short and sweet, and tiny

I have wanted to make green tea cookies for quite a while, but I never could find the original recipe that sparked my interest. Finally I decided to come up with something of my own. I don't mean to brag, but the results are really good - not overly sweet, soft and crumbly, buttery, with a great matcha flavor. If you like green tea lattes, or Starbucks' green tea frappuccino, this should be right up your alley. The recipe makes a lot of cookies, so I froze half of the dough when I made them a few months ago. Last night, when I couldn't take any more studying, I decided to make the second batch (I had put it in the refrigerator to thaw a few days before, predicting just such a situation). I enjoyed them so much that I decided I should share the recipe here.

I started with this basic shortbread cookie recipe and made changes according to what I was in the mood for - green tea - and what I had on hand - no cookie cutters, not enough butter, but plenty of walnut oil.

Green Tea Cookie Recipe:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 Tablespoons chef's matcha (powdered green tea)
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup walnut oil
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy, add in powdered sugar and walnut oil, mixing until well combined. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add half of the flour mixture, mix, then add the other half until everything comes together.

Divide dough into two balls if you would like to save half of it later.

Using your hands, make small balls of dough, about the diameter of a quarter. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn golden. Makes 3-4 dozen.