These Matcha Pinwheel Cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie! The pretty green spirals, the festive vibes, the buttery taste - These are the loveliest matcha shortbread cookies!
Now, the classic combination of chocolate and vanilla pinwheels has ruled our hearts, but these matcha babies are right there on top, too. The grassy, ever-so-slightly bitter taste of matcha ( which I love!) is not so evident in the final cookie, so don't you worry! What we have is a showstopper of a cookie that's mildly sweet, subtly flavored, and perfect with your cuppa.
If you enjoy matcha desserts, you'll love these easy vegan matcha donuts, creamy matcha Basque cheesecake, our Holiday favorite matcha white chocolate bark, and these gorgeous matcha pistachio madeleines!
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Why You’ll Love The Recipe
These matcha pinwheel cookies look fancy, but really they couldn’t be easier to make!
Apart from matcha tea powder, these cookies need just the basic pantry ingredients.
You can double up the recipe, roll out the dough into logs, tightly wrap them in foil or parchment paper, and freeze them, for you know, any cookie emergency that you may have!
This is such a versatile shortbread cookie recipe. Feel free to play around with flavors...lemon, orange, chocolate, and cinnamon. You can even scatter a thin layer of finely chopped nuts in between the cookie dough layers.
So festive looking and great for your Holiday cookie table!
Recipe Ingredients
Flour: All-purpose flour is the best for that light, crumbly texture.
Matcha powder: Japanese green tea powder that’s so popular now for tea and lattes ( like this mango matcha latte), also is great for baking! Please use a good-quality culinary-grade matcha or ceremonial matcha.
Butter: I used salted butter. Please add a quarter teaspoon of salt to the flour, in case you’re using unsalted butter.
Egg: It helps bind the dough and adds richness to the matcha cookies.
Sugar: This matcha pinwheel recipe uses icing sugar, also known as confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar. It dissolves easily in the butter and gives that delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Vanilla extract: For a balanced and deeper flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Matcha Pinwheel Cookies
Step 1: Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Beat well.
Step 2: Combine flour and gradually stir it into the creamed mixture, until well combined.
Step 3: Divide the dough into 2 halves.
Step 4: Add matcha powder to one portion.
Step 5: Wrap both the cookie doughs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Step 6: Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll each dough into a rough rectangle of 10 x 12 inches. Carefully place the matcha rectangle on top of the vanilla rectangle. Press the rectangles gently with a rolling pin.
Step 7: Starting from the longer end, roll up tightly into a log. Wrap in cling wrap or foil. Refrigerate the logs for at least 30-40 minutes, until firm.
Step 8: Unwrap the rolled-up log, and slice it into 1/4" slices, using a very sharp knife.
Step 9: Preheat your oven to 180C. Place the sliced cookie dough on a parchment-lined baking tray.
Step 10: Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely. They will firm up more as they cool. Store in an airtight container.
Top Tips
- You can use your hands to bring the dough together for these matcha pinwheel cookies.
- If the cookie dough seems too soft, please refrigerate for a longer time until it is firm enough to handle.
- You can roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper for easier handling and less cleanup.
- Once you have placed the rolled-out matcha cookie dough on top of the vanilla cookie dough, gently press both doughs together using a rolling pin so they stick to each other.
- While rolling the cookie dough into a log, make sure you are rolling the dough tightly.
- As always, it's best to use a weighing scale to measure ingredients for this matcha pinwheel cookie recipe.
Matcha Pinwheel Recipe FAQs
Stored in an air-tight container these cookies will be good for 2 weeks.
Yes, you can! Roll out the dough into logs, tightly wrap them in foil or parchment paper, and freeze them for up to 1 month. They slice neatly when frozen and bake for 15 -16 minutes.
Yes, absolutely. Substitute matcha with coffee powder, cinnamon, or cocoa powder. You can add lemon or orange zest to the dough. Spread the rolled-out plain cookie dough with Nutella to make Nutella pinwheel cookies.
More Holiday Cookies!
📖 Recipe
Matcha Pinwheel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened I used salted butter. If using unsalted butter, please add 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup Icing sugar
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 2 tsp Matcha powder
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
- Whisk in the egg. Beat well. Add the vanilla extract.
- Combine flour and salt ( if using) and gradually stir it into the creamed mixture, until well combined.
- Divide the dough in half. Add matcha powder to one portion. If the weather is warm, you may need to refrigerate the dough for 15-20 minutes before rolling them out.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll each dough half to a rough rectangle of 10 x 12 inches. You can even roll the dough in between sheets of wax or parchment paper. That's my recommendation.
- Carefully place the matcha rectangle on top of the vanilla rectangle. Press the rectangles gently with a rolling pin. Starting from the long end, roll up tightly into a log. Wrap in cling wrap or foil. Refrigerate the logs for at least 30-40 minutes, until firm.
- **You can freeze the rolled up logs at this time for future baking.
- Preheat your oven to 180C. Line your baking tray with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the rolled-up logs, and slice them into 1/4" slices, using a very sharp knife. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180 C until lightly golden.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely. They will firm up more as they cool. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You can use your hands to bring the dough together for these matcha pinwheel cookies.
- If the cookie dough seems too soft, please refrigerate for a longer time until it is firm enough to handle.
- You can roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper for easier handling and less cleanup.
- Once you have placed the rolled-out matcha cookie dough on top of the vanilla cookie dough, gently press both doughs together using a rolling pin so they stick to each other.
- While rolling the cookie dough into a log, make sure you are rolling the dough tightly.
- As always, it's best to use a weighing scale to measure ingredients for this matcha pinwheel cookie recipe.
Daria says
These matcha cookies actually turned out pretty much as cute as the pictures you provided! The only thing I changed was leaving the log to chill overnight (accidentally; didn't have time to bake them right away), but that just made it easier to cut. Also went a bit overboard with vanilla extract and matcha powder cuz i don't really enjoy the taste of butter as is. Thank you for the recipe!
Natasha Minocha says
Yes, chilling the logs is a great idea! I'm so so thrilled these cookies turned out well for you! Thank you for your wonderful feedback. Happy Holidays! xx
Hemali says
I always follow ur recipes.. all r tummy and super easy.. my kiddos love it..share ur recipes with us so that we can make it at home..
Natasha Minocha says
Thank you so much for your kindest words, Hemali! It really means a lot to me! xx