I cut out the white sugar completely? Will it affect my cookies in any way? Thank you so much!
Hi Vy. Thank you for trying out my recipe! If you take out the white sugar it will affect the cookies’ texture. White sugar not only adds sweetness but also moisture to the cookies. I think in general it should still taste good, but it will look different than what is in the pictures. Let me know how it goes!
Hi Becca! I did end up using your recipe to the Tee and it turned out amazingly in terms of texture! But it was overwhelmingly sweet 😅 I will try halving both the sugars next time to see if it will affect the texture. But this is an amazing recipe and I will definitely bookmark this 😍
So happy to hear that! Yes definitely try halving the sugars next time. Thanks for trying the recipe!
This cookie was AMAZING! I made a few tweaks to my liking, mainly reducing the sweetness and adding some nuts. I decreased the sugar (slightly under 1/2 cup white sugar + heaping 1/2 cup of brown sugar), decreased the white chocolate (1/2 cup), and added 1/2 cup of halved & toasted hazelnuts. I also refrigerated the dough prior to baking because I like myself a chonky cookie. They turned out so well and were just the right amount of sweetness for my liking. I was also surprised with how well the hazelnuts paired with the matcha flavour!
However, they were a bit greasy (fingers were shiny after touching them), so maybe I will try adding less butter next time (maybe because I lessened the sugar, so the proportions were a little off?).
I read some comments that say that there wasn’t enough green tea flavour; I used this (Ujinotsuyu Matcha Hagoromo Green Tea Powder) and 1 tablespoon was good enough for me.
Hi Joyce. Thank you for trying the recipe and putting your own spin on it! I especially love the addition of the hazelnuts! I have to try that for myself.
Hey! I am planning on making the cookies tomorrow and have a quick question. Would the cookies still taste good if I used regular brown chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips?
Hi Amreen. Yes they should still taste good! Let me know how it goes!
Hi Becca – these cookies are SO GOOD!! Thank you so much for the recipe. Quick question – do you know how long will they last sitting out after baking?
Thank you for making them! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. They can be stored at room temperature in a covered container for 2-3 weeks and 2 months in the fridge.
Oh my God! This is the first matcha cookies recipe that I’ve tried, and taste SOOOOO GOOD! Definitely foolproof, you’ll get the best tasting matcha cookies outta this recipe! Mine didn’t look too green, but the matcha taste is superb. Probably because of the difference in matcha powder. The smell of matcha after baking each batch….. such heavenly smell for matcha lover! Thanks for sharing this recipe, you really made my day~ 🥰
Thank you for trying this recipe!! I hope you have a great weekend!
Tried your recipe and it was amazing!!! We used 4 tbsp matcha for 2x batch. We we’re not able to achieve the green color that we want but the matcha taste was there. We’ll try a culinary grade matcha next time. Also, we reduced the sugar to 175g white and 350g brown sugar. It was still a tad sweet but it tasted divine! We topped each cookie with dark chocolate chips and a pinch of salt. It has been 3 days and the cookies are still soft and chewy. Love from the philippines
Thank you for making the recipe!!!
1 tbsp matcha powder how many gram is this?
17 grams of matcha powder
hi, can this be subbed with almond flour?
Hi Samantha! I haven’t tried this with almond flour, so unfortunately, I can’t say how it will affect the texture. If you try it, definitely let me know how it goes!
When whipping the butter and sugar, should I still be able to see the sugar granules? A consistency is thick and creamy? Mine keeps getting flat after taking out of oven
Hi Ella. You shouldn’t be able to see the sugar granules anymore. It should be thick almost like whipped cream. The brownies should flatten out once it cools. Hope this helps!
After browning the butter, the amount is reduced significantly to 170g from 227g (as required in your recipe). Can I jus use the 170g of melted butter?
Yes you can!
hi becca!
amazing recipe! the flavour is heavenly! i baked a couple of them after chilling the dough in the fridge for 30 mins and it turned out great! however the next batch that i baked, i stored it in the freezer over night and the edges were too crispy yet the center wasn’t fully baked.
any tips on fixing this problem? thanks!
Hi Andrea! Thanks for trying the recipe and so happy you enjoyed them!! To fix the issue you mentioned, I would recommend letting them defrost at room temperature for 2-3 hours and then baking them. Or you can also bake them straight out of the freeze4 at 330 degrees F for 2-5 minutes longer than what is mentioned in the recipe (~15-17 minutes). Let me know if that works for you!
