Matcha Coconut Chip Cookies

On a typical spring Colorado day in March last weekend, as 12 inches of snow fell on our condo deck, I couldn’t help but want to bake.

So I attempted my friend Carrie’s “perfect” chocolate chip cookie recipe.  But with a few tweaks: I used Matcha green tea instead of cinnamon, shredded coconut instead of pecans and coconut extract instead of vanilla extract.

Carrie is the most amazing baker. So it felt slightly sacrilege to even mess with her recipe. But the Matcha-infused cookies turned out to be really interesting. The bitter grassiness of the Matcha pairs perfectly with semisweet chocolate chips. And the shredded coconut and ground oats make for a fabulous cookie texture.

Happy cooking and sipping!

P.S. Many thanks to Art of Tea for the complimentary sample of their grade-A Matcha green tea to play around with in my tea foodie kitchen.

Adapted by Suzanne Klein, Tea Foodie from the Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon and Pecans recipe from my foodie friend Carrie Bach’s blog, Homemade by Lia James.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

2 tablespoons Matcha green tea

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons coconut extract

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preparation:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1 cup of oats in a food processor and process until fine. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and whisk in flour, baking powder, baking soda, Matcha, and salt.

2.  Beat the butter and brown sugar together in an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add egg and coconut extract, and beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the ground oats and flour mixture, and beat on low speed until just incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add remaining ¾ cup oats, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut, and beat on low speed until evenly distributed, about 10 seconds. Do not overmix.

3. Using a very small ice cream scoop or 1 tablespoon-size measuring spoon, form dough into balls and space them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until cookies are cracked and set on top but look moist within cracks, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.