Have these easy-baked cookies with a green layer of matcha and bits of cranberries in the center. Baking it only takes 20 minutes and you get crunchy, oh-so-delicious matcha cookies! Just prepare 6 ingredients: butter, sugar, egg, flour, dried cranberries, and matcha powder.
A Fresh Spin On Matcha Cookies
If you had fun making my Matcha Mochi Recipe, you will definitely love this matcha cookie recipe as well. Don’t be intimidated by the 2 layers you see in this cookie. It is super easy to make this pattern as long as you follow my detailed steps in this recipe.
You will need butter, powdered sugar, egg, and flour for the dough base. Then, the dough is divided into two to create the two dough layers: cranberry dough and matcha dough. The cranberry dough is shaped into a log, while the matcha dough is flattened into a thin sheet.
From there, the cranberry dough is blanketed in the matcha dough sheet. The fun part is shaping it as the last step before baking. I shaped the cookies into triangles, but it is entirely up to you whether you want the cookies shaped into rounds, hearts, or flowers.
The recipe steps are easy to follow but it would be a lot more convenient if you have baking tools like an electric mixer and rolling pin. Active preparation time will only probably take 10 minutes of your time while baking in the oven takes 20 minutes. If you love cookies, cakes, and desserts, check out my other delicious recipes:
- Taro Snow Skin Mooncake With Cheese
- Mooncakes With Egg Yolk And Lotus Paste
- Snowflake Crisps
- Snow Skin Mooncakes
- Pineapple Cake
- Mung Bean Cake (No-Bake)
- Thai Milk Tea Ice Cream (No Churn Method)
- Cookie Butter Ice Cream
- Double Skin Milk (Chinese Steamed Milk Pudding)
- Swiss Roll (Plain & Black Tea Flavors)
- Banana Mochi
Recipe Tips And Recommendations
If you are a newbie in baking, don’t skip this section full of tips and recommendations. I share my recommendations on the best alternatives for each ingredient. Moreover, learn more about a couple of reminders on making the dough correctly.
- Butter: Butter is commonly added to the dough to give it structure and a rich consistency. Moreover, it also creates a buttery crunch and lends a pleasing taste and aroma. You can use regular unsalted butter or dairy-free butter. The butter should be soft for mixing, but not totally melted. Avoid using melted butter since you still need the soft structure of the butter for kneading and shaping the dough.
- Powdered sugar: I used powdered sugar for its fine texture and cornstarch content. Because of the small amount of cornstarch, it prevents the cookies from caking and clumping. Moreover, it is easier to dissolve and melt into the dough. The cookies become more crumbly with powdered sugar. Although you can swap this with granulated sugar, the texture of the cookies will change.
- Warm egg: I emphasize using a warm or room-temperature beaten egg since it makes it easier to mix it with the butter. It is also better for creating a smooth batter since it can be thoroughly mixed. I added the beaten egg gradually and not as a whole in order to prevent clumping and to mix it thoroughly. To help you bring an egg to room temperature quickly, place it in a bowl of tap or room-temperature water for 10 minutes. Don’t place the egg in hot water or you risk cooking it.
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is the easiest flour to work with for baking cookies since it has a moderate protein content. It is a medium-gluten flour that makes the cookies crisp and light. If you use flour types with lower gluten content like cake flour, it will make the cookies soft and delicate. Moreover, I don’t recommend using special types of flour, such as whole wheat flour, rice flour, or glutinous rice flour since these will not give a crunchy cookie. When mixing flour in the batter, make sure to sift it first. It is essential to separate large clumps to give you a smooth batter.
- Dried cranberries: You will love cranberries for their sweet, sour, and tart taste. It is best to use dried rather than fresh to lessen the moisture content that can affect the dough’s consistency. Alternatively, you can replace cranberries or create more variety by adding dried cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or goji berries. You can also make it nutty by using peanuts, cashews, almonds, or walnuts.
- Matcha powder: To make the matcha dough, add a small amount of matcha powder. This gives the dough a vibrant green color and a slightly bitter, grassy, and earthy taste. You can get matcha powder in local grocery stores or on online markets like Amazon. If you can’t find matcha powder, you can simply swap it for other powdered flavoring ingredients, such as green tea powder, milk powder, vanilla powder, or strawberry powder, to name a few.
- Dough consistency: Mixing all the ingredients properly should give you a semi-soft batter. It should be easily pliable and is not bouncy when pressed. In addition, it should not be too runny or stiff. To prevent an unwanted texture, it helps to use a kitchen weighing scale to get accurate measurements. If the dough is too watery, just add more flour gradually. If the dough is too stiff, add water gradually. Do the adjustments gradually to not overdo it.
Ingredients And Baking Tools To Prepare
Baking Tools:
- Mixing bowl
- Silicone spatula
- Electric mixer
- Sifter/Sieve
- Kitchen plastic gloves
- Parchment paper
- Dough cutter
- Rolling pin
- Knife
- Baking tray
Ingredients:
- 100 grams of butter (softened at room temperature)
- 45 grams of powdered sugar
- 25 grams of room-temperature beaten egg (approximately half an egg)
- 165 grams of all-purpose flour
For Cranberry Dough:
- 35 grams of dried cranberries
For Matcha Dough:
- 4 grams of matcha powder
Detailed Instructions To Make Matcha Cookies
In a nutshell, the recipe steps call for making the two dough layers, shaping, and baking. Check out my quick tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok to learn more about the process. Leave a comment in the comments section if you have any tips and suggestions.
