Matcha (Green Tea) Shortbread

Matcha (green tea) shortbread with white chocolate

Despite the fact that Christmas is over, production of green tea shortbread in my kitchen goes well beyond the 25th. I guess you’d call it my signature holiday cookie as the one year I decided to switch things up and leave it off the roster, all I got were comments noting the lack of the cookie in question. So, there are a lot of these guys that fly out of my oven, starting from early December onward.

Based off of the shortbread recipe in Mrs. Fields Cookie Cookbook that I got in my teens (remember those subscription book services where you could get 10 books for 1 cent?),  I’ve since modified it to incorporate the matcha powder and adjusted times and temperatures to suit my oven. Since buying a scale recently (and prompted by Thomas Keller’s comment on keeping notes), I’ve also taken to having my Moleskine nearby while baking to keep notes on gram measurements. I find I’m really liking the gram measurements these days, and highly recommend getting your own digital scale as a post-xmas gift to yourself.

Jen’s Matcha Shortbread

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups butter, softened, but still cool (340g)
  • 2 tbsps matcha powder (22g)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla (4g)
  • 1 cup of icing sugar (150g)
  • 3 cups of flour (440g)

Instructions

  1. Matcha powder

    Blend butter until smooth, adding in the matcha powder until you get an even colour. Add vanilla, then icing sugar, combining until mixture is smooth. Add flour gradually. Try not to overwork the batter.

  2. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. You can either roll dough flat to cut shapes or roll into a log and slice.  Either way, you have to put it into the fridge for about an hour to firm it up.
  3. Preheat your oven to 325°F.
  4. Roll out your dough and make them into your desired shapes.
  5. Nice and toasty (15-17 mins) is better for taste, but for looks, just cooked (12 mins) will maintain an even green colour. They don’t spread much, so maximize the space on your sheet!

All packaged up and ready to go

In the first photo, I used a snow-flake cookie-cutter and decorated with some melted white chocolate. Makes about 50 of the above 1/4″ thick snowflake cookies.

I like to wrap these up in clear cello bags and tie with some pretty ribbon. Making labels help add to the presentation factor, but you know, as long as the cookies taste good, it’s all just extra fuss.