Recipe for almond matcha green tea cookies with a white chocolate drizzle and crushed peppermint candies.

Food photography + a recipe

Welcome to a series where I like to show off some of my food photography work, but also share a recipe for you to enjoy.

How about some festive holiday cookies that get their vibrant green color from matcha green tea? Because who wouldn’t love a few antioxidants mixed in with their holiday sweets?

Listen, I’m not about to try to fool you into thinking these are healthy. Because they’re not.

A cookie, is a cookie, is a cookie. But during the holiday season, my philosophy is that a little indulgence IS actually healthy (especially for mental wellness- as long as you don’t beat yourself up for it).

The matcha does give these cookies a little boost, and not only that, they’re festive as all get out. I mean… if a green cookie white chocolate drizzle with some peppermint sprinkled on top doesn’t scream holidays, I don’t know what does.

These matcha cookies are part of a cookie blog hop, see links for all the cookie recipes at the bottom of this post!

Today’s post is also part of a cookie blog hop. At the bottom of the post, I’ll be rounding up 9 posts from other bloggers with their holiday cookie recipes. Since I’m not typically much of a baker, I thought this was an awesome way to bring you a whole slew of holiday cookie recipes. There are more than a couple here I’ll be trying!

When I was invited to the blog hop, I immediately knew I wanted to make something with matcha. I’ve been experimenting with using matcha as an ingredient for quite some time now, (in case you missed it, here’s one to die for: Orange blossom matcha latte with cardamom honey oat milk ) and was looking for an excuse to bake with it. The deep green color of matcha just screams Christmas to me, so matcha cookies seemed like a no-brainer.

When it comes to matcha, I find it’s all about what you pair it with. Matcha is very earthy, so I look for flavors that complement it. In these cookies, I swapped out traditional vanilla for almond because almond has a similar earthiness to it.

And white chocolate is a no-brainer for matcha; The silky sweetness is the perfect counterpoint. The secret ingredient though has to be lemon zest. Tart citrus and earthy matcha do a wonderful little dance with each other.

These matcha cookies are divine on their own with the white chocolate chips and drizzle so they certainly don’t need the peppermint sprinkle if you’re not into it. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I added it merely for aesthetics- but was pleasantly surprised by the nice pop of flavor and crunch it added.

Plus, the mixture of the red and green makes me giddy- I can’t think of a better treat to leave out for Santa! (When did I turn into such a holiday sap??)

Another bonus? They’re easy as heck. (Which is how I prefer all my baking.) I won’t lie, when I first thought about creating a matcha cookie recipe, I had visions of adorable green sugar cookies cut out in the shape of Christmas trees, meticulously decorated with dainty royal frosting.

Then I realized I was probably setting myself up for disaster. I needed something easy, yet festive and fun. And I know that’s what you like too.

I’d say these tick all those boxes and I can’t wait for you to give them a try!

Recipes for all the other cookie blog hop recipes linked after the recipe. Enjoy!

Almond Matcha Green Tea Cookies with White Chocolate Drizzle

makes 22-24 cookies | prep time: 20 min | cook time: 10 min | total: 30 min

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp Matcha green tea powder (plus more for sprinkling)
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
½ tsp lemon zest
1 egg
1 egg yolk

MIX INS

¾ cup white chocolate chips

COATING/ DRIZZLE

1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
3 teaspoons coconut oil
Crushed peppermint candies

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and matcha powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Add in almond extract, lemon zest, egg and egg yolk and mix about 30 seconds longer until smooth and creamy.

Add in dry ingredients and mix on low until dough forms. Fold in ¾ cup white chocolate chips.

Scoop out 1- 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and roll into ball. Place on cookie sheet 2” apart, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to set and crackle.

Remove and allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat with remaining dough.

Once cookies have completely cooled, you can add the coating!

Melt remaining white chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small saucepan on low until chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip cookies halfway into melted chocolate and then place on a baking rack, parchment or wax paper to cool. Sprinkle the dipped chocolate side with matcha tea powder using a small sieve.

Once all cookies are dipped and sprinkled with matcha powder, use a small spoon to drizzle more melted white chocolate on the undipped side of the cookie. It doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact, I like it a little on the messy side! Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.

Let cookies rest on wire rack, parchment or wax paper until chocolate is cooled and hardened.

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The holiday cookie blog hop

Alrighty then, now that you’re all fired up about cookies, how about a few more recipes?? Follow the links below to get some incredible recipes from these other fine ladies: