Get in a festive temper with these beautiful Matcha Checkerboard Cookies. Crisp and lightweight with a refined inexperienced tea powder taste, these stunning shortbread cookies virtually soften in your mouth. Anybody could make them! They’re good to share at a cookie swap or occasion.
Right this moment, I wish to share my recipe for crisp and tender Matcha Checkerboard Cookies that anybody could make. I’ll present you find out how to elevate a buttery shortbread cookie into one thing particular by rolling, stacking, and slicing the 2 completely different colours of dough. Whimsical and crowd pleasing with a beautiful inexperienced tea taste, they’re good for a cookie swap, dessert tray, or vacation cookie field!
If you happen to love treats with Japanese flavors, strive my Black Sesame Cookies, Matcha Cookies with white chocolate chips, and Miso Butter Cookies recipes subsequent!
What are Checkerboard Cookies?
Checkerboard cookies are a kind of icebox cookie with a checkered block sample in two (or extra) contrasting dough colours. They usually include 4 , 9, 12, or 16 blocks. Made with a sablé or shortbread dough, it’s a standard snack in Sweden referred to as chessboard cookies or schackrutor. The sample is just like England’s Battenberg cake—with two yellow squares alternating with two pink squares—that was created within the Eighteen Eighties as a royal marriage ceremony reward.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Crispy, gentle, and tender – I’ll share my suggestions for dealing with the dough so these buttery sablé cookies keep tender but crunchy. I really like this crispy texture—we name it saku saku (サクサク) in Japanese!
- Simply the correct amount of sweetness – Like many Japanese desserts, this cookie shouldn’t be overly candy. I really like them with tea or espresso for a day snack.
- A refined, unmistakable matcha taste – Japanese inexperienced tea powder is my absolute favourite taste for sweets! It has an earthy and barely bitter style, a touch of candy aroma, and a vibrant inexperienced shade that works so nicely on this recipe.
- An eye catching sample that’s simple to make – The checkerboard sample could seem difficult to tug off, however it’s really fairly easy. Simply observe my steps for find out how to roll, layer, slice, and stack the white and inexperienced cookie dough to get this polished look.
- Handy, make-ahead dough – You possibly can refrigerate or freeze the dough log prematurely, then slice and bake the cookies later. It’s an enormous time-saver throughout the busy vacation season or anytime I desire a fresh-baked, do-it-yourself cookie however don’t have loads of time.
Substances for Matcha Checkerboard Cookies
- Matcha (inexperienced tea powder)
- Almond flour
- Cake flour
- Unsalted butter – at room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Massive egg yolk – at room temperature
- Kosher salt
- Egg white – reserved from separating the egg yolk; for assembling the dough layers
Discover the printable recipe with measurements beneath.
Substitutions
- Cake flour – Cake flour has a decrease protein content material and fewer gluten than all-purpose flour, giving cookies and different pastries a fantastic crumb and tender construction. Please don’t substitute it with all-purpose flour. If you happen to don’t have it, you may make your personal cake flour with all-purpose flour and cornstarch. See the recipe card beneath.
- Almond flour – For a fantastic texture, please don’t substitute almond meal on this recipe. Almond flour is okay and powdery, whereas almond meal is coarse and heavy. Almond flour additionally has a lighter shade and taste than almond meal, too.
- Hand or stand mixer with whisk (and paddle) attachments or meals processor
- Aluminum baking sheet – please use a light-colored pan; see extra about this beneath.
- 2 resealable (ziplock) plastic baggage, sandwich measurement
- Rolling pin
- Rolling pin guides (elective)
Tips on how to Make Matcha Checkerboard Cookies
Preparation
Step 1 – Combine the cookie dough. Easy the softened butter with a silicone spatula, then use a stand mixer to cream the powdered sugar and butter collectively till the combination turns ethereal and pale. Add the salt and egg yolk, then mix within the almond flour till easy.
Step 2 – Make the plain dough and matcha dough. Weigh and divide the dough combination into two bowls. For the light-colored dough, add cake flour and fold by hand with a spatula till simply mixed. Don’t overmix. Repeat for the green-colored dough with cake flour plus matcha powder.
Step 3 – Roll out the dough. Collect every dough and place in its personal sandwich bag. Roll flat utilizing a rolling pin and chill for no less than an hour.
Assemble
Step 4 – Layer the 2 cookie dough colours. Flippantly brush the floor of 1 flattened dough with egg white. Place the opposite dough on high and gently press to stick. Subsequent, reduce the layered dough in half, brush one half with egg white, and stack to create 4 layers of alternating colours.
