Strawberry Matcha Shortbread Cookies

These strawberry matcha shortbread cookies are one of those dessert recipes that make it look like you did way more work than you actually did. Grab my super easy, not-too-sweet recipe below. Included are some cool tricks on how to get even layers and how to fix cookies that have spread a little too much.

One of my favorite flavor combinations is strawberry and matcha, so I wanted to continue my dessert journey with these flavors by making these strawberry matcha shortbread cookies. They look difficult to make, but I promise you they’re easy! Grab the recipe and some cool tricks below! I learned a lot about shortbread cookies developing this recipe.

How I developed this strawberry matcha shortbread recipe

I really wanted to create a shortbread variation of my strawberry matcha neapolitan cookies because they were just so darn good! So I first started off with Sally’s Baking Addiction’s neapolitan cookie recipe. I loved all the ingredients she used, but I wanted to reduce wasted ingredients so I switched it up by eliminating the egg yolk and reducing the flour to compensate. I also used a different method for adding the strawberry flavor that required no artificial food dyes.

After perfecting my base recipe, I started to test out the amount of freeze-dried strawberries and matcha powder I would need. I first started with 1 tbsp of matcha powder and 1/2 cup of freeze-dried strawberries but found that the butter in the shortbread overpowered both flavors, so I tested these cookies again with 1 1/2 tbsp and 3/4 cup respectively. This time the matcha flavor was coming through, but the strawberry flavor still was not! That’s when I upped it to 1 cup in my last test which proved to be the correct amount!

How to make Strawberry Matcha Shortbread Cookies (with tips!)

Prep the dough

1. Grease a 9×4 loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
   • Tip #1: I like to use the leftover butter on my butter parchment paper to grease the pan.
2. Mix together 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup of unsalted butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add 1 egg and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
5. Combine the dry ingredients from step 1 with the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined and clumps start to appear.
6. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and add each portion to a small bowl. I like to weigh the dough and then divide that number by 3. The total amount should be ~795 grams, and each portion should weigh ~265 grams each.
   • Tip #2: There may be some variation between each batch of dough, so the best way to get even layers is to weigh the total dough then divide that number by 3.
7. Using a spice grinder, break down 1 cup of freeze-dried strawberries into powder. You might need to do this 1/2 cup at a time to avoid overcrowding the spice grinder. Add the powder to one bowl and mix until uniformly pink.
8. Sift 1 tbsp of matcha powder into another bowl and mix the the dough until uniformly green.
   • Tip #3: I cannot stressed enough – SIFT THE MATCHA! It will clump.
9. Press the green matcha dough into the bottom of the prepped loaf pan. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but try to get an even layer. Follow the matcha dough with the vanilla dough and then the pink strawberry dough. Cover and let it cool in the freezer for 1.5 hours.
   • Tip #4: In testing, I found that using your hands to press the dough into the pan created the straightest line between each dough.

Cut and bake the cookies!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prep 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper.
2. Once the dough is cooled, lift the dough out of the loaf pan. Release the top and bottom edges using a knife then lift it out using the parchment paper.
   • Tip #5: I did find it hard at times to lift the dough out. The key is to separate the parts of the dough touching the loaf pan.
3. Remove the parchment paper. Cut off the edges so the dough is straight on all sides. The remaining piece of dough should be 7.5 x 3.5 inches. Cut it in half width-wise so you have 2 long pieces that are 7.5 x 1.75 inches. Then slice 1/2 inch pieces from each piece. You should get ~15 cookies each for a total of ~30 cookies.
4. Place the cookies on the prepped baking sheets about 1 inch apart and bake for 10-12 minutes.
5. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
   • Tip #6: Your cookies might spread a bit, but one trick I like to use is using a knife to push the spread out parts back into the cookie, so the edges are straight. Like in chocolate chip cookies, the cookies are soft and malleable right when they come out of the oven, so you can still manipulate the shape.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.

Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.

Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!