For my first in-person pop-up back in February, I crafted a lineup of tea-inspired pastries, and this Matcha Toasted Rice Sugar Cookie was one of the standouts.
These cookies are a perfect balance of chewy, buttery goodness, with layers of earthy matcha, grassy sencha, and a subtle hint of toasty rice. The final touch is a light dusting of sugar that enhances the overall texture without overpowering it.
In this blog post, I am sharing the recipe I developed and used for my popup.
The inspiration for this cookie came to me while sipping Numi Organic Matcha Toasted Rice tea as I brainstormed ideas for the menu. My first batch of cookies was made using the tea, but I quickly realized I needed to amp up the tea flavor to get the depth I wanted. However, adding more of the tea would have made the cookies too costly. So, I decided to create my own blend using genmaicha tea (sencha + toasted rice), matcha, and homemade toasted rice. I would recommend going with a mid-tier tea quality. I’m a strong believer that high quality tea should be drank as is and would be a waste incorporated or mixed into pastries or food in any form. Low quality tea lacks the flavor profile and depth to positively add to the food it is being incorporating in.
Here are some good options if you want to make your own blend:
- Tao of Tea Genmaicha Loose Leaf Tea – Solid quality Genmaicha tea (toasty with grassy notes) that you can drink and won’t feel guilty about incorporating into baked goods since it cost less than $3 per oz.
- Ippodo Genmaicha Loose Leaf Tea – This is the genmaicha I used in the cookies for my popup. It’s a bit harder to find since you have to purchase it directly from their site, but the quality is great for the price at about $4 per ounce.
- Micro Ingredients Organic Matcha Powder – Good quality Matcha powder at an affordable price– it cost less than $2 per oz.
Looking for more cookie recipes? Check these out:
- Lavender Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
- Kinako Sugar Cookies – Quick and Easy Cookie Recipe
- Chewy Black Sesame Sugar Cookies
Matcha Toasted Rice Sugar Cookie
Equipment
- sauce pot
- plastic wrap
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup steamed medium grained rice
- 3 bags Numi Organic Matcha Toasted Rice Tea or a blend of genmaicha and match (see post for details)
- 226 g organic unsalted butter
- 280 g organic cane sugar
- 3/4 tsp organic sea salt
- 1 organic egg
- 1 tbsp organic vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 284 g organic all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Toast the rice: Spread the steamed rice on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F until golden. Let it cool completely, then pulse in a food processor into rough bits.
- Prepare the tea: If not using tea bags, blend genmaicha until the leaves are fine but not powdered. Mix in matcha.
- Infuse the butter: Melt butter in a pan, then stir in most of the tea (reserving a little more than 1/8 tsp for the sugar coating). Let the butter cool to room temperature.
- Cream sugar into the butter. Add egg, vanilla extract, and salt, then beat until light and fluffy.
- Combine dry ingredients: Mix together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, half of the toasted rice, and then fold it into the butter egg mixture until it is just combined.
- Portion & freeze: Scoop dough into 6 large cookies and place on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight.
- Make the sugar coating: Mix reserved tea, 1/8 cup sugar, and the remaining toasted rice.
- Coat the cookies: Place frozen dough balls in a ziplock bag with the sugar coating, seal, and shake to coat.
- Evenly space the cookie dough on a prepared baking tray and let it sit at room temp for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and bake.
- Create ripples: Once you see the cookies puff up in the oven, lift each corner of the baking pan about 4 inches from the oven rack and drop it. Repeat this 3 times as the cookies bakes and re-puffs up.
- When the edges turn golden and ripples set but the center is slightly soft, remove from oven. Cool and enjoy!
