Melting Middles Matcha Cookie

This is the cookie dough lover cookie, the tea lover cookie, the I-love-big-cookies lover cookie and the list goes on…

The only person this is not for, is for a person who is on a diet.

There are many things that I love in life, chocolates, desserts and cakes being just a few of them. But high up on that list is tea. I drink it everyday and where coffee fuels most people, I pretty much function off of tea.

If you have never had matcha, I recommend highly recommend giving it a try. If not, you are missing out on it’s pleasant bitterness that is so addictive and alluring. It offsets the sweetness in desserts and brings a grassy note and air of maturity to what might have been a “too-sweet” treat. And if it’s not your cup of tea (ha, see what I did there? Hohoho), at the very least you now know you’ve given it a shot.

As this cookie is a Matcha cookie, I urge you to splurge a little on a good quality Matcha powder. It doesn’t have to be a top end ceremonial grade Matcha, but you definitely do not want to be using anything off the supermarket racks.

The bright green color of this cookie comes solely from the powder and if you were to use a lower end matcha powder, you are going to end up with a rather brown hued cookie. But beyond the color is more importantly the flavour.

I usually import my Uji Matcha in from Japan and whilst it is worth every penny I spend, that can get real pricy real quick.

I was recently lucky enough however to have been sent a packet of Uji Matcha powder to try by Zen Wonders Matcha and this is what I have used for these cookies. Uji refers to the area in Japan of which the Matcha comes from and that particular area is known for being blessed with rich soils and weather that’s perfect for cultivating Matcha. I won’t go into the details, but if you want good Matcha powder, Uji Matcha is a good bet. But as with everything, there are different grades of Uji Matcha, so choose wisely.

I won’t dwell any longer on the Matcha details so lets get onto the cookie details instead.

Here’s a few things that I would note with these cookies:

• I baked these on a light colored, low rimmed baking tray lined with parchment paper. If you are going to use a dark colored tray you may end up with a cookie that spreads more and bakes quicker, so please adjust your bake time accordingly.
• This cookie requires a overnight rest in the fridge, please do not skip this step or you might end up with pancakes instead of a tall proud cookie.
• I used glucose syrup for this recipe, if you wish to swap it out with corn syrup, I would recommend using half the amount. I haven’t actually tried it yet with this cookie so do let me if you do try it.
• You can lower the amount of Matcha powder used by 2tsp (4g) if you do not like a intense Matcha flavour. I personally love it strong, the stronger the better and so I have used the amount written in the recipe below.
• You can use white chocolate chips as I’ve written in the recipe, but I chose to use the Callebaut Gold chips because I love the light caramel flavour and the fact that the sweet edge has tempered during the caramelisation process. White will work perfectly fine, it might just be slightly sweeter.
• Always preheat your oven, a cooler oven will result in a cookie that spreads more so please bare that in mind.
• Lastly, it is important to let your cookie cool on the baking tray for at least 8-10mins as the insides will slowly continue to cook from the residual heat and stabilise the insides. If you rush this, you might end up with an overly soft mess.

Gooey Matcha Cookie

Makes 9 large cookies

What you’ll need

• 115g unsalted butter (room temp)
• 150g white sugar
• 25g glucose
• 1 egg (large, room temperature)
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 200g bread flour
• 1tsp corn starch
• 30g milk powder
• 1tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 14g (2tbsp + 2tsp) good quality matcha powder (I used Zen Wonders Matcha Culinary Grade Matcha)
• 120g white chocolate chips (I used the Callebaut gold chips)

Making it!

In a small bowl, mix the matcha, corn starch, milk powder, flour, cream of tartar and baking soda until well combined and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar and glucose and beat with the paddle attachment on medium-high for 2 min. Scrape the bowl, add the egg, salt and the vanilla extract and continue to beat for 8-9 min until light and fluffy.

Reduce the mixer to low and add the flour mixture mixing until just combined. Add the white chocolate chips and continue to mix on low until just dispersed. Your dough might feel rather stiff but that’s normal.

Using a large ice cream scoop, portion the dough into 9 cookies onto a baking tray. Gently pressed down on the cookies to flatten them slightly into a thick puck. You are just looking to remove the dome top that comes from using an ice cream scoop to portion the dough.

Cover the tray with clingwrap and place into the fridge overnight to chill and harden up.

The next day, preheat your oven to 200C.

Place the cookie dough on a baking tray with at least 2inches between the dough balls. Bake for 9-10 minutes rotating the tray halfway to ensure even baking. Let cool on the tray for 8-10 minutes before enjoying them warm. If not serving fresh from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack to let cool fully before storing in an airtight container.

The cookies are best served warm, you can reheat them for a few minutes in a 180C oven until just soft in the middle, but you can definitely still enjoy them at room temperature if you wish.

Note: I suggest that you test your bake time with one cookie first to ensure your cookie doesn’t over bake before baking off the rest. The dough will last up to 5 days in the fridge tightly covered so it’s cookie for dessert everyday I’d say. 😉🙌🏻

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