When Baking, Leave The High Quality Matcha On The Shelf

If you're in the mood to make matcha tea cake cookies, you might hesitate to use premium or expensive matcha powder for a simple batch of baked goods. Thankfully, coffee and tea sommelier Jee Choe, creator of the "Oh, How Civilized" blog, shared her helpful advice with Food Republic about using matcha powder in sweet treat recipes. According to Choe, "When baking or cooking, you don't need to use high quality matcha since the subtle notes will be masked when added into other ingredients. You can use culinary or cooking grade matcha for baking or cooking."

Unlike ceremonial-grade matcha powder — which is made from younger, extensively shaded tea leaves — culinary matcha powder is composed of older tea leaves that have been exposed to more sunlight. Due to the intrinsic differences in the growing and production processes, ceremonial-grade matcha powders are more expensive. These high-end varieties tend to have specific flavor notes that are undetectable in baked goods.

When you want to use matcha to enhance a variety of oven-friendly recipes, culinary matcha is the obvious choice. Whether you're making matcha overnight oats or matcha-infused bundt cake, culinary-grade matcha powder has a distinct flavor that stands out in many dessert recipes. With its sharper, more robust taste, culinary matcha doesn't become muted when mixed with popular baking staples like sugar, flour, and butter.

In most recipes, matcha is added to the other dry ingredients. Since matcha is a green tea powder, proper sifting is essential. Start with a small amount, such as ½ teaspoon, and gradually add more to taste. Before using, check the expiration date; most matcha powders last about one year when properly stored.

As you think about which recipes might benefit from a bit of matcha powder, consider the color, flavor, and texture of your favorite baked goods. Matcha not only imparts a subtle earthy taste to muffins, breads, and cookies, but also adds an all-natural green hue to your various creations. As Jee Choe explains, "Any food or dish that's white or light in color will let the green from the matcha come through. I'm a big fan of matcha in sweets and baked goods like my viral Matchamisu." Available on Choe's blog, this unique tiramisu-inspired recipe features layers of matcha-flavored cream and soft, pillowy matcha-flavored sponge cake.

Once you score a bag of culinary matcha, feel free to experiment and get creative in the kitchen. Beyond the usual cookies and cupcakes, you can bake mean and green matcha-chocolate éclairs or a matcha cream pie. If you're unsure where to start, try adding a bit of matcha powder to recipes with complementary flavors like white chocolate, coconut, or lemon.