12 Delicious Ways To Use Matcha In Baking

In recent years, there has been a noticeable movement toward drinking and using matcha in baking. Whether for its potential health benefits or its unique flavor, matcha has taken center stage in the world of caffeinated beverages and, most importantly, in the dessert scene.

When I operated a bakery, some of my best-selling sweets were the matcha-flavored desserts, such as matcha cheesecake. Initially, I hesitated to include matcha on my menu because I wasn't sure if my demographic would be interested in trying a vibrantly colored green and earthy-flavored dessert, but when the matcha baked goods sold out instantly, I never doubted it again. Matcha has a naturally bitter and grassy taste; however, when it's incorporated with desserts, a subtle sweetness and nuttiness shines through, and it balances the contradicting flavor profiles. The specific taste of the matcha is dependent on the quality and the type of matcha used.

There are two different types of matcha you can most likely find at the supermarket: ceremonial grade and culinary grade. Ceremonial grade is typically used for traditional tea service, although nowadays it's also used in coffee shops for lattes and iced beverages. Culinary grade matcha is specifically made for cooking and baking. It has bolder and less nuanced flavors than ceremonial grade, so it can hold its own against other ingredients. If you only have ceremonial grade on hand, it can easily be substituted; just be sure to only use high-quality matcha whenever you're baking.

If you're looking for ways to enhance your homemade frosting, try adding a touch of matcha powder into the mix. Incorporating matcha powder into frostings for cupcakes, layered cakes, loaf cakes, or even cheesecakes is a fantastic way to capture matcha's rich, earthy flavor and vibrant green color. Plus, the hint of bitterness perfectly balances the sweetness of the frosting, especially if you're making a sweet variety like American buttercream.

Feel free to add matcha powder to any type of frosting; it pairs excellently with the tanginess of cream cheese frosting and the creaminess of whipped cream frosting. You can also mix it into store-bought frosting, just remember to re-whip it before incorporating. Whenever adding matcha powder to your frosting, be sure to sift it to remove any clumps and incorporate it after the base ingredients are combined. Whether it be butter and confectioners' sugar for buttercream or butter and whipped egg whites for Swiss meringue, this method allows you to gradually add the matcha powder until you've achieved your desired color and flavor.

While you might think you need a degree from pastry school to create a beautifully marbled cake, you don't, and you shouldn't be intimidated — marbling your cakes is quite simple for a novice at-home baker. Marbling cake batter is an excellent way to add a visually appealing aspect to your bundt or loaf cake — matcha's vibrant green color will stand out, adding an elegant and unique touch to your dessert.

The first step is, of course, to make your cake batter. The best option for marbled cakes is a vanilla batter since you can easily flavor and dye it with matcha powder. Divide your batter into two separate bowls and flavor one with matcha powder. Then, start with the checkerboard method by taking ⅓ of your batter and scooping it with a large spoon or cookie scoop in a down-and-up pattern. Continue with your matcha-flavored batter, adding ⅓ into the empty spaces to create a checkerboard design. Alternate colors until you've finished using both batters. Once you've completed layering, take a paring knife and gently swirl it through the pan in a zig-zag motion. Simplicity works best when marbling your cakes; the more you swirl and add batter, the less marbled your cake will appear.

Everyone has encountered countless restaurants featuring the same dessert item: chocolate mousse. Nowadays, we are plagued with lackluster mousse on every menu, whether it be at a fine dining establishment or at a friend's dinner party. If you've grown tired of chocolate mousse but still crave the luscious, airy texture and creamy goodness of the dessert, consider making a matcha-flavored mousse instead to shake things up a bit.

A mousse's airy, smooth, and melt-in-your-mouth texture is already divine, but a mousse that combines the subtle sweetness and grassy notes of matcha is an absolute game-changer. If you want your matcha mousse to be free from any green streaks, be sure to incorporate the matcha with the heavy cream before heating. A matcha mousse can be used in various ways, from serving single portions in ramekins to utilizing it as a layer in a cake. Next time you're deciding what to make for dessert at your dinner party, try preparing a matcha mousse and break away from the classic.

There are numerous gorgeous ways to decorate your sweet treats, such as incorporating pink sprinkles into cake batter to mimic cherry blossom trees or drizzling chocolate ganache over a batch of chocolate chip cookies. However, sometimes simplicity is key, and when you have matcha powder on hand, all it takes is an effortless dusting to elevate your desserts.