Step 5 – Reduce strips to make checkerboard logs. Reduce straight down on the layered dough to make 1-cm strips. Lay 3 strips flat and flip over the center strip to reverse the colours. Brush with egg white and stack so the colours alternate. Repeat for the opposite log. Chill to agency up.
Baking
Step 6 – Slice and bake the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Reduce the log into cookie slices ¼ inch (7 mm) thick. Place the cookies on an aluminum baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for Quarter-hour, or till barely browned on the underside.
Step 7 – Cool on a wire rack and serve. Take away from the oven and let relaxation on the baking sheet for five minutes, then switch to a wire rack to chill utterly and crisp up. Get pleasure from!
Nami’s Recipe Ideas
- Use room-temperature butter and egg. For the elements to mix evenly and cohesively, it’s essential begin with the butter and egg yolk at room temperature (70–72ºF or 22ºC). Go away them on the counter for 1 hour (or longer in colder environments) earlier than mixing. If you happen to overlook to take them out of the fridge early, listed here are two fast methods that I realized from my daughter, who’s the house baker in our household: 1) For a chilly egg, soak it in heat water for 10–Quarter-hour; and a pair of) for a stick of chilly butter, microwave and switch for five seconds per lengthy facet for a complete of 20 seconds (1000W).
- Don’t overmix the dough. When it’s time to combine within the cake flour, mix it solely till it’s simply mixed. If you happen to combine it too lengthy, the gluten within the flour will develop and make the cookies robust.
- Chill the dough twice. I do know it could be tempting to skip it, however chilling the cookie dough till agency is important. It intensifies the flavors and retains the cookies’ form in order that they don’t unfold within the oven. It helps preserve the attractive checkerboard edges sharp and neat. Chilling additionally retains the cookies from burning simply within the oven.
- To roll the dough evenly, use Japanese disposable chopsticks and Ziplock sandwich baggage as a information. Earlier than I had rolling guides, I put the dough ball in a bag and used square-sided Japanese disposable chopsticks or cooking chopsticks on both facet of the dough ball. I might roll out the dough with a rolling pin to the identical top of the chopsticks, about ¼ inch (5 mm) thick. I like to recommend this trick to make your dough an excellent thickness.
- Use a light-colored, aluminum baking sheet. I strongly encourage utilizing light-colored pans as a result of aluminum conducts warmth uniformly so your cookies brown evenly. An aluminized metal baking sheet additionally works. Prior to now, I’ve burned the underside of my baked items on a dark-colored baking sheet. Due to this fact, I extremely discourage utilizing a carbon metal or dark-colored baking sheet.
- Verify your oven’s precise temperature with an oven thermometer. The precise temperature inside might differ from the show setting. Each oven is completely different, so please alter the setting to realize the proper precise temperature. Remember that your baked items might cook dinner quicker for those who use a countertop (or different small) oven. Carefully monitor the situation of the cookies and alter the bake time.
- Take away the cookies when simply barely golden. The residual warmth from the baking sheet will brown the cookies extra, so take away them from the oven when they’re only a tad brown. Cool for five minutes on the baking sheet, then switch the cookies to a wire cooling rack.
- Cool utterly on a wire rack. Switch the cookies from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack. This permits the steam to flee the recent cookies to allow them to crisp up. Deliver the cookies to room temperature earlier than storing them to keep up their crunch.
Variations and Customizations
This butter cookie recipe is straightforward to customise so you may obtain the look and style you need. Strive my strategies beneath.
- Roll the cookies in glowing sugar or sprinkles. For an additional festive look, you may roll the dough log in clear glowing sugar or coloured sanding sugar earlier than you slice and bake the cookies. It will create a shimmery edge to the cookies. Colourful sprinkles additionally may make a cute ornament. The glowing sugar and sprinkles will preserve their form and add extra sweetness to the cookies, too.
- Change the flavors and colours. You can also make this versatile plain dough virtually any taste and shade you prefer to swimsuit the event or season. For a basic springtime combo, I really like pairing inexperienced matcha with pink-red strawberry. You can also make pink dough by mixing a powder of pulverized, freeze-dried strawberries or salt-pickled cherry blossoms into the plain dough. For different colours and flavors, strive swapping Dutch-process cocoa powder, Earl Gray tea powder, hojicha powder, or lemon zest.
- Add almond extract. Whereas I saved this recipe pure to boost the matcha taste, you possibly can add a small sprint of almond extract to the dough for those who’d like. Almond extract provides a candy, vibrant style and beautiful perfume to baked items. Be sure you use a lightweight contact, although. I often skip making an almond or vanilla dough as a result of the flavour can overwhelm the refined matcha style.
