Matcha Green Tea Shortbread Cookies

Okay, just sayin', these Matcha Shortbread cookies are not only super tasty but they also contain several ingredients with proven benefits for your overall health, skin and nails. A cookie that’s tasty AND healthy?! Bring it on!

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What is Matcha Green Tea Powder?

Matcha is a type of green tea that originates from Japan. It's grown specially and processed specially, making it, well, really special! But seriously, these matcha tea leaves are treated like queens!

Twenty days before harvest, the matcha leaves are shaded from direct sunlight which increases their chlorophyll levels, giving matcha that bright green color. The leaves are handpicked, laid out to dry, de-stemmed and de-veined, then ground into fine powder.

What are the health benefits of Matcha?

Unlike other green teas which are steeped in water, with matcha, the tea powder is dissolved in water. So, you're getting the benefits of consuming the entire green tea leaf.

Because you're consuming the entire leaf with matcha, you're getting the the full effects of its antioxidants, vitamins, and caffeine. Many people who consume matcha say that it provides a steadier level of caffeine over coffee which provides a quicker burst of caffeine.

What does Matcha taste like?

Matcha is often described as pleasantly grassy, smooth and a little bit sweet. And, like many other ingredients, there are varying levels of quality of matcha green tea available.

Typically, good quality ceremonial matcha isn't cheap. However, culinary grade matcha tea powder is available and is typically cheaper. I recommend going for this variety to use in your baking and/or cooking and saving the really good stuff for drinking!

Matcha Green Tea Cookies Dipped in Dark Chocolate

I created this recipe for the May 2020 Beauty issue of Bella Mag. I knew right away I wanted to create a recipe using matcha powder! Not only does it have the health benefits we already discussed, it's also so beautiful in baked goods, giving them a vibrant green color.

For this recipe, I also wanted to incorporate as many other ingredients with health and beauty benefits as I could. Enter dark chocolate and coconut oil!

Dark chocolate is known to be a source of powerful antioxidants and may reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. All while satisfying your chocolate cravings! How's that for a power ingredient?!

And the coconut oil that's used to create a smooth, melted dark chocolate into which these cookies are dipped and drizzled contains healthy fatty acids and has also been shown to lower cholesterol.

With all these healthy ingredients, I herby prescribe you to at least one of these a day from now on!

Tips for Making Matcha Shortbread Cookies

• This dough will seem dry and crumbly when you mix all the ingredients together. Don't panic! It's supposed to be that way. Lay down a piece of parchment paper, dump the dough out onto it and press the dough together into one big clump as best you can. Lay another piece of parchment over top and roll the dough out into an even layer
• I recommend rolling the dough out this way before chilling, whereas many shortbread recipes call for chilling the dough then rolling it out. I find that with shortbread, the dough cracks very easily when it's cold, making it very difficult to roll out evenly. By rolling the shortbread dough out before chilling, this doesn't happen. Save yourself the heartache and roll it out ahead of time. Place the dough that's sandwiched between two pieces of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and pop it in the fridge to chill
• To cut out the dough, I recommend using a round cookie cutter that's about 2 inches in diameter. You can, of course, use whatever size or shape cookie cutter you have handy. And if you don't have cookie cutters, use the lid of a mason jar or even the rim of an upside-down glass
• These matcha shortbread cookies are delicate when they first come out of the oven. Leave them to cool a bit on the baking sheets then transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool completely before dipping in chocolate. If your cookies still seem too delicate to dip, aka they break off into the melted chocolate, try sticking the tines of a fork into the melted chocolate and drizzle it over top of the cookies while they're on the tray

Useful Kitchen Tools for Making this Recipe

Parchment Paper Sheets

Set of Round Cookie Cutters

Double Boiler

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For more shortbread cookie recipes, give these a try:

• Lavender Lemon Shortbread Cookies
• Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
• Strawberries and Cream Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches

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