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These delicious bright green matcha cookies are festive vegan and gluten-free crinkle cookies made for holiday swaps or to celebrate any occasion with a matcha lover!
What are crinkle cookies?
Crinkle cookies get their name from their crunchy surface. You get that look by rolling the dough in sugar before baking. It adds a bit of crunch and crackle to the surface of the cookies and adds that crunchy texture when the cookies are baked.
Although you’ll roll these cookies in sugar, matcha makes a nice addition to the recipe Reduces bitterness and sweetness for the perfect balance. It also adds a nice green color and tastes great with a glass of plant-based milk.
Do matcha cookies contain caffeine?
On average, an 8-oz. A cup of matcha can contain around 25-75 mg of caffeine. For comparison, an 8-ounce cup of coffee contains about 95 milligrams of caffeine on average. However, matcha’s caffeine content tends to be more tolerable than coffee. This is due to the L-theanine in matcha, which results in a slower, more sustained release of energy without a sudden crash.
For this reason, Buddhist monk Isai says that matcha provides drinkers with a “calm alertness,” rather than the caffeine rush from coffee. In addition to L-theanine, matcha contains EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) a powerful catechin, chlorophyll and more.
Additionally, when you consume caffeine with fats, sugars, or carbohydrates (really any food), caffeine has less of a jittery effect.
What kind of matcha is best to bake with?
If you’re wondering whether you should bake with culinary- or ceremonial-grade matcha, it’s important to know the difference between the two. It really comes down to price and quality. Culinary-grade matcha is harvested during the second harvest of the year. Official-grade matcha from premium, first harvest.
You will likely notice a big difference in taste and color between the two varieties. Culinary powder can sometimes have a dull yellow or brown color. On the other hand, formal grade matcha has a rich, vibrant and deep green color. Cooking-grade matcha often has a more bitter taste. Some even have a bit of a fishy smell.
How to Make Matcha Cookies
This is an easy cookie recipe to make! Start by whisking the dry ingredients together. I recommend straining the matcha through a fine-mesh strainer to avoid any unpleasant clumps in your cookies. Then, be sure to use vegan butter that softens at room temperature.
It is very important to chill your dough before baking in an airtight container for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. The batter should be very cold when you bake the cookies. If it’s not chilled, the dough will spread like crazy in the oven!
Before baking, line your baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat. Then, using a cookie scoop, divide it between the baking sheets. Roll the chilled dough into balls, then dip each one first in granulated sugar, then powdered sugar, and arrange them on the baking sheet.
I recommend lightly pressing each cookie with the bottom of the glass. Otherwise, the cookies tend to puff up and crack on top. But if you prefer longer, chewier cookies, you can bake them as balls.
Immediately after baking, while the cookies are still warm on the baking sheet, you can use a ring mold or upside-down glass to shape them into perfect circles. Then let them cool completely. The cookies will continue to cook and firm up as they sit on the baking sheet, but they will fall out of the oven.
Material notes
Here’s what you need to make these vegan and gluten-free crinkle cookies:
- sugar. I use organic cane sugar for the dough and confectioner’s sugar for the coating. I do not recommend using coconut sugar or other sweeteners, as this will affect the color of your beautiful green cookies.
- butter. It is very important to use soft vegan butter, not vegan spreadable butter. The spread won’t hold and your cookies will fall apart. I recommend the Earth Balance brand.
- aquafaba. You will get this liquid when draining chickpeas. It is a great egg substitute in vegan baking recipes.
- matcha. Be sure to use a flavored and fresh official-grade matcha that you like.
- Vanilla bean paste. You can use pure vanilla extract.
- flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure flour. Note that you can try using alternative flours if you want, but you may get different results with your cookies.
How to Store Matcha Crinkle Cookies
Store completely-cooled cookies in an airtight container in a cool dark place. The matcha will oxidize and the cookies will turn white or gray when exposed to the sun. You can also use a metal cookie tin (which keeps the sun out). You can freeze cookies for up to six months.
If you make these vegan matcha cookies, be sure to let me know what you think in a comment below!
Matcha Crinkle Cookies (Vegan, Gluten Free)
- 1 the cup zinc sugar I use organic cane sugar
- 1/3 the cup Vegetarian butter Room temperature, soft
- 1/4 the cup Aquafaba (chickpea salt)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 the cup Gluten free flour I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-1
- 2 spoon Matcha powder formal grades
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
sugar coating
- 1/4 the cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 the cup zinc sugar
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To prepare your dough, start by whipping together the softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth.
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Quickly whip your aquafaba using a small whisk until nice and frothy, then add to the bowl with the vanilla. Using a spatula, stir together until combined. It’s okay if the batter has some crunch at this point.
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Then add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix again until a dough forms and there are no dry flour spots. Cover the bowl with an airtight seal and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or about 30 minutes.
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When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F while preparing the dough balls. Prepare a baking sheet (or two) with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper.
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Keep two bowls ready, one with powdered sugar and the other with granulated sugar. Using a cookie scoop, take a scoop of dough, quickly roll it between your hands to form a ball. Dust the dough with granulated sugar and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Transfer the dough to your baking mat and repeat with the remaining dough, leaving 2-3″ between each cookie.
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You can bake the cookies as is, or you can flatten them to about an inch thick in the bottom of a drinking glass or bowl. Personally, I think the cookies become more uniform when flattened, but if you prefer a puffier cookie, you can bake them as balls. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are crisp. They will continue to cook as they cool on the sheet! Repeat until all cookies are baked.
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If the sugar coating melts after baking, you can dust your cookies with a touch of powdered sugar to finish.
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