Matcha Green Tea Holiday Wreath Cookies, #SundaySupper
‘Tis the season to hang holiday wreaths again. Time, also, to fill the home with the aroma of baking Christmas cookies. And hopefully have many reasons to be of good cheer!
If nothing else my Matcha Green Tea Holiday Wreath Cookies will put a smile in your stomach. Extra fuss is required to make the cookies. But, the experience is a joyful one. Especially with Christmas carols blasting in the background. (An added bonus: Matcha Green Tea Holiday Wreath Cookies are perfect for a DYI family kitchen project.)
Joys to the World: Matcha green tea, M & M chocolates and Christmas cookies!
Inspiration for my Matcha Green Tea Holiday Wreath Cookies comes from a photo glimpsed on Pinterest several years ago. Specifically, a That Skinny Chick Can Bake board belonging to my friend, Liz. A wreath-shaped sugar cookie was dotted with M & Ms. Chocolate and vanilla combos are universally acknowledged as natural partners. But for those of us who grew up in Japan, we know matcha and chocolate are also delicious consorts. (The Ninja Baker’s matcha green tea cookies studded with chocolate M & Ms prove the point!)
Gourmet types (like Liz) might shun shortcuts in the kitchen. However, this Ninja Baker slipped into a market and picked up ready-made cookie dough. I rolled out the sugar cookie roll; kneaded in matcha and powdered sugar. Then, cut out circles and punched holes in the middle.
Matcha cookies crowned with chocolate candies. Happy Christmas!
Ninja Note 1: The powdered sugar balances the bitter matcha taste. Allegedly powdered sugar in the dough is supposed to prevent the spread once heat hits the cookies. Even with the cautionary step of freezing the cut-out cookies overnight, the matcha cookies still expanded in the oven.
Ninja Note 2: The wreath holes require an additional punch in the middle upon their exit from the oven.
Ninja Note 3: Dot the wreaths with M & Ms as soon as possible. The cookies do firm up pretty quickly. (If they do, simply use frosting to stick the M & M chocolates onto the matcha cookie wreaths.)
Japanese Plum Wine Cookie Wreaths
Japanese matcha is not everyone’s cup of tea. So, I also created Japanese Plum Wine Cookie Wreaths. A tickle of wine candy cackles atop each cookie. (Albeit wine cooks out in baking; Japanese Plum Wine Wreath Cookies are not kid-friendly.) This cookie also expands in baking so the notes for the Matcha Green Tea Holiday Wreath Cookies apply…Next time, I’ll follow the lead of the gourmet types and make my own sugar cookie dough foundation! The firmer dough will allow the wreaths to keep their shapes. Sometimes short cuts lead to more work...Do the results of this baking adventure disappoint or discourage me? No! The holidays are filled with good cheer. If I choose to open my eyes, there is so much to celebrate!
The Zen of the Japanese tea ceremony is delivered in the Ninja Baker's matcha cookies. Just as a sweet is offered with green tea in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, powdered sugar in the cookie dough balances the slightly bitter green tea powder...And produces a perfectly delicious cookie!
Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
¼ cup powdered sugar
2½ tablespoons matcha green tea powder
Directions:
Knead the sugar and matcha green tea powder into the dough. (Plastic gloves help to keep your hands free of green.)
Between wax paper, roll out the matcha sugar cookie dough.
Cut out circles with a biscuit cutter.
With a smaller circle, punch out a smaller circle in the centers.
Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and freeze overnight.
Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 12 minutes.
When the cookies come out of the hot oven, reinforce the center circles. Press on the M & Ms.
A tickle of Japanese plum wine candy cackles atop each cookie. Crisp, pretty and a pleasure for the palette. This cookie will bring holiday cheer to the grownups.
Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
10 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Japanese plum wine
5 drops of pink food coloring
Vanilla frosting (your favorite homemade or store-bought kind)
Directions:
Whisk the sugar, wine and drops of pink food coloring together.
Paint the mixtures onto ½” slices of cookie dough placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Freeze overnight.
Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 12 minutes.
Cool.
Pipe vanilla ribbons onto the cookies with a writing tip.
Holiday wreath cookies are a wonderful way to bring good cheer on a plate to your neighbors, friends and family. Today’s #SundaySupper theme? Gifts from the Kitchen. (Please scroll down to see your invite to the Twitter chat around the #SundaySupper virtual table.) Our host is the uber-talented photographer / baker / cooker Renee of Magnolia Days. Here are a few more gifts from the kitchen:
Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.
Wishing you good cheer during the holidays and always.
