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Matcha & White Chocolate Holiday Wreaths
Prep: 20 minutes (plus 30 minutes chilling)
Cook: 15 minutes
Servings: 20 cookies
A Taste of Zen for the Holidays
Bring a moment of calm and elegance to your bustling holiday season with these Matcha & White Chocolate Wreaths. The vibrant green from high-quality matcha powder is all-natural and offers a sophisticated, slightly earthy flavor that cuts through the richness of the butter and white chocolate. They're as beautiful to look at as they are to eat.
Materials
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tbsp high-quality culinary matcha powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil (optional, for thinning chocolate)
- Festive sprinkles or crushed pistachios for decoration
Preparation
- Let's start by creating our perfectly tender shortbread base. In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together until the mixture is light, airy, and pale. This takes about 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer.
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix briefly to combine.
- In a separate bowl, it's time to sift! Sifting is key for a delicate shortbread. Sift together the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, matcha powder, and salt. The matcha can be clumpy, so sifting ensures a uniform, beautiful green color.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, mixing on low speed until a soft dough forms. It will be slightly crumbly at first, but will come together.
- Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will make it much easier to pipe into our wreath shape.
Cooking
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Transfer your chilled dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip (like a Wilton 1M). This is how we'll get that lovely wreath texture.
- Pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 2-inch wide circular wreath shapes, leaving some space between each one.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. The edges should be just barely starting to turn golden, but the cookies should remain pale green. The smell of buttery matcha will fill your kitchen!
- Let the wreaths cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They are delicate, so handle with care!
- Once the cookies are totally cool, it's time to decorate. Melt the white chocolate chips with the coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.
- Dip one side of each matcha wreath into the melted white chocolate. Place it back on the parchment paper and immediately add your festive sprinkles or crushed pistachios before the chocolate sets.
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