What Are Matcha Butter Cookies?
Matcha butter cookies are delicious buttery cookies flavored with Japanese matcha green tea powder. The taste is rich and luxurious, and the colour is naturally bright green making it effortlessly festive and perfect for Christmas.
Because of the amount of butter and sugar in these cookies, the texture is lightly crisp and crumbly, a little like shortbread. However, by adding egg yolks and milk, it becomes a pipe-able mixture that can be made into beautifully defined shapes.
I mainly use this recipe to make Christmas tree cookies, however, you can experiment with other shapes such as wreaths, holly leaves, or other shapes for any time of year!
While Japanese people don’t celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense, if you visit Japan around December, you will find an abundance of Christmas-themed snacks and desserts. This cookie recipe is the perfect way to add a little Japanese flair to your holiday baking this year!
Ingredients You Will Need
- Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter to control the saltiness. The butter should be soft (room temperature) before starting. Do not use melted butter (I explain why in the walkthrough).
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar is my go-to for a slightly crispy texture, helping cookies maintain shape and not spread too much.
- Plain Flour: Simple all-purpose flour works best.
- Matcha Green Tea Powder: Choose bright green, high-quality matcha for baking. It’s now more accessible, often found in supermarkets, tea stores, or online. Perfect for adding natural color and flavor, especially for festive recipes!
- Chocolate & Powdered Sugar: These are for decorating. Get creative!
- Other Ingredients: Egg yolk, vanilla essence, whole milk, and a pinch of salt.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Matcha Christmas Cookies at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
The first step is to mix the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. To do this easily, the butter should be room temperature or slightly warmer so it’s easy to combine with the sugar.
You shouldn’t use melted butter for two main reasons. Firstly, it won’t cream properly, and when you add the flour, it will absorb too quickly and can make the cookies dense and uneven. They’re also more likely to spread in the oven if you use melted butter.
For best results, butter should be soft enough to easily press a dent with your finger.
Whisk in the egg yolk and vanilla essence until combined. The egg yolk adds moisture and helps bind the cookies, and vanilla adds an extra element of sweetness that compliments the matcha.
In Japan, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to get hold of vanilla essence, but if you’re using vanilla extract, use half the amount.
For an even result, I recommend combining the flour, matcha and salt in a separate bowl.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to ensure there are no lumps of matcha, and then combine them by mixing the dough with a spatula or wooden spoon.
If the dough is very stiff and difficult to mix, add a small amount of whole milk (about 1/2 tsp at a time) until it’s slightly softer and pipe-able. It should still be quite firm and stable for a defined end result.
For this recipe, you will need a piping bag and a star nozzle. Place the bag in a tall glass, drop the nozzle in and add the dough to the piping bag. If you’re doubling or tripling the recipe, I recommend adding half or one-third of the dough at a time so that it doesn’t become too warm in your hands. Cut the tip of the bag and push the dough down. Twist up the top and you’re ready to pipe!
Line a baking sheet with baking paper and pipe your designs, leaving about 2cm of space between each cookie. If the dough is still too stiff to pipe, try running the piping bag under warm water for a minute to help soften it further.
I recommend drawing your designs on a piece of paper and placing it underneath the baking paper so that you can trace it. I start from the top of the trunk, make a “U” shape and then pipe from left to right to make the tree branches.
If you like, you can download my free printable Christmas tree template here!
If you’re decorating with sugar sprinkles or decorations that don’t melt, you can add them before baking too. Don’t add chocolate or meltable decorations until later.
For best results, chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before baking!
While your cookies are resting in the fridge, preheat your oven to 170°C (340°F).
Once they’ve been chilling for 30 minutes, place them in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 12-15 minutes.
I recommend baking multiple trays in batches to ensure even cooking, but if you increase the recipe and want to use multiple shelves, you can swap and turn them every 5 minutes to ensure they’re all evenly cooked.
Allow them to cool for about 20-30 minutes, and then decorate as you like! I usually dip the tree trunks in chocolate and dust them with powdered sugar for a simple approach, but my wife decorated them this time, and she really went to town.
You can use things like royal icing, different colors of chocolate, sprinkles, etc! Why not go all out? It’s Christmas after all!
Jump to Full Recipe Measurements
How to Store
Store these matcha Christmas cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and consume them within 1 week. They can also be stored in the freezer in a ziplock bag or sealed container for up to 2 months.
Free Printable Template
If you missed it in the post, you can download my free printable Christmas tree cookie template here!
I hope you enjoy this Matcha Christmas Cookies recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Christmas-Themed Recipes
Matcha Christmas Tree Cookies
Equipment
- Pyrex Glass Mixing Bowls
- Star Piping Nozzle
- Disposable Piping Bag
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter softened/room temperature
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla essence or half the amount of vanilla extract
- 120 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp matcha powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1-2 tsp whole milk optional to loosen the dough
Optional ingredients for decorating
- 50 g chocolate melted (optional for dipping or drizzling)
- toppings of your choice sugar stars, chocolate stars, sprinkles etc.
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar for icing or dusting (optional for decorating)
Instructions
- Beat the 100 g unsalted butter and 50 g granulated sugar together in a bowl until pale, creamy and smooth.
- Add 1 egg yolk and ½ tsp vanilla essence, mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, mix 120 g all-purpose flour, 2 tsp matcha powder and 1 pinch salt until evenly distributed.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until it forms a stiff dough.
- To make the dough easier to pipe, add 1-2 tsp whole milk. If it still seems too stiff then add a little more milk, ½ tsp at a time.
- Transfer the mixture into a strong piping bag with a star nozzle.
- Line two baking sheets with baking paper and place the tree template underneath. (You can download my template or draw your own on a piece of paper.)
- Pipe the dough onto the baking paper, leaving 2cm between each cookie. (If the mixture is too stiff, massage the piping bag with your hands to warm it a little. You could also hold it under warm water to soften it further, but be careful not to warm too much.)
- Chill the cookies in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before baking. Start preheating your oven to 170 °C (338 °F) about 10 minutes before you take them out of the refrigerator.
- Bake the cookies on the middle shelf for 12-15 minutes or until they start to turn light brown around the edges. (Don't let them brown completely.)Once baked, let them cool for a 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to allow them to cool completely.
Decorating
- Customize the cookies with your own decorations. If you want to cover the trunks, melt 50 g chocolate using your preferred method and use a spoon to spread it over the cookie.To stick toppings of your choice (or other decorations) to the top, mix 1 tbsp powdered sugar with a tiny drizzle of milk or lemon juice and mix until combined. It should have a thick consistency. (If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar.) Use a chopstick to dab the top with the sugar paste and attach the stars. You could also sprinkle with powdered sugar for a snowy finish.
- Store in an airtight container and consume within a week. Enjoy!
This looks amazing. I am wondering if I can substitute with a gluten free flour.
Thank you! I haven’t tried with gluten free flour myself so I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely worth a try as long as you use a gluten free flour blend designed to be a 1:1 substitute for wheat flour. Good luck and let us know how it goes if you try it!
This recipe looks good and promising! Is it okay if I substitute the butter with shortening? 🙂
Thank you! I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure, but it should work in theory. You might find the dough is stiffer if you use shortening, so in that case you might need to add a little extra milk to make it pipeable. If possible, use a butter flavored shortening to keep the taste closer to the original recipe. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!