Bready or Not Original: Matcha Cheesecake Cookies
The green tea theme continues to celebrate the release of Call of Fire! This is a fully original recipe: Matcha Cheesecake Cookies.
The Cheesecake Bars from last week were such a hit, I decided to grab my old Philly Chippers recipe and revamp it with matcha.
The result? Rich, luscious cookies that worked well with the fresh taste of green tea! Weirdly enough, the green color ended up faint again. I’m sure there’s a scientific reason for that, but for now, it remains a mystery.
This dough is great to work with. It doesn’t require any time to chill after everything is mixed together. Just make dough balls and start baking!
Since the cookies are already quite rich, I don’t recommend adding white chocolate to these. Instead, perhaps try some nuts like pecans for a nice complementary flavor and texture.
Or just eat’em plain. They are delicious with the recipe as-is!
Bready or Not Original: Matcha Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter two cubes, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese 1 box, softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 Tb matcha powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and slowly incorporate them with the wet ingredients.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to transfer dough to a cookie sheet. The dough will not spread much as it cooks.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a rack to cool.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
I continue the matcha-in-baked-goods theme to celebrate the release of Call of Fire last week, this time with Matcha White Chocolate Cookies.
The weird thing about these cookies is that the green tea’s color didn’t carry through in the baked results, but the taste is still there.
In fact, when my husband took these to work, a guy kept going back for more. He finally asked, “What’s in these?!”
“Green tea,” said my husband.
“Oh, does that make these healthy?” the man asked, making a face of disgust as he grabbed another cookie.
I won’t go so far as to say these are healthy, but these do have caffeine, and maybe those provided him with a much-needed jolt.
The flavor of these is unusual and hard to describe. The sweetness of the white chocolate is bold, and behind that is a mild and pleasant aftertaste from the matcha. It’s enough for you to know there is something unique about the cookies, but not to identify what it is.
If you want to be sure that the green color comes through in this recipe, maybe add a little bit of food dye before mixing in the white chocolate chips.
Or you may be content with your cookies coming out as mine did: pale yet undeniably delicious.
Bready or Not: Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon matcha
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup butter 1 1/2 cubes, softened
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips most of a bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, matcha, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a big bowl, cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined, then mix in the white chocolate.
- Use a teaspoon scoop or spoon to dole out cookies on a sheet; the cookies will spread, so be sure to space them out. Bake for 13 to 14 minutes. Let set on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack to finish cooling.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not Original: Matcha (Green Tea) Almond Cookies
The second edition in our baked-goods-with-matcha book release celebration features sliced cookies: Matcha Almond Cookies!
I found a base recipe for this that produced a very small amount of cookies. I doubled the amounts, added vanilla, rewrote everything… and here we are.
These are essentially shortbread cookies with a vibrant green hue and fresh matcha flavor. The almonds add a sporadic, wonderful crunch.
I found this dough surprisingly easy to work with. As I sliced cookies, some of them crumbled–an inevitable hazard, with nuts in there–but it was easy to shape the dough into a cookie again.
The type of green tea you use may produce different results. I used a Rishi sweet green tea blend that includes sugar, making it ideal for lattes or baked goods.
Like most shortbreads this just begs to be accompanied by a nice hot cup of coffee or tea. Perhaps a book, too. Might I recommend Call of Fire? It’s out next Tuesday! (Was that smooth?)
Bready or Not Original: Matcha (Green Tea) Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons sweet matcha powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2/3 cup sliced almonds lightly chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, matcha powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, vanilla extract, and confectioners' sugar until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture until dough is formed. Stir in the almonds.
- Stretch out a long piece of plastic wrap. Place dough in the middle to form a 1 1/2 inch log, then wrap well with the plastic. Repeat again so that all of the dough is in logs. Place them in the fridge to chill for at least an hour, or a day or two.
- Pre-heat oven at 325-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into 1/4-inch thick rounds. If the dough crumbles, compress it to reshape. Arrange cookies about 2 inches apart on the pan.
- Bake for 14 to 16 minutes; set cookies on wire rack to completely cool. Store in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple Walnut White Chocolate Biscotti
Back in May, I posted my Snickerdoodle Biscotti recipe. This is the next installment: Maple-Walnut White Chocolate Biscotti, modified from a King Arthur Flour recipe.
