MIRROR WATER Recipes: Matcha Cookies

To celebrate Camp MIRROR WATER, Homebody Flora Manson has whipped up a delicious cookie recipe for us! These matcha cookies are earthy, sweet, and the perfect companion for a slow, cosy afternoon.

Grab your ingredients, put on your favourite playlist, and bake with us - share your cookies and tag us: @mirrorwater.earth and @f.manson

Matcha, White Chocolate and Coconut Brown Butter Cookies

Brown butter cookie dough rich with the earthy flavour of matcha, crisp on the outside, soft and unctuous on the inside, with chunks of creamy coconut-flecked white chocolate, finished with a sprinkling of flaked coconut and a touch of sea salt.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 11

White chocolate 170g Desiccated coconut 50g Butter 165g
Caster sugar 100g
Light brown sugar 130g
vanilla extract 1 tsp
2 large eggs
Plain flour 200g
Matcha powder 12g
Baking powder 4g
Baking soda 2g
Fine sea salt 1/4 tsp

METHOD

1. Make the coconut white chocolate: line a medium-sized baking tray with baking paper and set aside. Melt the white chocolate, add in the desiccated coconut and mix well, then pour onto your prepared baking tray and spread into an even layer. Allow to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then transfer to the fridge to set, 40 minutes to overnight. Once set, break into pieces–a mixture of small (1cm) and larger (max. 3cm) pieces if preferable.

white chocolate 170g, roughly chopped, desiccated coconut 50g

2. Make the brown butter: add the butter to a small pot and set over medium heat. The butter will melt, then begin to boil, sputter and foam. You can place a lid onto the pot to prevent butter sputters escaping, but be sure to stir the butter often to prevent milk solids from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once the butter begins to foam and the aggressive boiling noises soften, you should be able to smell that the butter has a rich and nutty scent. Stir for another 20 seconds or so, then remove from the heat. Allow to cool for 1 minute.

butter 165g, to make 140g brown butter

3. Add the caster sugar and light brown sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour over the melted brown butter, ensuring you scrape out the browned milk solids from the bottom of the pot. Add the vanilla and whisk well for 10 seconds. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. After the second egg, whisk until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in colour, 30-60 seconds.

caster sugar 100g, light brown sugar 130g, vanilla extract 1 tsp, eggs 100g, approx. 2 large eggs

4.In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, matcha powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of this to the wet mixture and fold through with a spatula until fully combined. Add the white chocolate and the other half of the dry mixture and fold through until no signs of flour remain. Cover and place into the fridge for 1 hour.

plain flour 200g, matcha powder 12g, baking powder 4g, baking soda 2g, fine sea salt 1/4 tsp

5. After 1 hour, remove from the fridge and portion the dough into 11 pieces weighing around 75g, either using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, ensuring the base of the cookie dough portion is flat and the top is domed–if using a tablespoon, you can create the dome using the palm of your hand to cup the dough. Cover the portioned dough and place in the fridge overnight or up to 48 hours.

6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170C fan and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place the cookie dough onto the baking tray, leaving at least 2 inches of space between each (you will likely need to work in batches to bake all of the cookies). Bake for 8 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and bang it firmly on a work surface a few times–this helps improve the texture and encourages the chocolate to melt. Bake for a further 4 minutes, then remove from the oven, bang the pan another few times on a work surface, sprinkle a little bit of flaky sea salt and coconut onto each cookie and allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Proceed with the remaining cookie dough.

FLORA'S TIPS

I always recommend that cookie dough be made 1-2 days before baking, as this gives the dough time to fully hydrate, for the flavours to develop and for the butter to harden, all of which leads to more delicious cookies with a better texture.

For the white chocolate element, white chocolate is melted and combined with desiccated coconut then allowed to set before breaking into pieces to mix into the cookie dough. This can be done 1-2 days before making the cookie dough, if you’d like to break up the work load a bit.

The unbaked cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months, stored in a sealed container. Allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before baking. The baked cookies will be good for up to 3 days, but can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature and refreshing in the oven at 170C fan for 5 minutes.