Sweet And Green: Matcha Tea Cake Cookies
The editors of Food & Wine magazine just launched a cookbook of their favorite dessert recipes. From seasonal favorites to holiday classics and modern spins on beloved ethnic sweets, this is one cookbook for everybody with a sweet tooth. These matcha tea cake cookies are an elegant way to end a meal.
Matcha is Japanese powdered green tea. It's available at Asian markets, large grocery stores and from amazon.com.
Cookbook author Ben Mims makes these not-too-sweet cookies with a soft, cake-like texture. The "it" ingredient matcha — an antioxidant-rich green tea powder—gives the cookies a beautiful color and a light, toasty flavor.
Make ahead: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Dust with the matcha sugar before serving.
" The sweet grassiness of the green tea powder pairs perfectly with the almond and vanilla, but don't use your super-expensive, hand-carried-from-Japan matcha. Most respected tea companies now sell a less expensive culinary-grade matcha for baking." — Julia Heffelfinger, associate food editor
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon matcha teapowder
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. In another bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla and almond extracts. In a small bowl, stir 2 tablespoons of the matcha powder with 2 tablespoons of water, then stir into the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoons, scoop 1-inch balls of dough at least 2 inches apart onto the prepared sheets; refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until set at the edges and very lightly browned on the bottoms. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Arrange the cookies on 1 baking sheet . In a sieve, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the remaining 1 teaspoon of matcha. Dust over the cookies and serve.