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Matcha–White Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott

Powdered green tea gives these tender cookies an elf-worthy hue that will stand out, with no icing or decorating needed.

Ingredients

Makes 24 Servings

¾

cup granulated sugar, divided

½

teaspoon plus 2 Tbsp. matcha

2

cups all-purpose flour

¾

teaspoon baking soda

½

teaspoon kosher salt

1

cup (2 sticks) plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

½

cup (packed) light brown sugar

tablespoons honey

1

large egg

1

large egg yolk

2

teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

3

ounces white chocolate, chopped

ingredient info

Matcha, also called green tea powder, is available at Japanese markets and some supermarkets, and online.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Whisk ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ tsp. matcha in a small bowl; set aside.

    Step 2

    Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and remaining 2 Tbsp. matcha in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, brown sugar, honey, and remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and lemon zest and mix until very pale, about 4 minutes.

    Step 3

    Reduce mixer speed to low and, with motor running, add flour mixture; mix until no dry spots remain. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix in white chocolate.

    Step 4

    Wrap dough in plastic and chill at least 2 hours and up to 5 days. If chilling more than a few hours, let dough sit at room temperature 1 hour to soften before scooping and baking.

    Step 5

    Preheat oven to 350°. Scoop the dough by the scant tablespoonful onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 1” apart. (Or, for neat and tidy cookies with perfect edges, like the ones in our photo, portion same amount of dough into the cups of a mini muffin pan coated with nonstick vegetable oil spray.)

    Step 6

    Bake cookies, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until bottoms and edges are barely golden and cooked (top will no longer look wet), 8–10 minutes.

    Step 7

    Immediately—but gently—toss cookies in reserved matcha sugar and place on wire racks; let cool.

    Step 8

    DO AHEAD: Store cookies airtight at room temperature up to 2 days.

Nutrition Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 180 Fat (g) 10 Saturated Fat (g) 6 Cholesterol (mg) 35 Carbohydrates (g) 22 Dietary Fiber (g) 0 Total Sugars (g) 14 Protein (g) 2 Sodium (mg) 90
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Reviews (131)

Back to TopTriangle
  • Actually decided not to make these and instead made an extremely similar sounding recipe from Just One Cookbook, which uses icing sugar instead and has you half the dough and roll into logs and then chill. This idea of muffin tins for cookies and the cookies being too crumbly to coat in the matcha sugar topping was my first flag. Sorry, BA this one didn’t even pass my first read test let alone my kitchen. The JOC ones are perfect even without a sugar topping - only adjustment was timing; my oven runs hot.

    • bobbi

    • Van, BC

    • 12/13/2021

  • Ugh - when will I ever learn to always listen to other reviewers if there is a consensus? I wanted to love these, but they are super crumbly and very difficult to toss in the matcha sugar at the end without crumbling.

    • Anonymous

    • 12/18/2020

  • I really wish there was a video for this recipe. I really struggled with the last step of coating the cookies without them crumbling. Maybe if I use the muffin tin method they will be a bit firmer. I also substituted two tablespoons of lemon juice for the zest, which may have contributed to my softer cookie. TThey were pretty good, but looked a little messy, and didn't have that appetizing of a green hue. The matcha flavor came out strong though!

    • atimidtempest

    • Sacramento, CA

    • 6/16/2020

  • These were OK. They weren't difficult to make, and they tasted good, but not the show stopper I was looking for in a Christmas cookie. I tried baking the cookies on both a baking sheet and in a muffin pan (a regular muffin pan), and I agree with the recipe that the latter results in a better shaped cookie.

    • Anonymous

    • San Francisco

    • 12/24/2019

  • Will these be equally good when made with Gluten Free flour blend?

    • Poojitha

    • Chicago

    • 12/11/2019