I first made this following the original version pretty closely. I received feedback that it was good, but it was also way too nutty.
Clearly, I needed to rewrite the recipe and make it work. I decided to halve the walnuts, and replace that half with white chocolate chips. This time, I received feedback that they were the most awesome biscotti ever.
In a single bite, it’s easy to see why. The maple flavor is great, the walnuts add a wonderful crunch within the already-crunchy dough, and the white chocolate adds sublime sweetness to bring everything together.
Since these are biscotti, they will keep well, sealed, for weeks. That makes these great for mailing (though perhaps not in the middle of summer, as there is some chocolate in these) or presenting as gifts.
As I noted before, homemade biscotti cannot be compared to the store versions, which could be used as billy clubs to defend households against burglars. Homemade biscotti are crunchy but still chewy… and, of course, taste best if dipped into coffee or tea.
Bready or Not: Maple Walnut White Chocolate Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3/4 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 Tablespoon maple sugar optional, or turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Toast the walnuts for about 8 minutes, until they're light golden brown and smell toasty. Set them aside in a bowl to cool, but keep the parchment on the pan.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugars, maple syrup, and maple flavor. Add the melted butter, and beat until smooth.
- Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the walnuts next, followed by the white chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough in half on the prepared baking sheet. Form each into a log about 4 inches wide and 10 inches long; make sure there is space between the two logs, as they'll grow in the oven.
- Sprinkle maple sugar or turbinado sugar over the tops of both logs.
- Bake about 30 minutes, until the biscotti is lightly browned with small cracks forming across the top. Remove the baking sheet, but be sure to leave the oven on.
- Let the biscotti cool for 10 minutes. Use a large knife, such as a bread knife, to diagonally slice the logs 1/2-inch apart. Use a straight-down motion to cut; don't saw.
- Arrange the biscotti spaced out on the baking sheet. Stand them up if possible, or lay them on their sides. Bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them over halfway if necessary, to equally crisp both sides.
- Cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container as long as a few weeks.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Soft Lemon-Ginger Cookies
Lemon and ginger join forces in these luscious cookies!
I found the original recipe in a compilation from Taste of Home. I immediately thought, hey, that looks good but it needs more ginger… and more lemon.
Because if it’s a lemon-ginger cookie, it should scream flavor, right?
And these do, all bound up in a soft, chewy form. These taste delightfully fresh. Perfect for summer, really.
… oh, these would be perfect for the holidays, too. They do have ginger, after all. Make them whenever you want. The dough can be made a day or two ahead of time and kept ready in the fridge!
Bready or Not: Soft Lemon-Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 3 Tablespoons sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350-degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip together the butter and brown sugar until it gains a fluffy texture. Beat in the egg, sour cream, and extracts.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, ginger, and salt; make sure to press any lumps out of the cream of tartar and ginger. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the other bowl.
- Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and no longer jiggly. Watch out--they can overbake quickly. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for just a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Cinnamon Twist Cookies
These Cinnamon Twist Cookies give you an opportunity to play with cookie dough.
You divide the dough in half and mix cinnamon into one half. Then you twist the doughs together, creating delicious braided cookies!
This would actually be a great recipe to involve kids or grandkids! Just keep in mind that the cookies spread as they bake, so you don’t want them too large.
This is one the first cookie recipes I claimed as “mine.” I found it on the Betty Crocker website back in my newlywed days when I was hunting for new cookies that would please my husband.
I made these cookies all the time for about five years, and then the recipe became buried in my growing collection of clippings and print-outs. I was stunned to realize recently that I hadn’t made these cookies in years.
These cookies keep well for several days and they’re durable to pack and bring with you places. They have a kind of snickerdoodle vibe going with that kick of cinnamon, but they’re not messy at all.
Most importantly of all, they are delicious.
Bready or Not: Cinnamon Twist Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Divide dough in half. Stir cinnamon into one half until it's mixed in and brown.
- Grab equal pinches of both kinds of dough, place them side by side, and gently twist into a short rope. Place on cookie sheet, with several inches around each to account for expansion. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookie is set with the pale dough just tinted brown. Let cookies cool on wire rack. Store in a sealed container for several days.
- OM NOM NOM!
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