These matcha gingerbread cutout cookies are flavoured with honey, ground ginger, and matcha green tea powder. The matcha cookies are dipped in white chocolate and coated in sanding sugar to make them sparkle!
This year, instead of making traditional gingerbread cookies, I opted to try something different by swapping the molasses out for honey (which is a great baking substitution to keep in mind!), and replacing most of the traditional spices with matcha green tea powder. I kept the ground ginger in the recipe to give them a little kick.
These gingerbread cookie cutouts are a great cookie to enjoy with a cup of hot tea in the afternoon, and they store well. They are just a little different than the usual.
How to incorporate matcha in a cookie recipe
In order to give these gingerbread cookies a green colour and to incorporate the matcha powder without messing too much with the baking ratio of the cookie, I made a few changes to the classic gingerbread recipe:
- I replaced most of the classic gingerbread spices (cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg) with matcha green tea powder, which gives the cookies a warm green tone without using any food colouring.
- I replaced the molasses with honey so that the colour of the liquid sugar wouldn't interfere with the matcha.
- I baked the matcha cookies just enough so that the edges just begin to colour. Longer and the green would have been browner.
The easy way to decorate Christmas cookies
You can use a piping bag to carefully decorate Christmas cutout cookies with royal icing or melted chocolate. But let's be honest: most of us, myself included, aren't experienced enough to make them look good.
To decorate these matcha cookie cutouts, I took the easy route: I dipped one edge in melted white chocolate and coated it in colourful sanding sugar. The results are lovely, without being too perfect or fussy.
Matcha gingerbread cutout cookies
Ingredients
- 280 grams (2¼ cups) bleached all-purpose flour
- 10 mL (2 teaspoon) ground ginger
- 10 mL (2 teaspoon) matcha green tea powder
- 1.25 mL (¼ teaspoon) baking soda
- 1.25 mL (¼ teaspoon) Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 115 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 115 grams (⅓ cup) honey
- 67 grams (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg(s)
optional decorations
- 175 grams (1 cup) Cacao Barry white chocolate, melted
- green sanding sugar
- white sanding sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, matcha, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
- In a small saucepan, melt together the honey with the butter, sugar and salt. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs with the honey mixture until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and stir to combine.
- Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour at least.
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until it's ⅛–¼" thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to parchment lined baking sheets. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF.
- Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until the bottom edges are very lightly golden.
- Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Optional decorating
- Dip the edge of each cookie in melted white chocolate and sprinkle with sanding sugars to coat. Let cool completely to set the chocolate before storing the cookies in an air-tight container
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe is one variation of many gingerbread recipes that you can try, including:
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