Hi,
I would love to try this recipe but I’m hoping for a crispier texture rather than a chewy one. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Thanks.
Hi Denise. I have not tried making a cookie with a crispy texture, but I’ve heard using shortening instead of butter helps give the cookie a crispy texture. Let me know if you try it!
Very disappointed with this recipe. I couldn’t serve them to guests. My cookies turned out nothing like the photos. As I bake often and have done for a decade, I know how cookies are meant to look if using melted butter/ cold butter. The cookies used on your site looks like cold butter was used due to them not spreading when baked and not as flat as cookies cooked with melted butter.
Sugar. The sugar quantities were unusual. Usually in cookie recipes the ratio of caster to brown sugar are usually equal quantities, or brown sugar with slightly more. However there was a huge difference in measurements of caster to brown sugar which made my cookies very grainy and unpleasant.
Butter. There was too much butter used. When I tried my cookies my hand was covered in oily butter, not nice at all. Felt very fattening
Flavour. Although the caramel browned butter flavour came through which was delightful, there was no taste of matcha. I added more matcha because I had a feeling this would happen but it still was not enough matcha flavour.
I am so sorry this recipe didn’t work for you! Thank you for trying them.
The cookies turned out so amazingly soft and chewy! I made a few adjustments to the recipe to better suit my tastes. I used 2.5tbsp of matcha powder as mine isn’t very high quality + a bit old, 85g (just under 1/2 cup) of white sugar, 110g (1/2 cup) of brown sugar, and 185g (just over 3/4 cup) of butter. I also used 1/2 of macadamia nuts and 1/2 a cup of white chocolate chunks instead. It was pretty warm in my kitchen so I stuck it in the fridge for half an hour before baking and that worked out amazing. The matcha flavour was really nice and strong and the cookies were perfectly unsweet to my liking. I’ll definitely be making these again!
Thank you so much for making these and sharing your experience!! I’m so excited they worked out for you!
My cookies spread thinly 😭 but still tastes good! I will try to do better next time. I think i didn’t chill the dough long enough. I love the sweetness. Not too sweet. Just nice.
I was wondering would it be okay if i add a lil bit of baking powder to prevent it from spreading too much? Thankyou!
Hi Syaza. Oh no!! It is definitely hard to get it just right. What I usually do is touch the dough to make sure it’s a little cold but not freezing. I don’t know if that helps you. I am not sure about adding baking powder. If you do try it, let me know!
If you don’t have room in the oven for 2 half sheet pans on the same rack, can you place one on the higher rack and the other on the second rack. Swap positions around halfway cook time so they don’t over heat? Or is it better to just bake them separately.
Yes you can do that!
Do you measure the flour with a scale? I’m a novice baker and one site mentions to use a scale for a more accurate measurement due to compression of the flour in a measuring cup. When I used my 1 cup measuring cup it showed up as 5 oz on the scale. By the time I filled up 2 cups, it looked like more than 3/4 of a 1.5 qt bowl was filled. I ended up having to mix the wet and dry ingredients by hand instead of with a spatula since it looked like there was too much flour. Even though I used the same matcha powder it’s not as dark as yours. It still tasted fine in the end but all my chocolate chips ended up inside since it was hard to mix.
I don’t measure my flour with a scale but it is better to use a scale because it’s way more accurate. I avoid the compression of the flour by spooning my flour into the measuring cup. That’s weird how it’s not as dark as mine. Did you get the Aiya culinary grade matcha powder? It should yield a rich green color. I hope you try the recipe again some time! Let me know if you have any more questions.
I got the Aiya Culinary grade matcha at Whole Foods. It looks like it’s on sale this week. I’ll definitely try the recipe again and try spooning the flour into the measuring cup to compare with the scale.
I remade it again after finding out that 1 cup of flour is not the same as 8oz liquid. It ends up being closer to 4.5 oz for dry but I saw some websites list 1 cup of flour as 120-136g and I ended up using 128g on my scale. This time it came out the same color as the one in your photos.
Nice! That’s awesome!
I made these cookies last night and they are DELICIOUS. The only thing I changed was I added 1/2 cup more flour plus 1/4 tsp more matcha to enhance matcha flavor. So good.
Thank you so much for making them! I think more matcha is always better 🙂
This is my go-to matcha cookie recipe! Tender, chewy, bit crispy on the edges – awesome stuff.