Storage Ideas
To retailer: Cool the cookies utterly, then retailer them in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 1 week. To freeze, switch the cooled cookies to an hermetic container or resealable freezer bag and retailer within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Thaw within the fridge in a single day to get pleasure from.
To freeze the cookie dough: Tightly wrap the checkered dough logs in plastic wrap and put them in freezer baggage. Freeze for as much as 3 months. Thaw them within the fridge for two hours earlier than slicing and baking.
Ceaselessly Requested Questions
If you happen to didn’t chill your cookie dough till agency, which will have induced your cookies to go flat throughout baking. Be sure you chill the dough twice—first after you make the 2 completely different doughs and roll them flat, then once more after you assemble the checkerboard dough logs. Chill every time for no less than 1 hour or till agency in case your kitchen is heat. It will assist your cookies maintain their form and preserve sharp edges.
You will have overworked the cookie dough and induced an excessive amount of gluten to develop within the flour. To keep away from overmixing, gently fold within the cake flour by hand solely till it’s simply mixed; cease mixing when there are not any pockets of dry flour left. Additionally, strive to not add flour to your work floor while you roll out the dough and assemble the checkerboard log. You shouldn’t have to mud flour for those who use the sandwich baggage.
Chilly, agency butter is difficult to beat, and sugar is not going to absolutely mix and cream along with chilly butter. This makes it tough to include air into the combination, leading to harder cookies. You additionally danger overworking the dough since chilly butter takes longer to combine with the opposite elements. For the most effective outcomes, soften the butter to 70–72ºF (round 22ºC) earlier than mixing. I often go away the butter on the counter for about an hour. If you happen to overlook to take out the butter from the fridge, see my Recipe Ideas above for my daughter’s trick to rapidly soften it.
I undoubtedly advocate utilizing powdered sugar over granulated sugar in icebox cookies as a result of its fantastic texture blends seamlessly into the dough, making a smoother, extra uniform consistency. It additionally dissolves rapidly and evenly, leading to tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb, in contrast to granulated sugar, which may go away a grainy texture. Moreover, the cornstarch in powdered sugar helps scale back unfold throughout baking, guaranteeing the cookies preserve their exact form and clear edges. Because of all these causes, I undoubtedly use powdered sugar for my icebox cookies!
Extra Matcha Dessert Recipes
If you happen to love these Matcha Checkerboard Cookies, you’re in for a deal with with these different irresistible recipes for matcha sweets.
Servings: 35 checkered cookies (plus extra from leftover dough)
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Earlier than We Begin: Please keep in mind that this recipe requires no less than 2 hours of chilling time. I encourage dividing the baking course of into morning and afternoon or two days (chilling in a single day) to attenuate the ready intervals. Collect all of the elements. Permit the unsalted butter to melt to room temperature for 1 hour or longer. I extremely encourage you to weigh your elements utilizing a kitchen scale. For weights, click on the “Metric“ button on the high of the recipe to transform the measurements. If you happen to‘re utilizing a cup measurement, please observe the “fluff and sprinkle“ technique: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and stage it off. In any other case, chances are you’ll scoop extra flour than you want.
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Additionally, you will want a hand or stand mixer with whisk (and paddle) attachments or meals processor, an aluminum baking sheet, 2 resealable (Ziplock) sandwich-size baggage, a rolling pin, and rolling pin guides (elective; I purchased my acrylic rolling guides from Amazon).
To Combine the Cookie Dough
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Separate the egg yolk from the egg white.
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Place the egg white in a small bowl, cowl with plastic, and retailer it within the fridge. Weigh the yolk and divide it in half for one batch of this recipe. Place the ½ egg yolk in a small bowl and blend till easy.
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Place 7 Tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature) in a bowl and press it with a silicone spatula till easy. Add ½ cup confectioners’ sugar.
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Mix nicely with an electrical mixer till the combination turns fluffy and pale. Tip: Whipping the butter and sugar combination provides air, and this makes the cookies crispier.
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Add ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and mix till integrated.
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Then, add ½ giant egg yolk and proceed mixing till easy.
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Add 2 Tbsp almond flour and mix it till absolutely integrated and easy.
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With the silicone spatula, scrape down the bowl to gather the dough.
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Now, weigh the dough in a clear bowl over a kitchen scale (I exploit a digital kitchen scale). Weigh the full quantity and divide it in half. My batch of dough is roughly 180 g, so every half weighed about 90 g. Place every half in separate bowls, one to make the plain dough and the opposite to make the inexperienced matcha dough.
To Make the Plain Dough
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Sift ½ heaping cup cake flour into the bowl for the plain dough.
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Flippantly combine with the spatula, gently folding the flour into the dough till simply integrated. Don’t overmix.
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As soon as crumbly, press the dough collectively, shaping it right into a ball and scraping the perimeters.
