Chewy Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
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These Matcha White Chocolate Cookies bring you the flavor of a matcha latte in cookie form.
Matcha can be a tricky ingredient to work with, but this recipe gives you the tips you need to make sure your cookies come out perfectly—soft and chewy without any bitter aftertaste.
After training as a pastry chef, I developed my ideal base recipe for cookies with crispy edges but tender, slightly gooey middles. These matcha cookies follow in the footsteps of crowd favorites Lemon White Chocolate Cookies and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. But matcha takes the flavor profile in an entirely different direction!
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Why Make This Recipe
- Delicious Flavor: Matcha is one of our favorite flavors, and we absolutely love enjoying it in cookie form. Love matcha recipes? Try our Matcha Mug Cake and our Matcha Crème Brûlée too!
- Great Texture: Soft and chewy for the win!
- Perfect Pairing: Serve these with afternoon tea or your morning coffee. Or add them to a holiday cookie plate for something different!
Matcha Cookie Ingredients
- Matcha Powder: You can find matcha powder in the tea section of many grocery stores. You can also purchase matcha online. Look for culinary grade matcha, as it is more affordable than ceremonial-grade and still great for baking. Premium grade also works well in this recipe.
- Sugar: This recipe calls for both granulated sugar and brown sugar, but you could use all granulated if you like.
- Butter: We recommend unsalted butter, so you can control the salt content in your cookies. If you only have salted butter, add only ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt.
- White Chocolate Chips: Feel free to use any form of white chocolate. Using white chocolate chunks or mini chips are fine, or you can chop up a white chocolate bar.
How to Make Matcha Cookies
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat 12 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe large bowl in the microwave, until very soft but not totally melted.
4. Whisk in ¾ cup granulated white sugar and ½ cup + 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar.
5. Whisk in 2 eggs and 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
6. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt. Use a small fine-mesh sieve to sift in 1 tablespoon matcha powder. Whisk it all together.
7. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
8. Stir in 2 cups white chocolate chips.
9. Use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out cookie dough, then roll into balls. Place cookie dough balls on parchment-covered sheet pan.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges.
11. Remove baking sheet from oven, and bang it on the counter 2-3 times.
12. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove and let cool on a cooling rack.
Matcha Cookies FAQs
These cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days after baking. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.Â
Matcha powder tends to absorb liquid, so in recipes where you are adding a significant amount of matcha powder, you may need to increase the amount of fat (butter, oil, milk) in your recipe.Â
These matcha and white chocolate cookies are not particularly healthy, with the good amount of butter, flour, and sugar in there! But matcha powder itself does have some health benefits as it is high in antioxidants and has other potential benefits.
You can make the batter up to a day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to scoop and bake. After about 24 hours, the green of the batter becomes a little discolored in spots, though still tastes delicious when baked! Or scoop the dough into cookie balls and chill in the refrigerator.
Yes, you can freeze matcha cookie dough. I recommend scooping it into cookie dough balls first, then placing on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan or large plate and putting into the freezer. Once the cookie dough balls are frozen, transfer them to a ziptop freezer-safe baggie. You can keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, and add a minute or two to the bake time.
There are two main reasons matcha cookies turn brown. One is when you make the dough in advance. Even refrigerated, the matcha will start to turn brown in spots after about 24 hours. The second reason is that you have baked the cookies for too long or at too high of a temperature. This recipe calls for baking the cookies at just 325° F so that the matcha will not turn brown.
Expert Tips
- The reason we bake these cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit is that matcha cookies brown easily in a hot oven. A lower baking temperature helps maintain the glorious green color! For perfect cookies, take out of the oven just as soon as you see any browning around the edges.
- These green tea white chocolate cookies lend themselves to other flavor combinations too. Try adding ginger, sesame seeds, or different types of citrus (orange, lime, grapefruit, lemon). You could also add nuts—macadamia nuts in particular make a delicious combination with the matcha and white chocolate.
- Feel free to experiment with the matcha flavor. If you are a huge matcha lover, you can add more culinary matcha powder to the recipe for a strong matcha flavor. Or add less if you prefer!
- For a more vibrant green, try using ceremonial grade matcha, as this matcha green tea powder is known for its bright green color. These green cookies can be great for Halloween. Pair them with these Black Cocoa Cookies! Once Halloween is over and you're drowning in leftover candy, try these giant Snickers Cookies next.