My only major diversion is that I never add white chocolate chips (or non-white chocolate chips, which is actually a worse idea because they completely overwhelm the matcha flavor) – I just make them as straight-up matcha cookies. Because I know I’m not working with the best quality matcha (pretty sure most people in the U.S. aren’t unless you’re paying big bucks for very little ceremonial grade stuff) but love matcha flavor, I also bump up the matcha to a quarter cup or more. If you want a really strong matcha cookie, definitely do that. I’d also recommend refrigerating the dough a bit so that it’s easier to handle. My most recent batch I decided to try out substituting the browned butter with an equal amount of neutral oil (the browned butter is delicious – I just felt like experimenting) and they came out perfectly good.
Hi Tara. Thank you so much for trying out the recipe. I love reading about all your experiments! Now I want to try a cookie with oil. If you are looking for some good culinary matcha, I always recommend Aiya because it’s my favorite!
Hi, I made your recipe, love the flavours but my cookies turned out cakey instead of doughy, any idea what I did wrongly? Thank you!
Hi Amelia. I don’t think you did anything wrong! Try baking it a few minutes less and the center should be gooey when it comes out of the oven. It should then harden a bit as it cools. Let me know how it goes!
Hi,
I’ve baked with metric measurements and it’s a bit of a disaster. I’m quite skilled baker, but since I’m new to baking with matcha, I wanted to follow a recipe. The ratio of butter to flour might be possibly wrong and it ends up baking into flat super greasy caramelised sugar even if I chilled it for more than half an hour beforehand. Then I’ve added more flour and it started to look more like a cookie. I think the recipe in metrics needs a revision:(
Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely look at the metric measurements.
I finally got around to trying this recipe for the first time and brought them to a holiday party and they were a huge hit! My girlfriends all loved it!! I follow the recipe to a T and it is of the best cookie recipes I’ve ever tried. It’s officially my favorite!! Thank you so much for this recipe, Becca. I am making this for everyone from now on!! Also, thank you for all your wonderful recipes on here! I am a regular 😊
Thank you so much for trying the recipe! I’m so excited that you and your friends loved it 🙂 Let me know if you have any recipe requests!
Doubled the recipe, refridgerated the dough overnight. Sharing with a group of honest friends the following day. I’ll share the majority’s response. (the dough’s texture & smell were amazing, btw!)
Hi Tomi. The dough is always a good indicator of how the cookies will taste 🙂 I hope you and your friends enjoy them!
I never browned butter before but this extra step makes for an amazing cookie! Use quality
Matcha. I did not let the dough rest as long since the butter is already melted. I used macadamia nuts for some of the mini white Chocolate chips. I used a mini ice cream scoop for the perfect shaped cookies.
Amazing! That brown butter is life changing! 🙂
you can barely taste the matcha flavour. I used Domo Pure matcha powder, but I don’t know if it’s a good quality matcha or not.
You might need to use more matcha powder. I used Aiya culinary grade matcha powder, and I often only need to use 1 tablespoon because the flavor and color hold up really well in the oven. Thank you for trying the recipe.
Hey Becca!! Thanks so much for this incredible recipe- it works perfectly every time, even using frozen dough ☺️ I’ve tried three other matcha cookie recipes and yours is by far my favorite. I cannot stop eating these!!
Hi Lulu. That makes me so excited to hear!! I’m so glad you enjoy them!!!
Hi! I was wondering if it’s necessary for the browned butter to cool before adding the sugar? Great recipe by the way, I’ve made them about 6 times now:)
Oh wow! Thanks for making it! I like to cool it down because I find that the cookies become greasy if it’s too warm. But honestly, if you’re okay with a little grease, definitely use it while warm. 🙂
I accidentally scooped the flour instead of spooning it into the measuring cup but they turned out just like the pictures! Some cookies taste best straight out of the oven and warm, but I think these ones really shine after they’ve chilled and set for a little longer. Will definitely make again!
Amazing!! I agree they’re way better after setting 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Becca!
I was wondering if I could use ground flax seeds & water instead of eggs? Would that work?
Hi Tiffany. Unfortunately, I’m not sure because I haven’t tried that before. 🙁 I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I’ve never bake anything from scratch before and this is my first! My husband also loves it so that’s a plus lol
Hi Trinity! Thank you so much for trying the recipe! I’m so glad it worked out for you and your husband! 🙂
Hi! I would love to substitute butter to coconut oil, can I do this end use the same amount of them?
