Experiment 05; Matcha Short Bread Cookies; 06.08.11

Hm..





I'll start off by saying I love tea. Few things are as pleasureable as sitting down with a well made cup of tea.

I love matcha. IN general it's character (light mouth feel, sweet on the tongue)
I've heard of the tea being used in cooking; in specific as cookies, or small cakes. Upon starting this blog, I opted to find a quick recipe; nothing too fancy, simple, but hopefully versatile.

The adventure started with convincing the husband that green tea powder is a delight; and when made properly, is a joy for the senses and that we simply must try to make these cookies. (and have a cup of tea.)

I located the following recipe for these cookies and after a short chat, we opted to go locate some matcha powder.

Let me start off by saying, Trader Joe's in Anaheim does /not/ carry such a thing. Their tea selections in general are kind of scanty; limited to the oft seen 'organic' greens and blacks, herbals of the usual kind.

My next stop; the ever enjoyable 99 Ranch Market; what most would call an 'Asian market' (which .. it is.) and while rather well stocked in teas (a whole aisle); I was able to locate only one matcha powder. I was surprised, to be honest.

Not exactly what I sought, but it did it's duty in the name of cooking experiments.

Its texture was a bit grainy, due to the granulated sugar used in it to make it sweet. What I'm used to is a fine, fine fine powder. Sweet yes, but no need for the extra sugar. This struck me as a treat you might make for kiddos. I made some to drink on ice; and found myself a bit let down.  But I carried on.

Totally.

As you can see, this is a very simple recipe. I started off following the instructions as called for. (I only added an extra table spoon (or 3) of matcha cause I goddamn like tea.)

One thing I overlooked here was the fact this recipe called for a mixer; which I still lack presently. Ive never mixed butter and powdered sugar till 'fluffy'. If this is 'fluffy', well, ok then. I did it by hand. 

Eventually, you mix all of this together.

To get this vile looking substance.

This is when I started not liking this recipe at all. The dough reeked of the butter I used, a cup of butter was called for, and thats what I used. And you know, butter is awesome, but I dont want to feel like I'm going to be eating a butter cookie; im making matcha cookies.

In this house, we don't traffic drugs, we traffic vile looking green crap.

Gah.

That glisten-y look on this uncooked cookie is from the butter, not the nonstick spray I sprayed on my cookie sheet(lined with foil because this sheet is old and is used roughly). My hands when I worked the dough, were coated with the butter, felt greasy and largely unsavory.

But they did come out.. ok. Just again with the  overwhelming butter scent.

The methods I used before I followed the instructions better (where it mentions making a log) (lololo log) were as thus:

-Scooping balls of dough, pressing them and cooking them. (Semi pass)
-Rolling the dough, attempting a cookie cutter (fail.)

The log method I tried was by far a better success; as was using less butter in the recipe in general. I used closer to a half cup of butter as opposed to a full cup, and worked in a teaspoon or two in more to make the dough a little more workable.

By the word of the husband, who finally did try a cookie; his preference was for a sweeter cookie (despite my warnings that this may not be a sweet cookie); so I made the next batch with the log-o-dough , less butter and dropped each bit in a bowl of sugar before baking them. The results were more superior

<3

However..!

This recipe, I am not exactly thrilled with. It seems like it's missing something, and I cannot quite place my finger on it, but it's versatility (less butter, more matcha) is appealing. If anything, I will locate another recipe to try again with, and perhaps have a more satisfying cookie to write about. I think I was seeking a softer cookie, and short bread, (and correct me if I am wrong, readers) is not a notably soft sort. Either that or I baked these too long.

But given the instructions say 'bake until edges brown' well..

Eh. They will be an appreciated treat I am certain regardless.