Deliciously sweet, buttery, and crumbly shortbread biscuits infused with the unmistakable grassy and umami flavours of Matcha: Scotland meets Japan in this elegant and sophisticated tea-and-biscuit fusion.
Shortbread biscuits are a traditional Scottish biscuit with a buttery taste and crumbly texture. Matcha powder adds a sophisticated and elegant perfume and aroma and lends them a vibrant green color.
Matcha is a fine powder ground from unfermented, steamed, and dried green tea leaves. In its finest form, it is famous for its role in Japanese tea ceremonies.
It has a vibrant green color and distinct umami flavor, due to the tea leaves being grown in the shade or covered, deprived of light, in the final weeks before harvesting. This shadow growth causes an increased production of chloroplasts, giving the leaves their bright green colour, and amino acids, causing a distinct umami taste.
Matcha is available in different qualities: from the finest and priciest powders used in Japanese tea ceremonies, to tea-grade powders found in tea shops and health food stores, all the way to baking-grade and artificially flavoured powders.
I purchased mine from a tea shop and recommend getting the highest quality Matcha you are willing to invest in. The flavour makes all the difference.
Besides its use for tea, Matcha can be incorporated in a variety of delightful recipes, such MATCHA ICE CREAM, MATCHA AFFOGATO, MATCHA SMOOTHIES, lattes, and more.
And it is such a treat to bake with: from the moment you open the container to when the biscuits emerge from the oven, you'll be enveloped by a captivating Matcha fragrance. Even though my kitchen machine did most of the work, I did not leave its side, soaking in all the aromas. PS, try to resist eating all the raw dough!
The biscuits are easy to make: The dry ingredients are combined, then mixed with the butter until fluffy. The flour and eggs are added to make a dough. The dough is rested, then rolled out. The biscuits are cut out, covered with sugar, and baked.
References:
Here's the Recipe:
MATCHA SHORTBREAD BISCUITS
Deliciously sweet, buttery, and crumbly shortbread biscuits infused with the unmistakable grassy and umami flavours of Matcha: Scotland meets Japan in this elegant and sophisticated tea-and-biscuit fusion.
Recipe Source: Lovescool: Amai’s Green Tea Sweets
INGREDIENTS:
Makes approximately 28 biscuits:
100 g (5 oz) icing sugar
1.5 tablespoons Matcha
150 g butter, at room temperature
240 g (8.5 oz) flour
3 large egg yolks
Small bowl of granulated sugar for coating
Also: electric hand whisk, or stand mixer. Cookie cutter (I used one with a 5 cm diameter)
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare all the ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 175°C/160°C fan/350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Combine sugar and Matcha: Sift 100 g icing sugar into a bowl. Add 1.5 tablespoons Matcha powder, then blend the ingredients with a hand whisk or spoon until the mixture is uniformly light green.
Cream the butter with the Matcha/sugar mix: Cut 150 g room-temperature butter into cubes and add them to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use an electric hand whisk). Add the Matcha/sugar blend and cream, using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer until the mixture is smooth, fluffy, and light in color, scraping down the sides once in a while to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the flour: Sift 240 g flour into the mixture and stir until just combined (avoid over-mixing).
Add the egg yolks and form a dough: Add 3 egg yolks and keep on mixing gently until the eggs are fully incorporated and the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing to prevent the biscuits from becoming tough
Rest the dough: Transfer the dough to the work surface, form it into a disc, wrap it in cling film, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until firm.
Cut out the biscuits: Prepare a small bowl with granulated sugar. Roll the dough to about 8 mm thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out small biscuits, then coat each one on all sides with the sugar and arrange them on the baking sheet. They don't spread much, so you can place them fairly close together.
Bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. The biscuits are done when the surface feels hard and a gentle scratch produces a scratching sound.
Cool: Allow the biscuits to cool on a wire rack, then store them in a biscuit tin.
Serve: Delightful with a coffee or a glass of ice-cold milk...
STORAGE:
Keep the biscuits in a biscuit tin with a tight-fitting lid.
TEXT-ONLY RECIPE
MATCHA SHORTBREAD BISCUITS
Deliciously sweet, buttery, and crumbly shortbread biscuits infused with the unmistakable grassy and umami flavours of Matcha: Scotland meets Japan in this elegant and sophisticated tea-and-biscuit fusion.
Recipe Source: Lovescool: Amai’s Green Tea Sweets
INGREDIENTS:
Makes approximately 28 biscuits:
100 g (5 oz) icing sugar
1.5 tablespoons Matcha
150 g butter, at room temperature
240 g (8.5 oz) flour
3 large egg yolks
Small bowl of granulated sugar for coating
Also: electric hand whisk, or stand mixer. Cookie cutter (I used one with a 5 cm diameter)
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare all the ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 175°C/160°C fan/350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Combine sugar and Matcha: Sift 100 g icing sugar into a bowl. Add 1.5 tablespoons Matcha powder, then blend the ingredients with a hand whisk or spoon until the mixture is uniformly light green.
Cream the butter with the Matcha/sugar mix: Cut 150 g room-temperature butter into cubes and add them to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use an electric hand whisk). Add the Matcha/sugar blend and cream, using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer until the mixture is smooth, fluffy, and light in color, scraping down the sides once in a while to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the flour: Sift 240 g flour into the mixture and stir until just combined (avoid over-mixing).
Add the egg yolks and form a dough: Add 3 egg yolks and keep on mixing gently until the eggs are fully incorporated and the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing to prevent the biscuits from becoming tough.
Rest the dough: Transfer the dough to the work surface, form it into a disc, wrap it in cling film, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until firm.
Cut out the biscuits: Prepare a small bowl with granulated sugar. Roll the dough to about 8 mm thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out small biscuits, then coat each one on all sides with the sugar and arrange them on the baking sheet. They don't spread much, so you can place them fairly close together.
Bake the biscuits in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. The biscuits are done when the surface feels hard and a gentle scratch produces a scratching sound.
Cool: Allow the biscuits to cool on a wire rack, then store them in a biscuit tin.
Serve: Delightful with a coffee or a glass of ice-cold milk...
STORAGE:
Keep the biscuits in a biscuit tin with a tight-fitting lid.
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