Hi Larissa! I honestly have never tried that, but I have had friends tell me they use coconut oil instead of butter. So that tells me it should work, but I can’t say for sure. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Hi! Just wanted to ask if I can reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 cup instead of 1 to make it less sweet? Thank you! 🙂
Yes you can but I would also reduce the amount of flour that is used to balance out the wet and dry ingredients. That ensures the texture is not too dry. I have not tested this recipe with less sugar but I think reducing it by 1/4 cup should work! Let me know how they turn out!
Great recipe, thank you so much for posting this! I made a triple batch right away on the first try and it turned out so well. I made so much because I’m planning to take them on a camping trip with 8 friends the day after tomorrow. Most of them love matcha but have never heard of hojicha, so fingers crossed for loves.
Tweaks I made include using hojicha instead of matcha, replacing half the butter with coconut oil and replacing once cup of the sugar with more flour because I think your original recipe is way too sweet. Hojicha is roasted green tea so it’s a darker, duller army green instead of the vibrant grass green color matcha gives off. Additionally I used dark brown sugar instead of light, which is delicious, but my batter looked like chocolate when I knew I used none at all. Since I’m doing a triple batch, your recipe says I needed three cups of brown sugar and 1.5 of white sugar; I used two cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of white.
I divided my triple batch into one-and-a-half batch of white chocolate chip and sesame cookies and one-and-a-half batch of dark chocolate chip and walnut cookies. Sweet but not too sweet, with a nutty cruch and that chocolate surprise.
My cookies turned out quite soft and cakey instead of chewy, but I like it like that. I guess that’s a tradeoff for replacing one cup of the sugar with flour. I’d like to try making a gluten free version of these cookies, substituting wheat flour with almond flour next time, because I have a feeling it would work well.
Wow thank you for making this recipe and making it your own! I loved reading all the substitutions you made! I absolutely love hojicha and I bet your cookies tasted amazing!
These are sooooo good! Everyone that tasted it loved it. I did add a bit more matcha because I love the flavor.
I’m so glad you liked them! More matcha is always a good thing in my book!
As you expected. Too damn sweet.
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. Thank you for trying it!
Thank you for this easy to follow recipe! My cookies turned out well, and I’m very happy about them. It can be a sad when you use good ingredients, but they don’t turn out as well as you liked, but these ones delivered 👍🏼
Thank you for the kind words Evelyn! I’m glad you liked them!
The cookies had a nice shape and smelled great but were much too sweet and the matcha’s flavor is barely noticeable.
Hi Naomi. Thank you for trying the recipe! Which matcha powder did you use? If you try this recipe again, you can use more matcha powder to increase the matcha flavor and balance out the sweetness from the sugar.
Hello!! I tried the recipe AND IT WAS SO GOOD!! my only issue was that my cookies ended up being very thin. it got a little golden on top but slightly underbaked in the inside. im not sure how to fix it, should i lower the temperature when putting the cookies into the oven?
I would leave them in the fridge for longer. That helps the butter garden more and melt slower in the oven. The faster the butter melts the thinner the cookies will be! In terms of the underbaked center, I would leave them in the oven for 2-3 minutes longer! Let me know if you try them again and how it goes!
its the absolute best cookie i have ever tasted in my whole life its even better than a bakery’s cookie
Wow that’s a huge compliment! Thank you so much! I’m so excited you enjoyed them 😊
After I read the whole recipe, I was then in doubt with the quantity of the flour used. It was only 2 cups ot 250 g. It would be a very thin cookie and I was not mistaken. I would definitely change the recipe to 355 grams of flour instead of 250 g only.
Thank you for trying the recipe and providing your feedback!
Hi there from Germany – these looked perfect for Christmas, but my dough came out like soup. I used vegan butter instead of dairy, but this seems to be fine in other recipes that call for butter. I added some oats to thicken it up, but I still think it’ll be too wet to hold together. Help! What went wrong? Oh, and the recipe says two eggs, but in the video you only added one. Could it be I that I should’ve only used one?
No it’s definitely 2 eggs! I have never made this recipe with vegan butter, so I am not not sure what the difference is. From your description, it sounds like the dough needs more flour and possibly more time in the fridge. It sounds like the balance of wet to dry ingredients is off. I would add enough flour so that the dough does not stick to your fingers anymore. I wish I could be of more help!
