As a huge fan of matcha and matcha lattes (the flavor of matcha just works so well with dairy) I HAD to try these.
Notes:
- I found it unusual that the matcha is mixed with the vanilla extract rather than sifted into the dry ingredients, but the recipe author says it's to "bloom" the matcha flavor with alcohol. I do think it made a difference (the matcha tasted less bitter), but I'm used to the mild bitterness of the matcha so I don't know that I'd do it this way if I made it again. I personally found it kind of messy.
- There's a LOT of vanilla extract for one batch of cookies (1.5 TABLEspoons)and I found that combined with the above it almost felt like too much, like it overpowered the matcha a bit.
- I could also taste the peanut butter in the final product and I'm not sure I liked that. I might try a more neutral/complementary flavor nut butter next time, like almond butter.
- The ermine frosting was really interesting in a good way (milk flavored frosting sounded good) and I'm glad I got to try it with this recipe.
Verdict: They were pretty good but quite sweet. I prefer the taste without frosting, though the mix of textures of the cookie and frosting is really nice. While they were good, I think I like these matcha cookies better. But that's a personal opinion. I would make these again with the changes I listed above to see if I like them any better.
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RECIPE: Matcha Latte Cookies (Eric Joonho Kim, NYT Cooking)
