Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Matcha chocolate chip cookies balance the subtly earthy, herbal flavor of matcha green tea with the sweetness of white or dark chocolate chips. These vibrantly green cookies are delightfully soft and perfectly thick with just the right touch of sweetness.

What is Matcha?

Matcha is a Japanese green tea high in antioxidants and amino acids that is ground into a fine powder. It has a slightly bitter, herbal flavor and is intensely green in color.

While traditional tea leaves are steeped in hot water before being discarded, matcha green tea powder is whisked into hot water or milk, creating a deliciously frothy drink in which the entire leaf is consumed.

Matcha is most commonly consumed as a tea or latte, but due to its unique flavor and eye-catching color it is growing in popularity in dishes and desserts, like cookies, cakes, and cheesecake.

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What Matcha Should I Use For This Recipe?

There are a lot of brands and types of matcha out there. We personally love the Matcha Kari brand (this is not a sponsored post!). We did a sponsored post with them in 2022 (matcha chia pudding) and really loved the smoothness and rich flavor of their ceremonial barista matcha (great for tea and lattes).

For baking (like these cookies), we use culinary matcha, which is more affordable but still imparts great matcha flavor. It is considered lower quality than ceremonial or ceremonial barista, which are higher quality and designed to be used in dishes where the matcha flavor really needs to shine through.

Ceremonial barista is the next level up from culinary matcha and it is designed to be used in lightly sweetened drinks (like matcha lattes). And ceremonial or ceremonial tea house is the highest quality and is designed to be taken in its purest form: matcha tea.

When choosing your matcha powder, read the label carefully. You want pure matcha tea powder, not matcha tea latte mix, and you’ll want to verify that it is grown in Japan.

Ingredients

• Butter – we always opt for plant butter or sweet cream olive oil butter to lessen the saturated fat content of our bakes. Let the butter soften slightly before creaming for best results.
• Brown and granulated sugar – a mix of granulated and light (or dark) brown sugar results in cookies that aren’t overpoweringly sweet and are soft and thick.
• Matcha powder – for the trademark vibrant green color and uniquely slightly bitter, herbal flavor. Adjust the amount of match you use to your taste. We recommend 1 tablespoon for tentative matcha fans and 2 tablespoons for mega matcha fans.
• All purpose flour – for that thick, chewy structure. We also like to substitute in white whole wheat flour if we have it on hand for a touch more fiber, protein, and vitamins.
• Vanilla extract – brings out all the rich flavors in these cookies. This recipe calls for 2 teaspoons to amp up the vanilla essence, which pairs beautifully with the more bitter matcha for a subtle sweetness.
• Eggs – binding agent. Bring them to room temperature before incorporating. You can do this quickly by submerging eggs in warm water for 1-2 minutes.
• Baking soda – leavening agent to puff up these cookies.
• Salt – to bring out all the other flavors.
• White or dark chocolate chips – for the perfect punch of sweetness to balance the more earthy taste of matcha powder.

Tips for Making Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Use a baking mat – for evenly baked cookies with crisp edges and soft centers, use baking mats. They’re great for preventing overspreading and eliminate the need for cooking spray.
2. Chill the dough – chilled dough will spread less when baked, resulting in nice, thick cookies. The matcha flavor will also deepen as the dough chills. If you don’t want to wait on chilled dough (we totally get it!) you can bake these straight away, but be prepared for thinner, more spread out cookies!
3. Time is a guideline – since ovens bake differently, we use time as a general guideline. Keep your eye on these cookies and look for set edges and soft centers to determine if the cookies are done. We generally bake ours for 10-12 minutes (we love uber soft centers) but you may need a few more minutes for your perfect bake. Keep that oven light on and watch those babies bake.
4. Adjust matcha to your taste – you can adjust the amount of matcha in this recipe to your own taste. If you’re lukewarm on matcha, don’t add more than 1 tablespoon of matcha powder. If you’re all about matcha, then load it up with 2 tablespoons. Beyond that, we’ve found these cookies to be much too earthy and herbal for our taste, but to each his own! The dough also always tastes more potently of matcha than the baked cookies.
5. Freeze leftover matcha to keep it fresh – freeze leftover matcha for up to two months after opening to help it stay fresh longer.

How to Make Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, matcha powder, baking soda, and salt. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually beat in matcha-flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 30 minutes before shaping. When you’re ready to shape dough, preheat the oven to 350℉. Spoon about 1½ tablespoons of dough onto a baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Repeat until the cookie sheet is full.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers are still soft. Allow cookies to cool partially on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or wax paper to finish cooling.

How to Store

• Room temperature – store these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freezer – form cookies into dough balls and flash freeze for 1 hour on a cookie sheet. Transfer the dough balls to a large freezer safe Ziploc baggie for up to 3 months. You can also roll into a cookie dough log and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and tin foil to freeze. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before baking. For dough log, slice and bake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out our other cookie recipes

• Brown butter butterscotch chocolate chip cookies
• Coffee chocolate chip cookies
• Chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar
• Coconut sugar chocolate chip cookies with coconut
• Pumpkin pecan cookies
• White chocolate peppermint cookies