Green Tea Biscuits

Are you a green tea drinker?  For a very long time I turned my nose up at any mention of green tea. Then I became hooked. Trying every variety I could find in the supermarket and specialised tea shops. One of my favourites is a Japanese Lime Tea. Full of flavour, slightly smokey and very smooth to drink.

Recently there has been a move to incorporate a particular green tea into a greater range of culinary recipes.  Matcha - is the finest Japanese Green Tea Powder there is according to the web sites I have read. So I was delighted to find some available at Kim Wang Asian Grocery, 62-63, Grote Street, Adelaide. I am sure you will find this in any Asian Grocery store near you.

Matcha is made from tea plants which have been grown in the shade to allow a  slower growth and an increase in chlorophyll. Hence the amazing green colour. Although green tea is still widely drunk in Japan today, there has definitely been an increase in the use of this in cooking. I am not sure if this is a new phenomenon or a resurgence of something long past.

Since the early 2000's Matcha has appeared in coffee latte mixtures , milkshakes, cakes and ice cream and its popularity is due in part, to it's high anti-oxidant properties.

Today,  I am sharing with you a biscuit recipe using Matcha Green Tea Powder. I am making these as part of another photo shoot and wanted to use something that was bright green. I am unsure if the recipe will work with any other green tea powder, so you are on your own if you wish to experiment. But take my word for it, Matcha green is almost fluorescent and you may need your sun glasses to make them.

A reminder also that the powder sticks to everything and you may be surprised to find it in places you did not think possible.

 Biscuits with Matcha Green Tea Powder

Ingredients

240 g plain flour
15g Matcha Green tea Powder
150g butter softened
130g icing sugar
1/2tsp salt
2 egg yolks
100g unsalted pistatchio nuts

Weigh out the Green Tea Powder.

Sift the flour and the tea powder into a large clean bowl.
Cream butter and sugar together, adding the egg yolks one at a time and beating between each one.

Add flour into the mixture in two or three batches. Add nuts, mixing well to a stiff dough. 

Turn onto a board or bench top, roll up into two long sausage shapes, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 2 hours to rest the dough and to make it a little firmer.

After 2 hours, take from the fridge, discard the plastic wrap. Cut into rounds about 2 centimetres thick. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Preheat your fan forced oven to 150º/300F and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until slightly brown.
Slide each one carefully onto a cake rack until cool. Store in an air tight container for a few days.
This recipe made 33 biscuits.