Matcha Cheesecake Cookies

A couple weeks ago, I started mixing matcha with hot water in the morning as an attempt to try and cut back on all the coffee I was consuming. Drinking matcha was (is) a bit of an acquired taste (think strong, earthy flavour) but after the first week, I found myself getting used to it and now I look forward to my little cup in the mornings before work. I haven’t quite convinced my espresso-loving husband to give it a go, but that’s okay. It just means more for me which is good because matcha powder is always packed in the tiniest tins. At least a little bit goes a long way.

Whenever I purchase a new tin of matcha, I always start daydreaming about what I could bake with it. I have quite a few cookie recipes that feature various grades of matcha powder (actually three recipes), but this recipe tops them all because it’s made with cream cheese and each cookie has a subtle hint of cheesecake-y flavour softly nestled into each bite. Matcha cheesecake without having to make an actual cheesecake? Yes, I had to pinch myself too to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

The cookies bake up pretty delicately and smell heavenly, but it’s worth noting that they will be quite soft when they first come out of the oven. I recommend letting them rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before gently transferring the cookies to a wired rack to cool completely. I also found that the cheesecake flavour was not very pronounced when the cookies were still warm and they are much more flavourful the next day after they had a chance to sit overnight. Just think of it as the ultimate test of patience with cookies as the end reward!

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Yield: 30 cookies

Matcha Cheesecake Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter/margarine, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp pure matcha powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone liner.
2. Using a stand-up mixer or hand-held beaters, cream together butter/margarine and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until the mixture is creamy and all the ingedients are well-incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha powder, salt and a 1/4 cup of the graham cracker crumbs. Gently add the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until none of the flour is visible.
4. Shape the dough into tablespoon-sized mounds and roll in the remaining 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs. Space the mounds a couple inches apart on the baking sheet and press down lightly with your fingers to flatten each mound.
5. Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies are a light brown and the tops are slightly cracked. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wired rack to cool completely. Store in an air-tight container. Best enjoyed the next day.

Recipe adapted from Chocolate Moosey