Of course, you shouldn't dust matcha over every dessert you've crafted in the kitchen. It works best with desserts that pair well with its earthy flavor. A tiramisu is an excellent choice since the bitterness of the matcha can cut through the richness of the mascarpone and coffee. If you're making this delicious chocolate layered cake, adding a simple dusting of matcha will create a pleasant contrast to the decadent chocolate flavors. You can also use matcha powder to garnish chocolate truffles — whether it's white or dark chocolate, both will pair flawlessly.

Are you tired of baking boring old chocolate chip cookies, or have sugar cookies this holiday season not quite satisfied your cookie craving enough? If so, you might want to try baking something a bit more innovative, such as matcha cookies.

A cookie dough recipe is viewed as a blank canvas by bakers to add some explosive flavors. If you're having matcha be the base flavor of the dough, you're in luck since there are plenty of ingredients that pair swimmingly with matcha's mouthwatering flavor. Ingredients like chopped white chocolate, freeze-dried raspberries, macadamia nuts, or coconut flakes are a great match to contrast the grassy notes and some subtle sweetness. Matcha also pairs well with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and especially ground ginger, like in matcha gingerbread cookies.

If you're looking for a more full-flavored matcha cookie, just make a simple shortbread recipe and incorporate a bit of matcha powder. The buttery shortbread cookie dough paired with the alluring taste of matcha is undeniably delicious. You can enjoy matcha cookies along with your afternoon tea or late-night sweet treat. The delicious flavor and gorgeous light green color will have you ditching your snickerdoodles in no time.

Making a cake or any baked good for that matter can be difficult, and decorating one can be even more daunting. There are various ways you can easily decorate a cake without having to whip up a batch of frosting and pipe an intricate design, like sprinkling it with confectioners' sugar or shaving dark chocolate over it. Although there's one way a professional pastry chef will lean towards when they are feeling a bit lazier — and that's glaze.

A pastry glaze is a thin and glossy coating applied to cakes, cookies, and pastries to enhance their appearance, add extra flavor, and provide a shiny finish. A basic recipe is made with only confectioners' sugar, melted butter, and milk; however, if you want to elevate it, use chocolate instead. In a professional pastry kitchen, glazes are typically stabilized with either bloomed gelatin based on white or dark chocolate. By using a chocolate base for your cake, you'll achieve a glaze that isn't translucent and covers your cake fully. If you're making a matcha glaze, white chocolate is the ideal base so the green color of the matcha can be showcased. A matcha glaze can be used for numerous types of cakes, whether it be tiered, sponge, or a loaf cake. It can also be used to dip petit fours like madeleines and cookies, or to drizzle over pastries. It's a great way to display a pop of green color and add some additional flavor to your sweets. 

Looking to add more texture and flavor to your baked goods? Incorporate some matcha powder into a streusel dough and top it on whatever sweet treats you're crafting in the kitchen. The crumbly texture and buttery flavor of the streusel combined with the earthy, vanilla-like aroma of the matcha is a scrumptious pairing.

For those of you who don't know, a streusel is a crumbly, sweet topping typically made from butter, flour, and sugar. It's typically used in German and Austrian baked goods to add texture and decorate a variety of sweets like muffins, cakes, pies, and dessert bars. A streusel can be flavored with either cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla; however, it's even better when it's flavored with matcha. The natural grassy notes from the matcha and slight bitter taste will complement the sweetness of the sugar and richness of the butter in the streusel effortlessly. The matcha will give the streusel the powder's quintessential green coloring, which can be a great garnish for any type of dessert. If you're making matcha muffins or are simply just looking for a topping for your vanilla ice cream, try making a matcha streusel and let the flavors speak for themselves.

If you're looking for a traditional Japanese dessert to use up the extra matcha powder you've stashed away in your pantry, look no further; mochi is the perfect choice. Mochi is a traditional Japanese rice cake made from glutinous rice flour. It's often sweetened and has a soft, chewy, and elastic texture. You can find mochi flavored with various ingredients like strawberry, chocolate, sesame, or mango; however, like peanut butter and jelly, matcha and mochi pair perfectly.

