These matcha sugar cookies are super soft and tender with the addition of almond flour. Spread a dollop of strawberry buttercream on top for a matcha strawberry cookie, or keep it all almond flavored with almond extract. Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. I may make a small commission from your purchases at no cost to you.

Just when I think I have enough matcha cookie recipes on this blog, I get a craving for another one. Every time I think it’s the new best thing, but this time I REALLY really like what I came up with. It might even rival my matcha crinkle cookies for favorite matcha cookie. These matcha almond cookies are suuuuuper soft and suuuuuuper thick. Think of the fluffy moistness of a Lofthouse cookie, but in a roll out sugar cookie form. Matcha and almond flavors really pair together so well too. This is also a great roll out sugar cookie dough, so you can use cookie cutters for any occasion! Matcha heart cookies for Valentines Day? Matcha Christmas cookies? Or matcha Easter? It’s a year round matcha cookie!

Adding Almond Flour to Sugar Cookies

I’ve had some almond sugar cookies before and absolutely loved them, but I never knew why! In doing research for this recipe, King Arthur Baking really came in clutch. I learned from their blog that almond flour contains more fat and results in a more moist and tender crumb. They recommend substituting 25% of flour for almond flour, which is what I did to a previous cookie recipe, among some other changes. The result? A super soft and moist cookie that seriously rivals Lofthouse cookie texture!

I know some people are going to ask, so this is why I really recommend not omitting the almond flour. If you have nut allergies, obviously you will need an alternative. I recommend adding 2 tbsp of matcha to my Shortbread Roll Out Dough instead.

What Matcha do I Use for Baking?

Use a high quality, strong and bitter matcha for baking. If you’ve read my Ultimate Guide to Matcha post, you know that labels like “ceremonial” or “culinary” really don’t tell you much about how the matcha will taste. Because you’re baking matcha with lots of sugar and other ingredients that can mask its flavor, you want a much stronger and bitterer matcha than you would normally drink. I highly recommend using Maeda-en matcha. I’ve used both their ceremonial and universal quality blends for baking. I think the ceremonial has a better color, but both produce quite a good flavor in baked goods. The universal is also much cheaper.

How to Get Super Thick and Soft Sugar Cookies

Besides adding almond flour for a more tender crumb (see above), there are a couple other tips for getting thick, soft cookies.

Perhaps the most obvious tip is to make sure you don’t roll out your dough too thin. For these cookies, I used a ruler to make sure my dough was between 1/3″ and 1/2″ thick.

Another tip is to not overbake your cookies! The longer you bake, the more your cookies dry out, and the crispier they become. I found 12 minutes at 350 degrees F was perfect for my 1/2″ thick cookies in my oven. However, ovens vary, so keep an eye out!

Frosting for Sugar Cookies

I love the taste of these cookies by itself, but because it’s so soft and cake-like, I also really loved it with frosting! The frosting I recommend for these cookies are a typical American buttercream recipe. For strawberry flavor, I added 1/2 cup of freeze dried strawberries that I blended into powder. I actually think this recipe would taste AMAZING with just almond buttercream as well, but my kids are strawberry monsters. For almond buttercream, simply omit the strawberries and add 1/4 tsp of almond extract. Less is more when it comes to almond extract, trust me.

More Matcha Cookie Recipes

Looking for more of my popular matcha cookie recipes? Check these out:

cross section view of thick and soft matcha almond cookies
5 from 1 review

Soft Matcha Almond Cookies with Strawberry Buttercream

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Ingredients
  

For cookies:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 2 tbsp matcha
  • Extra flour for dusting

For strawberry buttercream:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries, 10g
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream

Instructions
 

To bake the cookies:

  • Cream room temperature butter with sugar, salt, and baking powder.
  • Add egg and almond extract and beat until homogenous and fluffy.
  • Add all purpose flour, almond flour, and matcha and mix until matcha is evenly dispersed and the mixture forms a cohesive dough.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Dust a clean work surface with extra flour. Roll out dough with a rolling pin, dusting with more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking, until about 1/3”-1/2” thick.
  • Use a 3” cookie cutter to cut out hearts (or other shapes). Reroll the scraps of dough to cut out more cookies. At that size and thickness, there will be enough dough for about 18 cookies.
  • Place cookies on a lined baking sheet (about six per 9×13” sheet) and bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are baked through and just slightly browned on the bottom.
  • Let cookies cool to room temperature before frosting.

To make the buttercream:

  • Blend freeze dried strawberries into a powder.
  • Cream room temperature butter with powdered sugar and strawberry powder.
  • Add tbsp of heavy cream. Beat frosting very well until light, fluffy, and pale pink in color.
  • Use an offset spatula to spread frosting onto cooled cookies.
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