So back in December, I made these gorgeous chocolate chip and cacao shortbreads that were encrusted in Indian sugar(gifted to me by the amazing Shari Mukherjee from season 10 of Masterchef!). I was obsessed with that crystalized aesthetic and wanted to bring that back for another type of cookie, this time, matcha-flavored. So I was also recently gifted with Royce matcha-flavored chocolate, and I felt like doing a matcha-chip cookie would be a wonderful way to celebrate that chocolate. The idea of these buttery-soft matcha shortbread cookies, studded with both matcha chocolate and white chocolate, and encrusted in the crunchy Indian sugar, it just sounded like a great time. And trust me, these cookies are. The thing about me and matcha cookies is that we go back to circa 2014, when I made these for a green tea fundraiser for the Taiwanese club at Boston University. These shortbreads were so addicting that they were an instant best-seller, and the club had been using the recipe for fundraisers ever since. We literally would sell the cookies by the 200’s, easily. The matcha helped to temper the richness and sweetness of the cookie dough, making the shortbread on its own quite delicious. But when you introduce varying textures to it, and another matcha component to help balance out that sweetness even further, the end result is something quite special.

For these cookies, the key is patience. Once the dough is formed, you absolutely need to chill it down. Otherwise, it becomes a sticky, messy nightmare to try shaping your cookies. I am making my cookies using the icebox method, which is cooling down the dough in a log shape, then cutting that log into smaller disks which will then be baked. You can technically just roll out your chilled down and cut out circles that way, but that will make the sugar-encrusting step near-impossible do to. For encrusting the dough with the sugar, I take the dough log, brush it with egg white, then roll the entire log in sugar until it encrusts the dough. I do that step before I cut the log into smaller disks, which guarantees that every single cookie will be gorgeously encrusted in the sugar. If you want to roll out your dough and cut out the circles individually, you can still brush the sides of the disks with egg white and rim the edges with sugar, but either you would have to work quickly so that the dough does not warp, or you would need to freeze the freshly cut disks solid, and then brush the edges with egg white and sugar while the disks are frozen solid so that the butter doesn’t melt. Either way, I just recommend doing the ice box method. Now for the Indian sugar, I get that it is not an easily accessible ingredient. However, you can use turbinado or sanding sugar, and that will accomplish the same effect, although the color of the sugar itself might be a little different depending on what you are able to get your hands on. All in all, these were a create revisiting to my classic matcha cookies, and they are definitely as delicious as they are gorgeous to look at!

Makes 16-20 shortbread cookies:
For the dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp ceremonial grade matcha powder
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup coarsely chopped matcha chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, butter, salt, and matcha until everything is combined into a sandy-textured dough. To that, mix in the white chocolate and chopped matcha chocolate first, and then the vanilla and egg yolk to form your dough. Place your dough onto about a 15 inch-long strip of cling wrap and be sure to cover the entire dough in it. Roll the dough until it forms a log that is about a 12-inch long by 2-inch in diameter log of dough. Refrigerate the dough log for at least 1 hour. It should be completely solid.

For garnish:
1 1/2 cups Indian sugar crystals
1 egg white

Pour enough Indian sugar crystals to cover the bottom of a 12-inch long sheet tray. Remove your dough log and brush half of the exterior with egg white. Place that side down onto the Indian sugar crystals, and then brush the other side with more egg white. Roll the entire dough log into the crystals, making sure that everything is covered in it. Cut out 1/4 inch-thick disks from the dough and place onto a lined sheet tray, keeping each disk of dough about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to fully cool before removing from the sheet tray and transferring to an airtight container.