Soft and sweet with the mildly earthy flavor of matcha, these vegan matcha cookies are a delicious twist on a classic cookie. Their vibrant green color, balanced flavor, and chewy texture will make them an unexpected favorite wherever you share them. Whether you are a matcha lover or just looking for a natural way to make festive cookies, you will love these chewy matcha cookies.
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You Will Love This Recipe
- They're festive. Bright green cookies are just fun! Their delicious flavor is complemented by their green color, which makes for a festive holiday cookie or spring-worthy treat.
- They're unexpected. A slight twist on a classic, these vegan matcha cookies are a fun way to mix up a traditional sugar cookie recipe.
- They are simple to make. I love the base recipe that I use to make these cookies, as well as my pumpkin oat and gingersnap cookies. You don't need to get the fancy mixers out. Plus, this easy vegan recipe works great with regular or gluten-free all-purpose flours.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- All-purpose flour: I use gluten-free flour, however both gluten-free and all-purpose flour work well for this recipe.
- Matcha: A high-quality 100% matcha powder (not green tea powder) is best. I've used ceremonial-grade matcha for a brighter color, but you can use culinary-grade matcha if you'd prefer a stronger flavor. Both are delicious!
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract gives a light vanilla flavor that you'd expect in a sugar cookie.
- White miso: White miso paste adds a slightly savory flavor. This adds complexity to the flavor of these cookies, but can also easily be omitted in favor of an extra pinch of salt.
- Sugar: White sugar gives these cookies a nice sweetness. You can substitute light brown sugar if you'd like to add some caramel flavor to these cookies.
- Canola oil: I used canola oil, however most neutral oils, such as grapeseed or vegetable oil, should also work fine.
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients. You can optionally sift the matcha into the rest of the dry ingredients to prevent any dark green spots in the cookies.
Then, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients thoroughly until the mixture is completely homogenous. This may take a couple of minutes.
From here, fold your wet mixture into your flour mixture until your cookie dough comes together. The dough will be slightly wetter than a typical cookie dough. If the dough is too wet to handle, chill the dough for around 30 minutes in the fridge.
Then, use a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon to portion the dough. Place each dough ball on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about three inches apart. Bake the cookies at 350° F for 8-10 minutes. When done, transfer them to a cooling rack.
Variations
matcha chocolate chip cookies: Before portioning the cookie dough, gently mix in about ⅓ cup of chocolate chips (vegan white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips would be delicious). Use light brown sugar in place of the white sugar for a more classic chocolate chip cookie flavor.
milder/bolder flavor matcha cookies: Easily adjust the strength of the matcha flavor by changing the amount or type of matcha in this recipe. Decrease the matcha powder to one teaspoon and choose ceremonial matcha for the mildest flavor. Follow the recipe as written and use culinary matcha for the boldest matcha flavor.
Storage
Making ahead: You can pre-portion the dry ingredients and finish the recipe at a later time. If using gluten-free flour, I would not advise mixing the dough more than a couple of hours before baking as it can cause the oil to separate from the dough.
Storage: According to the USDA, homemade cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. They can also keep in the freezer for 8-12 months.
TIPS
- It is very important that the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined. A good way to test this is to take your whisk and see if the mixture drizzles off the whisk evenly. If it seems that some liquid comes off, then chunks of sugar, keep mixing!
- For my fellow matcha lovers, you should also try my dirty matcha latte recipe!
- The dough will be a bit wetter than typical cookie dough. You can chill the dough for around 30 minutes to allow the flour to continue absorbing the liquid. This will make the dough easier to handle.
- Planning to gift these cookies? Check out these eco-friendly cookie packaging ideas.
FAQ
Matcha cookies taste sweet and rich, as a sugar cookie typically would, with a light earthy flavor that is bright and vegetal thanks to the matcha.
The definition of "healthy" can be different from person to person. Matcha itself is high in antioxidants, which be beneficial. That being said, cookies are generally high in sugar and simple carbohydrates, making them best enjoyed in moderation. All in all, matcha cookies may have a slight leg up on other cookies in the antioxidant department, but should still be enjoyed in moderation (as most things in life seem to be best enjoyed!).