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Put the dough ball in a plastic resealable (ziplock) sandwich bag. Put aside.
To Make the Inexperienced Matcha Dough
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Utilizing a hand whisk, combine 5 tsp matcha (inexperienced tea powder) into ½ cup cake flour till nicely integrated. Tip: Pre-mixing makes it simpler to mix in.
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Sift the matcha-flour combination into the bowl with the opposite half of the dough.
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Gently fold the flour combination into the dough with the spatula till simply integrated. Don’t overmix.
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When crumbly, press it right into a cohesive dough ball and put it in a plastic resealable (ziplock) sandwich bag.
To Roll Out the Dough Balls
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Launch the air from the sandwich bag, seal, and roll the dough ball flat with a rolling pin.
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If you happen to’re utilizing the rolling guides, place them on both facet of the bag and roll flat. You could possibly stack two disposable chopsticks (or one thing comparable) as rolling guides. Nevertheless, my recipe ought to work completely to utterly fill the sandwich baggage with cookie dough to a 5-mm thickness with out the usage of rolling guides.
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Utilizing the rolling pin, evenly distribute the dough.
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Repeat rolling out the matcha dough utilizing the identical technique.
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Roll out gently so the dough would not come out of the sealed bag. Now, place the luggage of flattened dough within the fridge and chill for no less than 1 hour.
To Assemble
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Utilizing a pointy knife, reduce open each side of 1 sandwich bag. Repeat the identical for the opposite bag.
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Peel again the tops of the sandwich bag to uncover each doughs, leaving the underside of the luggage in place.
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Flippantly brush the matcha cookie dough floor with egg white. Then, flip the plain cookie dough onto the highest of the matcha dough. Apply light stress to stick the 2 dough layers. Then, peel away the plastic bag from the plain dough.
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Reduce the layered dough in half once more. Brush one half with egg white.
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Place the opposite half on high in order that they stack in alternating colours to create 4 layers when considered from the facet. When stacking, make certain to match the clean-cut sides. Apply light stress to stick.
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Mark 1 cm intervals (simply over ⅜ inch) on the highest and backside edges. I exploit a pastry board with measurements, however I extremely advocate utilizing a ruler right here.
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Reduce straight all the way down to make 1-cm slabs or strips of layered cookie dough. Was capable of reduce eight strips.
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Lay three strips flat in your work floor. Flip over the center strip so the colours are reversed from the strips on both facet. It will alternate the block colours while you stack the strips. Brush with egg white and stack in three alternating layers. Press gently to stick with out misshaping the checkered dough log.
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Repeat stacking three extra strips right into a checkered dough log. If the dough strips have gotten too delicate to deal with, wrap them in plastic and place on a tray to refrigerate till agency, then strive once more. Wrap the checkered dough logs in plastic and chill within the fridge for no less than 1 hour. Tip: If you wish to freeze the checkered cookie dough logs to slice and bake at a later time, please see the To Retailer part for directions.
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For the leftover two strips of layered dough, I merely roll them right into a ball, then roll the ball right into a log. Alternatively, you possibly can reduce the strips in half crosswise and stack them to make quick checkered logs. Both manner, wrap the leftover dough log in plastic and chill.
To Bake
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Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Slice the chilled dough logs into cookies ¼ inch (7 mm) thick.
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Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for 13-Quarter-hour, or till barely browned on the underside.
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The residual warmth will brown the cookies extra, so take away them from the oven when they’re only a tad golden. Cool for five minutes on the baking sheet, then switch the cookies to a wire cooling rack.
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Proceed slicing and baking the leftover cookie dough. Tip: Once you slice the dough log, rotate it to keep up the circle form.
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Serve together with your favourite beverage and revel in!
To Retailer
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As soon as the matcha checkerboard cookies are utterly cool, retailer them in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 1 week (I add a Silica Gel Packet). To freeze, switch the matcha checkerboard cookies to a freezer-safe hermetic container or resealable freezer bag. Freeze them for as much as 3 months. Thaw within the fridge in a single day to get pleasure from. To freeze the cookie dough: Tightly wrap the checkered logs in plastic wrap and put them into freezer baggage. Freeze for as much as 3 months. Allow them to thaw within the fridge for two hours earlier than slicing and baking.
Ovens: I encourage you to examine your oven‘s temperature with an oven thermometer, because the precise temperature inside might differ from the show setting. Each oven is completely different; please alter your setting to realize the proper precise temperature. Additionally, I examined this recipe in a full-sized oven. Your baked items might cook dinner quicker for those who use a countertop (or different small) oven. Carefully monitor your baking and be prepared to regulate the bake time if wanted.
