Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies
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These decadent Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies are earthy rich with just the right touch of sweetness from the white chocolate chunks.
We are back again with another matcha recipe since I have restocked my pantry from my latest trip to Japan. Since Christmas is coming, I decided to make these cookies to fit the occasion. These decadent Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies are simply irresistible. I love these cookies so much because they are beyond my expectation. They are earthy rich with just the right touch of sweetness from the white chocolate chunks.
This Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies recipe is actually adapted from my previous Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I add some matcha powder to bring the new flavor to the classic cookies. In addition, I substitute the bitter-sweet chocolate chunks with white chocolate to complement the flavor. Matcha and white chocolate really bring the classic chocolate chip cookies to a new level.
I love how a few tablespoons of matcha powder brings its characteristic bitter earthy flavor to the cookies. You can definitely omit the white chocolate if you are not a fan. The matcha cookie batter itself is really delicious even without the white chocolate. However, I recommend putting the white chocolate simply because the sweetness of white chocolate actually balances out the bitter taste of these cookies well.
Tips for Making Almond White Chocolate Matcha Cookies
1. Cream the butter properly
Creaming is the process of mixing butter and sugar together to ensure even distribution of the butter through the cookie dough. It introduces air to the mixture and helps it to rise, hence creating a lighter texture and finer crumb to your cookies. Creaming butter and sugar properly also increases the volume of your cookie dough which equals more cookies.
To cream the butter, take your butter out of your refrigerator 1 hour before. The butter should be cold to the touch but warm enough to spread. Slice the butter into small pieces. After that, beat butter with sugar until the mixture increases in volume and becomes increasingly lighter in color. Do not over mix the butter and sugar or it will lose the air you worked in and the cookies will not rise very well.
2. Choose the right matcha
Some of you may get confused about the difference between green tea and matcha. Don’t confuse matcha with the same green tea that you drink at home or Japanese restaurants. The names are slightly deceptive because green tea and matcha are used interchangeably, but they are actually slightly different. Matcha and green tea both come from the same plant, camellia sinensis, but they are grown and processed differently.
Matcha is made from whole green tea leaves that have been pulverized into a super fine powder. Because the whole leaf is powdered and ingested, instead of just water infused through the tea leaves, matcha has significantly greater substances and deeper flavor than green tea. Moreover, you cannot grind the regular green tea to make matcha, considering matcha is made from shade-grown tea leaves. Processing regular green tea involves the leaves being left in the sun. Comparatively, matcha bushes are specifically kept under cover to increase the chlorophyll and amino acid level in the leaves. That is why matcha has a much richer flavor than green tea.
Please note that matcha comes in both ceremonial-grade and culinary-grade. Ceremonial-grade is considered higher quality and should be used for drinking. Meanwhile, the culinary grade matcha
is intended for baking and cooking purposes.
3. Chop your chocolate chunks
I chopped my own chocolate chunks instead of using chocolate chips. When you chop your own chunks of chocolate, the pieces come out in all different sizes. Your cookies will hide a surprise in every bite as some cookies will have big chocolate chunks or even they only have little fragments of chocolate. I also like to use chopped chocolate because the pieces tend to melt more than standard chocolate chips, which are designed to retain their shape when baked.
4. Make ahead
You can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. I like to scoop the dough into balls on a small baking sheet and freeze them until solid. Then, you can remove the balls to a ziptop bag, label the bag with the month and baking temperature, and place it in the freezer. You can either let the dough defrost completely overnight in the fridge or bake them frozen. If you bake them frozen, just bake the cookies longer for a minute or two longer.
4. Do not overbake them
To trick to make these cookies gooey is to not overbake them. At the end of the baking time, these cookies will look soft and gooey. Just take them out of the oven and leave them for a few minutes on your baking tray and they will start to harden.
I suggest making them warm in the microwave for a few secs so that the chocolate melts and make them even taste better. If you are like me and find them irresistible, you probably can not stop eating these cookies after a few bites. The outer of the cookies are crunchy and caramelized, while the inside is soft with melting chocolate. Try dunking these cookies in milk and they will taste more amazing.
More Matcha Recipes
Do you love matcha? Don’t miss out on these delicious matcha recipes!
- Matcha White Chocolate Brownies
- Matcha Shortbread Cookies
- Matcha Pancakes
- Matcha Panna Cotta
- Eggless Matcha Tiramisu Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 gr) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (100 gr) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 gr) light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (180 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp matcha powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (50 gr) slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup (100 gr) coarsely chopped white chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, toss all-purpose flour, matcha powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
- Stir in chocolate chunks and chopped almonds with a spatula.
- Roll 12 balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are nicely browned. Cool for 5 minutes on the pan before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Very good recipe however a tad bit too sweet for my taste so I’ll reduce sugar by at least 50g next time. I made it with choc chip and almond essence. Yum!
Perfect! Glad I freeze some for later.