Matcha Cookie Update

Remember my matcha cookie post a few weeks ago? I was craving for a heavier matcha flavor. Some where on my tongue the chocolate chips also stole the spotlight away from matcha. This weekend I modified the recipe and made matcha the star ingredient. There is no chocolate chip, and guess what! I didn't use more matcha powder either. I made a matcha paste instead of sprinkling matcha powder on the batter.

Matcha Shortbread
yields approximately 40 cookies

150g unsalted butter, room temperature
115g confectioner sugar
2 egg yolks
15g matcha powder + 2 tablespoon hot water
240g all purpose flour

Cream the butter till pale and fluffy. Add sugar and mix together till you get a velvety batter. Add the egg yolks and mix well. In a small bowl, add hot water and matcha powder together and whip them together to get a thick green paste. Add the paste to the butter mixture. Use a spatula to distribute the matcha paste evening. Last, add the flour and combine everything together till there is no trace of flour.

Divide cookie batter into two equal balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and shape into a 3-in thick log. Store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice logs into quarter inch thick cookies. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool on a rack after baking.

Sharing is Caring--Nami's Green Tea Cookies

One of my favorite blogs is Nami's Just One Cookbook. Nami shares simple Japanese recipes from a simple yet essential dashi stock to unagi don. Every recipe has easy to follow pictures to guide even an amateur in the kitchen. My ungai don was one of Nami's recipes. It literally takes 5 minutes to prepare the unagi sauce, and if you buy pre-charred eel from a Japanese supermarket, dinner can be dinner in no time!

This week I made green tea cookies--one of Nami's desserts. She rarely bakes, but all her baked goods look like they're made from a professional pastry's hands. These cookies were delicious according to my colleagues. They gobbled up every bit and pieces before noon! I love the compliments and bringing back an empty container home. My worst fear is going to a pot-luck and have no one touch the food I bring.

Anyways, Nami's cookie is a fancy version of butter biscuits. It's slightly on the crunchy side, but the cookies melts on your tongue. In the hindsight, you get a faint matcha flavor that balances the rich butter. This is definitely a decadent dessert, meant to be served during high tea or reserved for a special guest.

Nami's Green Tea Cookies

150g/ 2/3cup unsalted butter, room temperature
100g/ 1/2 cup confectioner sugar
2 egg yolks
240g/ 2 1/8 cup all purpose flour
15g/ 2 + 1/4 tablespoon matcha powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar till butter turns pale. Add egg yolks and mix till well incorporated. Shift flour and matcha powder into butter mixture, mix well. Add chocolate chips and distribute evenly into cookie batter.

Divide batter in half and roll each half into a ball. On a plastic wrap, shape each ball into a log, 2 inch in diameter and 5 inch long. Refrigerate overnight. 15 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350F and let cookie logs stand in room temperature. Slice cookies into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick or the width of your pinky. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven. Let cool on the baking sheet for another 15 minutes before placing the cookies on a cooling rack.

I used black chocolate chips while Nami used white chocolate chips. I am a dark chocolate person, but white chocolate looks more graceful in this cookie.

 

Traveling Back to Time on Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies reminded me of my grandparents' deli. The store had everything a kid could dream of--cigarette candies, gold coin chocolates, chocolate balls wrapped in soccer ball pattern foil paper. My favorite of all was the peanut butter cookies. They were stored in a large plastic jar and placed high high high on the shelf. Maybe it was the only treat I couldn't reach and the only one thing my grandparents won't give me, the peanut butter cookies were my favorite. I always sat below the cookie jars while I peeled lotus seeds. They gave me motivation, perhaps today is the day when my grandma would award me a piece of cookie.

Chocolate soccer balls

I don't remember if I ever get to try one as a kid. My grandparents never had time to attend to their grandchildren. I only found out later that my grandparents didn't own a deli, they owned the biggest snack wholesale in Southern Taiwan. When I finally tried the cookies, I think I was in second grade already. Can you imagine longing for something throughout your childhood and only to have that wish satisfied years later? What can I say...the longing and the grease made it the best cookie ever. It was so greasy I got shiny lips and finger tips. 

It was the last and only time I had a peanut butter cookie from my grandparents' store. Traditional cookies and candies disappeared slowly in Taiwan. Supermarkets replaced corner delis, and Snicker bars, M&Ms, potato chips filled the shelves. Occasionally I spot some of my childhood candies at hip candies store, but they're much more expensive now. It's funny how the suggested retail price is 10NTD when the store charge you 50NTD.

Replication of a traditional deli at a tourist spot in Taipei

That's my little story about peanut butter cookies. I didn't make peanut butter cookies. It was the idea of making cookies that brought back my memories. What I made last night was oatmeal raisin--thick and chewy. Something about eating cookies make me feel like a kid again. 

What you need to make 2 dozen small cookies or 1 dozen large cookies:

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

100g brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

95g all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

100g raisin *(I used dried blueberries)

120g old fashioned oatmeal

90g walnut pieces

(recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

In a bowl, cream butter till fluffy, add sugar and beat for another 2 minutes until butter and sugar are incorporated. Alternatively, use your hand and mix the two ingredients together. Add the egg and mix till you get a smooth paste. Add salt, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. With a spatula incorporate everything until they just come together. Add raisin, oatmeal, and walnut. Make sure they are equally distributed among the batter. Don't over mix. 

Using a 2 tablespoon ice cream scoop (or measure out 28-30g of cookie dough), drop cookies one inch apart on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. While you're waiting for the cookies to chill, turn on the oven to 350F. After chilling in the fridge, bake for 10-12 minutes or until sides are slightly browned.

For larger cookies, use a 4 tablespoon ice cream scoop or measure out 50-60g of cookie dough.