Matcha Earth Day Cookies

 

This is a sponsored post by Danish Creamery, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

Shortbread cookies are underrated. They have the perfect bite with just a slight crispness, and they fall right in the middle on the sweetness scale. They start with a very neutral base, which means they are a great canvas for creative designs. That's why I wanted to use shortbread as the base for these matcha Earth Day cookies.

I used culinary grade matcha powder for a natural green dye to represent "land." Matcha tastes similar to green tea but a little more bitter and grassy.

Are you familiar with butterfly pea flowers? They're used to make an herbal tea that is becoming very popular in coffee shops and bars because of its color and its color-changing properties when its pH level is altered. You can buy the flowers and steep the tea yourself or you can buy the powder. When I first envisioned blue and green Earth cookies, I knew the powder would make a beautiful natural blue dye to represent the "ocean." The flavor is a little floral and sweet, similar to chamomile. In this recipe, I recommend powder over buying and grinding the flowers because the color looks a lot better. Plus, it's easier to work with.

We really want the butter flavor to stand out in shortbread cookies. That's why it's important to use European butter if possible. European butter is significantly richer in flavor because of its higher butterfat percentage. I use Danish Creamery Sea Salted European Style Butter. American butter is 80% butterfat. Most European butter sold in the United States contains 82% butterfat. But the butterfat content of Danish Creamery European Style Butter is 85%! It may not seem like a big deal, but those few percentage points make a big difference when you taste it.

One more thing--these are "slice and bake" cookies, which means I formed the dough into a log, rolled it up, and then sliced it after refrigeration. The way I created the Earth-like pattern is by alternating pieces of green and blue cookie dough when forming the log. Before slicing the cookies, I rolled the log in decorator's sugar to give the cookies some texture. I liked it better when the cookies had a little crunch, but it isn't necessary.

Matcha Earth Day Cookies

Yield: Makes about 20 cookies

Time: About 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) Danish Creamery Sea Salted European Style Butter
• 90 grams (3/4 cup) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 240 grams (2 cups) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon culinary grade matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon butterfly pea powder
• Optional: Decorator's sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare baking sheet with silicone mat or nonstick spray.
2. Beat butter at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add flour and beat until stiff dough forms.
4. Divide dough in half. Add matcha powder to one of the halves and mix in powder until dough is uniformly green. Add butterfly pea powder to the other half and repeat until dough is uniformly blue.
5. Spread out sheet of plastic wrap. Form 2 1/2 inch diameter log by alternating pieces of green and blue dough on plastic wrap. Roll log in decorator's sugar if desired.
6. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Chill for 1 hour.
7. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Place on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes or until bottoms just start to turn golden brown.
8. Remove from oven and cool before serving.