- We love the bang-on-the-counter trick for making the best chewy matcha white chocolate cookies around. It flattens the cookies a bit as they cool, making them a little more dense and chewy. Works with classic chocolate chip cookies, and with these as well!
- Ready to try your next matcha-flavored dessert? Check out these Matcha Brownies or this Matcha Ice Cream next!
Other Delicious Cookie Recipes
If you love this matcha cookie recipe, you’re going to want to check out some of our other favorites, like Almond Flour Chocolate Cookies and Lemon Shortbread Cookies. But why stop there? There are lots more ideas in our Dessert archive!
More Recipes To Try
If you try this Matcha Cookies recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter. We'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Matcha Cookies Recipe (with white chocolate)
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (12 tablespoons)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups white chocolate chips (11-ounce package)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add butter to a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat until very soft but not melted.
- Whisk in granulated and brown sugars. Let cool slightly.
- Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Use a small fine-mesh sieve to sift in the matcha powder, then whisk again.
- Add dry ingredients to wet.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to generously scoop out cookie dough, then roll into balls.
- Place balls on parchment-lined sheet pan with 2 inches of space around them.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges.
- Remove baking sheet from oven, and bang it on the counter 2-3 times.
- Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove and let cool on a rack.
Notes
These cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days after baking. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Expert Tips:Â
The reason we bake these cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit is that matcha cookies brown easily in a hot oven. A lower baking temperature helps maintain the glorious green color! Take out of the oven just as soon as you see any browning around the edges of the cookies. We love the bang-on-the-counter trick for making the best chewy matcha white chocolate cookies around. It flattens the cookies a bit as they cool, making them a little more dense and chewy. Works with chocolate chip cookies, and with these as well!
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this Matcha White Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
These were delicious! Best matcha cookie recipe I have found online. I added a few drops of green food coloring to get the green to really pop.
I bet they looked great! Green is such a fun color for cookies. Thanks so much for rating and commenting!
The texture is divine. Perfect balance of chewiness and airiness.
I agree! So glad you do too!
It was a disaster. The cookies spread into a messy pool
I'm so sorry to read that, Karen! Did you weigh the ingredients? I highly recommend that for baking recipes, and that's always the first thing I check when a baking recipe doesn't turn out like it should.
These cookies were delicious and very easy to make! For more matcha flavor, I added a little more matcha powder on top. This improved the colors as well. Next time I’ll try mixing more powder into the batter instead to compare. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thanks so much for letting me know! Really appreciate hearing your experience.
Just made these for a dinner party and they were a hit! Thank you so much for the recipe!
So glad you liked these! Really appreciate you letting me know!
Omg! I can’t believe the BEST COOKIES I ever ate are actually homemade and I can cook them anytime I want! Thank you so much for this beautiful recipe, I’m in love.
I used light brown sugar and coconut sugar instead and the result was brilliant.
So glad to hear that! Love the coconut sugar sub!
Absolutely phenomenal with the right balance of flavors and textures. I did double the matcha as I’m a matcha lover. I also added 1c chopped cashews for some crunch, and swapped out some of the sugar for coconut sugar. I also refrigerated the dough before baking. Soooo good!!!! Thank you it really hit the spot and a total keeper and beautiful green color!
Thanks so much for letting me know, Sofia! I love your substitution ideas!
Can I substitute matcha latte for the matcha powder?
Hi Colleen, I’m not sure if you would want to do that. Matcha latte will have other things added to it, like sugar and milk powder, so it’s not the same as pure matcha powder. But since the amount called for in the recipe isn’t huge, it will probably still work with the matcha latte instead. You might get a sweeter cookie with a less pronounced matcha flavor. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Hi! I wanted to make these for my mom, and she’s gluten free. I substituted GF flour and they got kinda raw even after baking and didn’t bake as well. Oh well! That’s kind of on me. They tasted yummy!! Do you have any tips for making them less crumbly if I subsitute flour?
Oh bummer! I haven't tested these with GF flour, so unfortunately I don't know how the recipe behaves. I would see if you can find a different GF matcha cookie recipe, since there are usually other adjustments to be made besides just the type of flour. If you are open to other flavors, my Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies and Almond Flour Chocolate Cookies are delish, and totally gluten-free!
What an interesting cookie. I'll bet that the white chocolate chips are really good in that context. Thanks also for sharing the tips, especially the one about discoloring.
Thanks Jeff! The matcha + white chocolate is a really tasty combination!