Yes. Depending on exactly which matcha you use, this recipe should yield around 115-265 mg of caffeine. This means each cookie may have between 10 and 22 mg of caffeine, which is about a half cup to a full cup of green tea. If you are sensitive to caffeine, this is something to keep in mind!
The best matcha for cookies is a high-quality 100% matcha powder. Matcha powder is different from green tea powder, which has a more bitter and astringent flavor than matcha. In the US, matcha is often differentiated between culinary and ceremonial grade.
Culinary matcha is lower quality than ceremonial matcha, making it the more cost-effective option. It will have a bolder flavor, which is great for incorporating into baked goods or lattes.
Ceremonial matcha will also make a delicious cookie, though milder in flavor. Using ceremonial matcha is the best way to get a bright green color to your cookies, and it will make a higher quality matcha drink.
Not all great-quality matcha will have a grade, especially if it is from an authentic Japanese tea store. For example, Ippodo Tea does not denote grades, but does recommend their lighter Wakaki or Hatsu matcha blends for baking. 
Recipe
Vegan Matcha Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 grams) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour (or regular all-purpose flour)
- 1½ teaspoons matcha powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon white miso (or additional ⅛ teaspoon of salt)
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Optionally sift the matcha into the rest of the dry ingredients to prevent any dark green spots in the finished cookies.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients thoroughly until the mixture is completely homogenous. This may take 2-3 of minutes.
- Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until a cookie dough comes together. The dough will be slightly wetter than a typical cookie dough. If the dough is too wet to handle, allow the cookies to chill for around 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Use a cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon to portion the dough. Place each portion on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about three inches apart.
- Bake the cookies at 350° F for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy once they have cooled.
Notes
- For cookies that spread thinly and evenly, measuring your flour by weight is best. The second best option is to spoon flour into your measuring cup and scrape the top with the back of a knife.
- Especially if using regular all-purpose flour, stir the ingredients until just combined to prevent tough cookies.
Rena
Hello! Can I make the dough in advance and save in the fridge and next day bake the cookies? Thank you!!
Tori Vasko, RD
Hey Rena! Yes you totally can. Just cover the mixing bowl and pop it in the fridge overnight. If you can let the dough sit out a bit, 30ish mins-1 hour, before scooping and baking, that will help the dough come back up to room temp for a nice even spread. But, if you're not worried about them spreading out as thinly as in the pictures, they'll be tasty either way. Hope this helps!
L.S.H
This recipe was crazy good. I've tried different types of matcha cookies in the past. This one, was by far the easiest. However, I personally prefer my matcha to be more potent. Next time I'll just add more powder but other than that, these are perfect.
Tori Vasko, RD
Yay! So glad you loved it! I would love to hear how adding more matcha goes too 🙂
Disappointing
horrible. turned into a sheet! too sweet as well. I should've known it wouldn’t hold..
Tori Vasko, RD
How strange! Did you make any substitutions? I've made this recipe with multiple gluten-free flour blends and have never had this issue.
Elle
I LOVE these. I made a quick little rose glaze for the top and they were perfection. Thanks for this excellent recipe!
Tori Vasko, RD
OMG a rose glaze sounds amazing! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Elle 💚
Maja Qûo Mì
This was mad god tyy
Tori Vasko, RD
Hehe so glad you loved them, Maja!
Edith
Hello! Tried this recipe and loved it! Tried it with coconut sugar and did not work--I figure it to be because coconut sugar isn't as "wet" as cane? Have you tried/do you have any suggestions about trying it with honey?
Thanks!
Tori Vasko, RD
Hi Edith, so glad you loved them the first time, and sorry that trying out some substitutes have not worked as well. My first thought on the coconut sugar is that it tends to be a slightly larger granule than standard white sugar, so maybe going by weight will help. Half a cup of white sugar is 99 grams, so substituting with 99 grams of coconut sugar might work better than using a half measuring cup.
Honey might be tricky because it has more water and tastes sweeter. I would start by omitting the added water, and using 1/3 cup of honey in place of the sugar. Hope this helps! I'd love to hear about how these substitutions go!