What is sleep? What state am I in? I’m speaking in front of how many people tonight? These are the types of questions I’m asking myself today. I just got back from a quick 36 hour visit to Little Rock! It was such a wonderful time! I had absolutely no expectations for this trip at all. I only assumed that we would be eating lots of rice, which we definitely did. I’m glad Reuben and I attempted to be carb free this month to make up for the amount of carbs consumed in Arkansas. I met some wonderful people from The FeedFeed, USA Rice, Arkansas Rice, and Ralston Family Farm! Plus the other lovely food blogger ladies that were on the trip! It’s always so nice to meet people you only know from the internet in real dang life. Everyone was so sweet. We spent a whole day at the Ralston Family Farm learning about rice production and I got to harvest some rice on the combine! I’ll be sharing a bunch of photos and do a little more story telling next week! All you need to know for now is that I want to move out of the city even more desperately than I did before this trip. I need a minimum of 50 acres of open space ASAP.

Right now, I need to urgently caffeinate myself and practice my public speaking skillz. I’m giving a little presentation tonight at Reuben’s old architecture firm about my journey from architecture to food blogging. Not really sure if I’m really qualified to speak on this subject since I’ve only been fully time food blogging for like 4 months now and I’m not totally sure what I’m doing. BUT! I included 2 childhood photos in my presentation if I totally bomb at least people will be amused by my perfectly spherical head. Fingers crossed that I don’t say anything weird!

I’m in need of an entire tray of these Matcha Butter Cookies STAT. When I first baked them I couldn’t stop eating them and then I was wide awake for half the night. So I confirm that they are effective. These were inspired by those tins of Royal Dansk butter cookies my grandma (and I’m assuming all grandmas??) kept on the coffee table. Every single time we would go over to my grandparents’ house I’d open up the tin and pick out the pretzel shaped ones. The pretzel shaped ones were always my favorite because they had the most edge exposure and were in turn extra crispy. The last time I was at my grandma’s I opened the box, expecting buttery little cookies, and just saw a bunch of large crackers she was keeping in there. SO MUCH DISAPPOINTMENT.

I obviously haven’t been able to shake off that disappointment, so I decided to give making my own danish butter cookies a try! This time I added my beloved Aiya Matcha into the dough for at beautiful green color, subtle grass sweet flavor, and a little caffeine boost. I piped them into hearts because I ,<3 matcha, but you could just pipe them into rings or just form little disc cookies. The hearts are so fun and the ridges get a little extra crispy, which I’m aaaaaall about!

How To Make Matcha Butter Cookies

These butter cookies are relatively simple. So when you have such a simple equation of flour, butter, and matcha you want those main ingredients to be excellent!

BUTTER is probably the most important ingredient in these butter cookies. Use a higher quality butter like Kerrygold or something that says it’s European. I read once that European butter has a lower water content so it a lot richer and more flavorful. I also so unsalted butter in this recipe because I like to be able to control the amount of salt in these cookies. I do like butter cookies a little on the salty side.

MATCHA is the second most important ingredient! I only use Aiya Matcha because I love the flavor and the green color stays so beautiful after baking. A lot of other matchas tend to get a little dull or sludge colored after a while. You should only be baking with culinary grade matcha. The flavor of ceremonial grade matcha is too delicate for baking and you’ll just be wasting your money. Save the ceremonial grade stuff for when you’re back home after a work trip and haven’t slept well but need to talk in front of a lot of strangers!

Once you’ve gotten a hold of some quality ingredients you’re only moments away from warm butter cookies. All you do is cream the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. I like the vanilla in this because it balances out the slight bitterness of matcha. Then slowly add the flour mixed with a bit of matcha powder. Mix until you have a smooth but thick dough. At this point you can pipe the cookies with a pastry bag of form them in rounds with a cookie scoop. I like to pipe them because it gives me Royal Dansk vibes. I fit a pastry bag with a star tip or some type of ribbed pastry tip and then pipe small heart shaped cookies. My cookies are fairly small, about 2”, so they bake in almost no time!

The exterior is crisp but the interior is still soft and tender. They almost melt in your mouth. The matcha is floral and a little bitter but that’s balanced out with the salty butter and sweet vanilla. So cozy and tasty!

Enjoy them with a mug of matcha for extra caffeine or a glass of cold milk for nostalgia sake!

Matcha Butter Cookies

makes 60 small cookies

materials:

1 cup unsalted butter - softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups al purpose flour
2 tbsp Aiya Matcha Culinary Grade Matcha

sanding sugar - optional

steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place softened butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and beat for another minute.

3. Combine flour and matcha powder in a bowl. Give it a quick whisk to combine. Reduce the standmixer speed to low and gradually add in the flour. Mix until dough is combined. Dough will be thick but still light and fluffy so it can be easily piped.

4. Line 2 baking trays with parchment or silicone baking mats.

5. Fit a piping bag with a star or ribbed tip. Scoop cooking dough into the piping bag and pipe small heart shapes or circles onto the trays. Dust with sanding sugar if you wish. If you’re having trouble piping, the tip might be too small, in which case swap out for a larger, more open tip. Dough could also be chilled for an hour, rolled out, and cut with a cookie cutter.

6. Bake one tray at a time for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool and enjoy!