Finished making these delicious matcha cookies? Let us know by posting a photo of the cookies and tagging me @kitchenmisadventures. Here are the detailed recipe steps:
- Bring butter to room-temperature until soft to press with your fingers. Do not melt the butter!
- Mix the softened butter and powdered sugar in a bowl until smooth and pasty. Use a silicone spatula for this step to fold and mix the ingredients.
- Bring an egg to room temperature. Then, gradually mix in the beaten egg in three increments. In each addition, mix the egg with an electric mixer. This should give you a light and fluffy batter.
- Using a sieve, sift in the all-purpose flour and gently fold with a silicone spatula until no dry spots remain.
- Then, use your hands to form the dough into a ball. It helps to use plastic gloves for hand kneading to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts, one for the cranberry dough and one for the matcha dough. You can use a kitchen weighing scale to give you equal sizes.
- To make the cranberry dough, mix in the dried cranberries until evenly distributed.
- To make the matcha dough, knead the matcha powder into the dough until it’s evenly distributed and green all throughout.
- Shape the cranberry dough into a log. Then, shape it with parchment paper and use a dough cutter to gently compress the dough onto the rolled parchment paper. In this way, it takes the shape of a smooth cylinder.
- Next, shape the matcha dough into a rectangle. To do this, place the matcha dough in parchment paper and fold the paper into a large rectangle. Then, flatten the matcha dough that is inside the parchment paper using a rolling pin. As you flatten the dough, it should take the shape of the folded rectangular parchment paper. This technique just makes it a lot easier to make a rectangle without needing to cut.
- Open the parchment paper used for the matcha dough and place the cranberry dough cylinder on top of the matcha dough sheet. Roll the matcha dough to wrap the cranberry dough. To roll, lift the parchment paper and let it roll without force. Then, gently press it with your hands to compress and bind it.
- After combining the two layers, shape it into a long triangular dough with your hands. In this step, you can form it in other shapes you like.
- Freeze for 30 minutes. I recommend refrigerating the dough to give you a firmer dough that is easier to slice and shape.
- After freezing, slice the dough into thin cuts to give you triangular cookies. Cut it to about 1/4-inch thick.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 160°C or until crunchy.
Easy Baked Matcha Cookies With Cranberries
Have these easy-baked cookies with a green layer of matcha and bits of cranberries in the center. Baking it only takes 20 minutes and you get crunchy, oh-so-delicious matcha cookies! Just prepare 6 ingredients: butter, sugar, egg, flour, dried cranberries, and matcha powder.
Ingredients
- 100 grams of butter softened at room temperature
- 45 grams of powdered sugar
- 25 grams of room-temperature beaten egg approximately half an egg
- 165 grams of all-purpose flour
For Cranberry Dough:
- 35 grams of dried cranberries
For Matcha Dough:
- 4 grams of matcha powder
Instructions
- Bring butter to room-temperature until soft to press with your fingers. Do not melt the butter!
- Mix the softened butter and powdered sugar in a bowl until smooth and pasty. Use a silicone spatula for this step to fold and mix the ingredients.
- Bring an egg to room temperature. Then, gradually mix in the beaten egg in three increments. In each addition, mix the egg with an electric mixer. This should give you a light and fluffy batter.
- Using a sieve, sift in the all-purpose flour and gently fold with a silicone spatula until no dry spots remain.
- Then, use your hands to form the dough into a ball. It helps to use plastic gloves for hand kneading to prevent it from sticking to your hands.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts, one for the cranberry dough and one for the matcha dough. You can use a kitchen weighing scale to give you equal sizes.
- To make the cranberry dough, mix in the dried cranberries until evenly distributed.
- To make the matcha dough, knead the matcha powder into the dough until it's evenly distributed and green all throughout.
- Shape the cranberry dough into a log. Then, shape it with parchment paper and use a dough cutter to gently compress the dough onto the rolled parchment paper. In this way, it takes the shape of a smooth cylinder.
- Next, shape the matcha dough into a rectangle. To do this, place the matcha dough in parchment paper and fold the paper into a large rectangle. Then, flatten the matcha dough that is inside the parchment paper using a rolling pin. As you flatten the dough, it should take the shape of the folded rectangular parchment paper.This technique just makes it a lot easier to make a rectangle without needing to cut.
- Open the parchment paper used for the matcha dough and place the cranberry dough cylinder on top of the matcha dough sheet. Roll the matcha dough to wrap the cranberry dough. To roll, lift the parchment paper and let it roll without force. Then, gently press it with your hands to compress and bind it.
- After combining the two layers, shape it into a long triangular dough with your hands. In this step, you can form it in other shapes you like.
- Freeze for 30 minutes. I recommend refrigerating the dough to give you a firmer dough that is easier to slice and shape.
- After freezing, slice the dough into thin cuts to give you triangular cookies. Cut it to about 1/4-inch thick.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 160°C or until crunchy.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 236kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 6gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.3gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 12mgPotassium: 117mgFiber: 2gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 912IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 3mg
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