Ok, maybe I’ll give it another try with real butter. I noticed another baker who used the metric version (as did I) also had disappointing results. I do love when a recipe can be converted, but perhaps it’s off somehow? Anyway, thanks for all your work and positive energy!
Hmmm that could also be it too. I use a program that converts all my measurements automatically to weights, so it’s possible it’s off. I will definitely revisit this recipe and test it in weight measurements to make sure it works! Thanks for the feedback.
Hello! I’ve made these before and they were so good but now I am gluten free. Could I use gluten free flour with this recipe?
Hi Kierra. Unfortunately, I am not sure if you can use gluten free flour with this recipe because I have not tested it. I do have a friend with a gluten free matcha chocolate chip cookie recipe though! She’s an amazing baker: https://bojongourmet.com/matcha-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-paleo/. Hope this helps!
Hello! I made these last night, and they taste great! I have a question though – in your recipe video, you put in 1 egg, but the written recipe says 2 eggs. Which one would you say it is? I used 2 eggs and the dough was quite liquidy and spread a lot. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Nicole! I only used 1 egg in the video because I only made half the recipe! I ran out of eggs 🙁 It should be 2 eggs though! If you make this recipe again and you want less spread, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour! Thank you so much for trying the recipe!
Hi Becca, do you have recommendations on how to keep the cookies soft after baking? How long can the cookies be stored?
They were delicious when they came out of the oven but were hard the next day.
Hi Saher. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and up to 7 days in the fridge. For soft cookies like this, try storing them with a slice of white bread. This helps keep them moist since the moisture from the bread seeps into the cookie. Let me know if that helps!
If you love butter, especially browned butter, this recipe is for you, SO buttery and chewy! If you are like me though, loving matcha for its flavor and prefer butter in moderation, these cookies are not for you. I found the browned butter quite overpowered the matcha—and I had doubled my culinary grade matcha. Suffice it to say for my tastes and to avoid flat cookies, I’d have to edit the recipe a lot. For you butter lovers out there though, I’m sure this recipe will be a delight!
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. Thank you for trying it!
We tried this recipe tonight and my entire family LOVED IT! Most definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing
That’s amazing! I’m so glad your family loved it!
I’ve gotten into the habit of testing a one or two cookies when trying out a new recipe and I’m glad I did for this one. My first batch spread way too much even after resting in the fridge for the recommended amount of time. So, I added about a half cup of flour and rested the dough in the freezer for a bit to really firm them up and they came out perfectly! I also consulted a few other recipes before this one that recommended 325 degrees to keep the color which seems to work perfectly with the 1.5 tbsp I added. Lately, I did a mix of dark and milk chocolate chips and it is excellent! Overall a good recipe that just needed a couple tweaks for my kitchen.
Thank you for the trying the recipe! Loved reading about your tweaks!
These cookies are AMAZING! My husband hates, despises and abhors matcha, so I made these for me, and this dude has eaten half of them. Even told me to keep them in rotation lol! They’re dreamy. My only “substitution” was that I used a chopped up white chocolate bar from Lindt cause I didn’t find chips, but I find the different chunk sizes made it even better! Mine weren’t as green but the taste was all there, what a wonderful recipe, thank you SOSOSOSO much!!
Hi Selene. Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m so excited your husband likes them!!
Hi!
May I know how many grams is 1 tbsp of matcha powder?
17 grams!
Normally I do not leave comments on recipes but this one I felt I need to. I made the recipe almost the way it was written. After reading the reviews I saw that a lot of people were having problems with their cookies spreading out and becoming really thin so I took that into consideration.
After you mix the dough as it states to be mixed cover and then stick in the freezer for one hour. When you take it out leave for five minutes to come down and temperature and then scoop into cookies. Once you have your cookies scooped put them on a wax paper lined tray recover them and stick them back into the freezer for another 20 minutes. After set your oven to 350 and let it come to temp. Cook cookies for almost 12 minutes. Most cookies that have a tendency to spread is because the butter is not cold enough. If you chew your cookies that have large amounts of butter in them then they will not spread as badly. My cookies came out a perfect green as well without adding extra matcha.
Hi Destiny. Thanks for making the recipe and the feedback! I updated the recipe in response to all the comments on spreading. I appreciate the feedback since it helps me make the recipe better!