Chewy Matcha White Chocolate Cookies

The bright green color of these matcha white chocolate cookies is so fun. The hint of matcha’s earthy flavors comes through and complements the sweetness of the chocolate chunks or chips. While this is a colorful and delicious treat, maybe best of all is that this recipe is like my chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter cookie recipes. They all use a no-chill cookie dough. That means you don’t have to pop them into the refrigerator or freezer and have any downtime prior to baking them. If you’re impatient to quickly eat cookies (I always am!), these can be ready in under an hour!

What is matcha?

You may have seen matcha on a menu lately; it seems to be an increasingly popular ingredient in baked goods, lattes, ice cream, and a variety of other desserts and dishes.

Matcha is a kind of green tea. To make it, young tea leaves are ground down into a powder, which is typically a bright green. The world’s finest matcha has origins in Japan, where farmers have grown it for centuries and also used it in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.

Cookie Ingredients

Below are the key ingredients that make these matcha cookies delicious and extra special.

Matcha powder – Matcha powder adds a beautiful, vibrant shade of green to these cookies. It also has a lightly earthy yet sweet flavor. After seeing other bakers online using Aiya matcha powder, that’s the brand I also decided to incorporate into this recipe. There are many good brands of matcha available to home bakers.

For best results with color and flavor in these cookies, I recommend purchasing a high-quality culinary grade matcha powder. Ceremonial grade is often expensive and not intended for baking.

To really see for myself, I tested this recipe with ceremonial grade powder, which cost a lot more and did not add flavor! So save yourself some money and go with culinary grade matcha in baked goods like these. You can read more about baking with this powder on Bon Appetit.

Ground oats from old fashioned oats – They add texture and chewiness. They even add some health benefits – like fiber, vitamins, and minerals – to the cookie!

Baking baking powder and baking soda – Baking soda helps a cookie spread while baking, but too much soda can lead to a thin, crispy cookie. As a result, this recipe also uses baking powder. It helps the cookie rise and prevents excessive spreading.

White chocolate chunks or chips – Matcha has an earthy, natural flavor and texture to it. These cookies are delicious without any chips, but the white chocolate is a nice addition. It plays well against the matcha flavor as they complement each another.

I also tested this recipe with some dark and milk chocolate chips. They were tasty as well but of course had a different flavor. The matcha also didn’t come through as well when paired with dark chocolate, but they were still very yummy.

Browned butter – Browned butter provides a lightly nutty flavor. It’s not strong but is noticeable and enhances the earthiness of this cookie’s flavor.

Browning Butter for Matcha White Chocolate Cookies

This is a step and ingredient that enhances and deepens the taste of these cookies and takes only a few minutes. Here’s how, and it’s easy!

And don’t worry about it changing the appearance of your cookies. If you’re using a high-quality, culinary grade matcha powder, that pretty bright green color will still shine.

Brown your sticks of butter over medium heat (approximately 6-10 minutes). Stir continuously until the butter begins to foam and becomes golden brown. Once it smells nutty and becomes amber in color, remove it from the heat source. 

Pour your browned butter into a heat-resistant container and place it in the freezer to expedite the cooling process for the next 15-20 minutes while you move ahead with this recipe. When you next use the butter, you’ll want it to be cool. It will likely have formed a sort of shell on its surface but be liquid-y beneath. That’s fine. 

If you’re new to browning butter, I especially recommend watching your pot of butter closely. You want to get to the point where you see little brown flecks scattered throughout the butter. It will overall turn a more amber color, too. That’s why I also suggest using a pan or pot that has a lighter colored bottom. That makes it easier to notice the subtle changes in your butter’s color.

How to Make Matcha White Chocolate Cookies

After you’ve browned your butter, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Measure all your ingredients besides your brown butter, which should be cooling.

Place old fashioned oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until finely powdered. Set aside in a large bowl.

Add your spooned and leveled flour to your bowl of finely powdered oats and then also add matcha powder. Break up any clumps using a sifter, whisk, or fork.

In a large mixing bowl, combine melted brown butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Start on a low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium until dough is well combined, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway through the process to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

Pause mixing and add one egg as well as half of your flour/oat/matcha mixture. Beat until smooth before adding the second egg and remaining dry ingredients. Beat for about one minute.

Mix in your white chocolate chunks or chips if using.

Use an ice cream scoop and your hand, form golf-ball sized portions of your cookie dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between each of them. Bake for 12-13 minutes.

After cooling for about 5 minutes on cookie sheet (or until cookies are firm enough to handle), transfer cookies to cooling rack.  

No-Chill Dough for this Matcha Cookie Recipe

Some cookie recipes insist on resting your cookie dough before baking it. This generally means setting it in the refrigerator for a few hours or even overnight before popping your cookies into the oven. The end result can be a more flavorful cookie.

However, life happens, and sometimes you don’t have time to wait. Here, resting the dough is not necessary.

You can learn more about the merits of resting your dough in this post from Bon Appétit. The bottom line is that if a recipe does ask you to rest your dough, you shouldn’t breeze past these instructions.

But luckily, no resting needed here!

Matcha and Matcha Cookie FAQ

More Dessert Recipes

Stay on the chocolate kick we started here and try my small batch chocolate chip muffin recipe at your next brunch! More in the mood for cake than cookies? This Lotus Biscoff cake is a major crowd pleaser!

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