These matcha chocolate chip cookies are crunchy outside and chewy inside. Meringue-based, they are delightfully light and airy too. Perfect with tea, at Christmas, Easter, every time you’re craving for something sweet and delicious.
(Looking for recipes with green tea or matcha powder? Try these matcha overnight oats with white chocolate chips — delicious grab and go breakfast. Or make some homemade matcha ice cream. You don’t even need an ice cream maker!)
I love drinking matcha. So it was only a matter of time before I started using matcha powder in desserts too.
What’s great is that the matcha flavour we love translates beautifully into other things — like these matcha cookies — giving us more opportunities to enjoy this awesome ingredient.
What is matcha and what does matcha taste like
Matcha literally means “powdered tea.” Specially grown and processed green tea leaves are finely ground until they turn to the vibrant green powder we’re familiar with.
If you’re wondering what matcha tastes like, it really depends on the quality of the matcha powder you have.
According to matcha.com — “premium matcha tea can have a sweet, grassy (or earthy) flavour. People often describe it with some type of vegetal taste, mixed with an umami, or savoury effect on the palate”.
Good quality matcha doesn’t require any added sweetener. Lower grade matcha powders have a slightly bitter aftertaste and needs sweeteners like honey.
Matcha is also known to have many health benefits. Check this out.
Baking these matcha cookies is easy. And fun!
It’s different from other matcha chocolate chip cookies or matcha sugar cookies because it has a meringue base and contains no flour, butter or egg yolks.
It’s light and airy and delicious. And it’s hard to stop at just one cookie.
To make them, you’ll need:
- Egg whites
- Cream of tartar
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Matcha powder
- And semi-sweet chocolate chips
To make this matcha chocolate chip cookie recipe, you’ll need the following:
- Stand mixer to make the meringue, but a handheld electric mixer works well too
- Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (1 large or 2 regular size)
- Large piping tip fitted into a piping bag, or a cookie scoop
- Rubber spatula
Recipe with step-by-step photos
Once you have everything ready, you can start baking.
1 BAKING SHEET. First thing you want to do is preheat your oven to 250F. Line 2 baking sheets (or 1 large, commercial size baking sheet) with parchment paper and set aside.
2 EGG WHITES. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed until soft peaks (6-8 minutes).
3 SUGAR. Switch to low speed and very slowly (I do it one teaspoon at a time) add sugar until your meringue is stiff, sticky and glossy (5-6 minutes).
4 MATCHA POWDER. Sprinkle matcha powder on top of the meringue and gently fold until combined.
5 CHOCOLATE CHIPS. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of that and fold 2-3 times just until the chocolate is spread out. Do not over mix.
6 PIPE OR DROP. Using a piping bag fitted with a large tip, pipe your meringue onto your prepared pans. Alternatively, you can also drop the meringue onto your pans using a cookie scoop and gently flatten and swirl the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
7 BAKE. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven off. Leave the pans in the oven for at least 6 hours or overnight. Do not open the oven door so the meringues can dry properly.
8 ENJOY. Remove the pans from the oven, carefully peel the cookies off the parchment paper and enjoy. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Expert baking tips and recipe FAQs
Have questions about this cookie recipe or matcha in general? Find your answers here.
Baking with matcha
It’s super easy to bake with matcha and incorporate it into your recipes.
I personally just either add the powder directly into my dry ingredients. Or dissolve it in milk and add that mixture to my wet ingredients.
What’s important is you use a matcha powder you like and adjust the matcha flavour according to how strong you want your green tea flavour to be.
How to know quality matcha powder
There are two kinds of matcha powder — culinary grade and ceremonial grade.
Ceremonial grade matcha is more expensive, very fine and silky, and has a vibrant green colour. It’s designed to be naturally sweet and strong and is usually the kind used in Japanese tea ceremonies.
Not very many people appreciate the strong matcha flavour though. It’s definitely an acquired taste.
Culinary grade matcha is a more versatile matcha powder that’s more commonly used to make matcha lattes and baked goods. This is the matcha flavour we’re probably more used to.
I used to think that I needed to splurge for the ceremonial matcha powder but over the years, I realized that for the goodies that I make, culinary grade works just as well.
So don’t sweat it. Just make sure the matcha powder you use for baking is the matcha powder you enjoy drinking.
I would recommend buying pure matcha powder though, and not those already sweetened with sugar.
I personally like Elan Organic Matcha Powder which I can usually get at Costco for a steal.
Yes, these easy matcha cookies have caffeine because they contain both matcha powder and chocolate chips.
Matcha contains less caffeine than black coffee or black tea, but more caffeine than regular brewed green tea.
And a regular chocolate chip cookie contains between 3-5 mg of caffeine so still nothing to be strongly concerned about.
If you’re looking for caffeine-free cookies though, you can try these cookie recipes. Equally delicious and easy to make.
There are two important things to remember so you’ll have perfectly chewy matcha meringue cookies each time:
- Make sure your egg whites are room temperature. They whip better and are more stable.
- Ensure your bowl and your whisk are absolutely grease-free. Oil is meringue’s enemy so you want to make sure there is not a spot of oil or grease on anything.
And to prevent your cookies from cracking, make sure to allow them to cool gradually. This is why it’s important to leave them in the oven (with the oven turned off) for at least 6 hours.
These matcha chocolate chip cookies can last up to 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container. No need to refrigerate; you can leave them on the counter.
The most important thing here is that your container is airtight. Moisture and meringue are not friends.
I do stack the cookies on top of one another. They are pretty light so there’s little chance that the bottom ones will get crushed. Just handle them gently and you’ll be fine.
Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 5 pcs egg whites from large eggs room temperature
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- pinch salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup matcha powder
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250F. Line 2 baking sheets (or 1 large, commercial size baking sheet) with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk 5 egg whites, ½ tsp cream of tartar and a pinch of salt on medium speed until soft peaks (6-8 minutes).
- Switch to low speed and very slowly (I do it one teaspoon at a time) add 1 cup sugar until your meringue is stiff, sticky and glossy (5-6 minutes).
- Sprinkle ¼ cup matcha powder on top of the meringue and gently fold until combined.
- Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips on top of that and fold 2-3 times just until the chocolate is spread out. Do not over mix.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a large tip, pipe your meringue onto your prepared pans. Alternatively, you can also drop the meringue onto your pans using a cookie scoop and gently flatten and swirl the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven off. Leave the pans in the oven for at least 6 hours or overnight. Do not open the oven door so the meringues can dry properly.
- Remove the pans from oven, carefully peel the cookies off the parchment paper and enjoy. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
- The yield / number of cookies depends on how big you pipe your meringue. You can also pipe them different sizes.
- If you prefer a stronger matcha flavour, add 1-2 tbsp more matcha powder to the recipe.
- Check out this recipe collection if you’re wondering what to do with your leftover egg yolks.
- See post for more baking tips.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you make these Japanese green tea cookies? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Annie
These are so good! Thanks for the tips and the recipe.
Jolina
You’re welcome! Glad you like the cookies.
Neely
Oh these sound super interesting. I would never think to do matcha cookies!
Stephanie
I’ve never used matcha powder in cooking before. But I do love chocolate chip cookies and would be interested to try it for something different.