Matcha mochi can easily be made at home, as it is relatively simple to prepare and only requires a few ingredients like water, rice flour, potato starch, sugar, and, of course, high-quality matcha powder. It can be served as a standalone dessert to showcase the earthy, grassy taste of tea and the chewy texture of the mochi, or filled with other ingredients. If you're making matcha mochi at home, try filling it with ingredients that harmonize with matcha's flavor, such as red bean paste, chocolate, or berry-based jams. You can even wrap the matcha mochi around fruit to make homemade daifuku.

If you're an avid baker looking to conquer your fear of making macarons, now is the perfect time to start — there's no better ingredient to flavor them with than matcha. For anyone unfamiliar, macarons are sweet meringue-based confections with a crunchy exterior and a soft interior. Macarons are often filled with either ganache, jam, or buttercream and flavored with various ingredients like vanilla, coffee, or matcha! These French delicacies are often confused with their Italian cousin, the macaroons, due to their similar names.

Macarons have a reputation in the pastry world for being a relatively difficult baking project; however, if you have a stash of high-quality matcha powder waiting to be transformed into a sweet treat and a burning desire to challenge your pastry skills, then why not? Incorporating matcha adds a unique and innovative twist to the classic French pastry flavors. The bitterness of the matcha will blend harmoniously with the sweetness of the macaron. You can try filling the macarons with sweetened red bean paste, white chocolate ganache, raspberry jam, or black sesame paste.

Incorporating matcha into your bread dough is definitely an unexpected way to use it in baking; however, if you're a sourdough fanatic or looking to elevate your Japanese milk bread, adding it to your bread production is a great way to switch it up.

One of the best types of bread that pairs flawlessly with matcha is the classic French brioche. The buttery, sweet taste and soft, pillowy texture of brioche make it an excellent canvas for matcha's vibrant flavor and color. Alongside brioche, buns and dinner rolls are ideal for incorporating matcha into the dough. You can sweeten the dough slightly with honey or granulated sugar and serve it warm with matcha-infused compound butter or simply with some whipped cream.

Another option is sourdough. While it might sound a bit peculiar, the matcha's slightly sweet notes will contrast beautifully against the umami tanginess of the sourdough. Additionally, a sourdough loaf swirled with matcha's bright green color will create a beautiful result. If you're looking to get even more creative, try flavoring focaccia dough with matcha and pairing it alongside sweetened whipped ricotta for a different take on the Italian classic.

If you're tired of boring pastry custard flavored with vanilla bean or chocolate, try incorporating matcha instead. The matcha's grassiness and bitterness will enhance the custard's rich and creamy flavor, creating a unique twist on the pastry classic. Plus, the custard color will transform into the matcha's vibrant, bright green color.

Matcha custard can be used in numerous ways, it can be enjoyed on its own or used as a filling for cream puffs and croissants. If you're making a tiered cake, whether you opt for chocolate or strawberry, adding a layer of matcha custard will lend the cake a bit of extra creaminess and nuanced flavors. It can also be used to make a quick matcha crème brûlée. All you have to do is prepare your custard, pour it in some ramekins, add a sprinkle of granulated sugar, and torch it until you've achieved the quintessential caramelized golden brown top. Whipping up a batch of matcha crème brûlée is a great choice if you're looking for a low-maintenance dessert to make for your next dinner party.

There are plenty of ways to use matcha in your baking; however, the ingredient is at its best when it takes center stage in your confectionery creations, and there's no better place to start than with a cake. Cake menus in bakeries today often feature the same options: German chocolate cake, vanilla celebration cake, red velvet cake, or, if you're lucky, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. These options can become mundane, so if you're looking to switch it up, try making matcha cake at home.

The first step in making a matcha-flavored cake is to pick out your cake base. You can adapt basically any cake recipe to showcase matcha's flavor, whether it's chiffon, sponge, butter-based, or pound cake. Just make sure to choose a cake that doesn't have any other strongly flavored ingredients so you can allow the matcha to shine through. Since matcha powder tends to clump, be sure to sift it alongside your dry ingredients to prevent any streaks or dry patches.

Just like when using vanilla or almond extract, the amount of matcha you use will dictate the intensity of the flavor and color of your cake. Start slow with 1-2 tablespoons and adjust to your preference. It is crucial to use high-grade matcha powder whenever you're baking, especially in cake production, to ensure the bright color will shine through after the baking process.