Strawberry Matcha Latte Cookies
Look at these beauties!! Still warm out of the oven
The Strawberry Matcha Latte cookies are a sparkle on my crown. They are fully inspired by Sarah Kieffer’s incredible Neapolitan cookies which is a tried and true recipe in my repertoire. But I love the combination of strawberry, vanilla and matcha. Using the base of her recipe and a few tweaks: the strawberry matcha latte cookie was born. And it is everything I could have hoped for. These Strawberry Matcha Latte cookies have a sweet punchiness from freeze-dried strawberries, an earthy bittersweetness from the matcha, all rounded out with creamy vanilla.
Two tips: use good-quality or culinary-grade matcha for the recipe. And if you want to bump up the sweetness, you can use clear, artificial vanilla which will add a level of nostalgia to it. I hope you try and love them!
Strawberry Matcha Latte Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt, I use Diamond Kosher
20g package of freeze-dried strawberries, pulverized (about 1/2 cup) *see note
1 ½ tablespoons matcha powder
Granulated sugar for rolling
Directions:
Using a food processor or blender, pulverize the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand-mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk and the vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and blend until fully combined.
Divide the dough into three equal parts in three bowls; this will make the three colors of dough. Put one bowl of dough aside.
Add the matcha powder into one third of the dough. I just mix it by hand but you can put it back in the stand mixer. You will have to use separate bowls or clean in between the matcha and the strawberry powder to keep the individual colors vibrant.
In the third bowl, mix the freeze-dried strawberry powder into one third of the dough. You can add a touch of red food coloring if you want the pink to be punchier but the pale pink is a nice contrast to the vibrant green of the matcha.
Using a tablespoon measure, or a half-ounce cookie scoop, scoop each of the dough colors into balls. You will get about 14 of each color. Place them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the fridge to firm up slightly.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookies sheets (or three if you have!) with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Add about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to a small bowl or dish.
Take the dough balls out of the fridge and press one of each color together into a ball. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet flattening them slightly. Keep about 2 inches of space in between each cookie because they will spread! Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes, rotating the trays about halfway through. You will know the cookies are done with they are puffed but set and light golden-brown on the bottom. You can make the cookies on the smaller side and reduce the baking time.
Let the cookies cool for about 5-10 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep in an air-tight container for about 3-4 days.
Enjoy!
Note: Freeze-dried strawberries vary greatly in my experience so I generally just dump in a full bag into the food processor and blend. Typically I have found, brands package freeze-dried strawberries at about 20 grams.
To make this design, I split the three dough balls in half and arranged then in alternating colors before rolling it into a ball.