Japanese cube cookies – Matcha / Kinako
About Japanese cube cookies
Japanese cube cookies are simple cube shaped butter cookies with Japanese ingredients (matcha or kinako). It is a cookie with a texture that melts smoothly after a bite. The sweetness of the dough is modest, so coat with plenty of Japanese-flavored powdered sugar. It is the best to eat with drinks such as coffee, tea or green tea because of its crumbly and fine texture.
I found these cookies in a famous Japanese pastry chef book. It’s very delicious, but there are many processes and the amount of ingredients are very small (31 grams of sugar, 0.2 grams of salt, etc.). Therefore I have changed the amount of ingredients to a measurable amount and have also changed to using a food processor to make cookies quickly and easily. As a result of the change, I am very happy because it is easy to make and delicious enough. It depends on the recipe, but I feel that it is often better to make it with a food processor.
Japanese flavor ingredients, matcha and kinako
From here, I would like to talk about Japanese ingredients, matcha and kinako.
Matcha
I think matcha is more familiar to everyone than kinako. As you probably know, matcha is a Japanese green tea powder made from specially grown and processed tea leaves.
Although the cookies use a small amount of matcha, it has a crucial role, therefore use good quality matcha. Good quality matcha has wonderful aroma, vivid green color and pleasant bitterness. Poor quality matcha hardly has flavor and the color is greyish. Good matcha is a little expensive, but I think it’s worth it.
Kinako (roasted soybean flour)
Kinako is a flour made by roasting soybeans, peeling and grinding them. By heating, the peculiar odor of soybeans is removed and the scent becomes fragrant. It is usually yellowish brown, but there is also light green soybean flour.
You can eat it with mochi or use it as a raw material for Japanese sweets. If you like, read the link below for more information about kinako.
Kinako may be more difficult to obtain outside Japan than matcha. However, it seems that you can buy it online these days. You can also make it by hand. If you search on Google, you will find many sites and videos that show you how to make Kinano / soybean flour. Therefore, it is good to try it.
Japanese cube cookies – Matcha / Kinako
Equipment
- Food processor, rolling pin
Ingredients
- ** 20 gram Powdered sugar or super fine granulated sugar for Matcha cookies
- ** 20 gram Almond powder for Matcha cookies
- ** 70 gram All purpose flour or cake flour for Matcha cookies
- ** a pinchi of Salt for Matcha cookies
- ** 2 gram Matcha powder for Matcha cookies
- **. 50 gram Cold butter for Matcha cookies
- ** 15 gram Powdered sugar for coating for Matcha cookies
- ** 2 gram Matcha powder for coating for Matcha cookies
- ## 20 gram Powdered sugar or super fine granulated sugar for Kinako cookies
- ## 20 gram Almond powder for Kinako cookies
- ## 65 gram All purpose flour or cake flour for Kinako cookies
- ## a pinch of Salt for Kinako cookies
- ## 8 gram Kinako for Kinako cookies
- ## 50 gram Cold butter for Kinako cookies
- ## 15 gram Powdered sugar for coating for Kinako cookies
- ## 5 gram Kinako for coating for Kinako cookies
Instructions
- Put powdered sugar, almond powder, flour, salt and matcha or kinako in a food processor and pulse several times to mix well.
- Add cold butter and process until the crumbly dough comes together.
- Remove the dough from the food processor, put it together by hand, and put it in a plastic bag. Roll out about 10 cm square with a rolling pin. The thickness is about 1.5 cm. It is convenient if you use rolling pin guides.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 150C =302F. Remove the dough from the plastic bag and divide it into 16 equal parts of about 2.5 cm square.
- Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 150C = 302F degrees for about 30 minutes. Bake until the corners are slightly brown and the bottom is brown.
- Cool the cookies on the baking tray for 5~10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Mix coating powder sugar and matcha or kinako in a small ball. Place cookies in the bowl and coat with powder sugar mixture.
- Place the cookie on a plate or container and sprinkle the remaining coated sugar through a tea strainer.
Notes
The shape of the cube is cute and there is no need to cut it out, so anyone can make it. I will put some links to the easy cookie recipe and recipes using matcha, so please try it if you like.
Thank you for reading and Bon Appetit!
