Matcha Swirl Butter Cookies (Spritz Cookies)
These swirled matcha cookies are easier than they look. Use sprinkles and a piping tip for the Christmas wreath cookie look. Jump to recipe or read through the post for tips, tricks, and matcha baking advice.
Spritz and Butter Cookies
Just when I thought I’ve made enough matcha cookies in my life, I make some more. I can’t help it. Matcha Mommy strikes again? This time we have a matcha butter cookie swirled through a piping tip (piping is easier than it seems, I promise!!). I sometimes see these types of cookies called Danish butter cookies, like the swirly butter cookies in that iconic blue tin. Another name is spritz cookies, which is German in origin. Spritz cookies are pushed through a cookie press and stamped onto the baking sheet. In this case, we are pushing the dough through a piping bag, so I guess it’s more Danish style, but you can use a cookie press if you have one!
Christmas Wreath or Christmas Tree Cookies
The fun part about having a green, pipeable cookie is that it’s perfect for Christmas! If you pipe your cookies in a circle, you’ll get something that looks like a Christmas wreath. I like to add Christmas sprinkles on top for extra decoration.
Alternatively, you can pipe in a zig zag to make a Christmas tree. So versatile!
Piping Tools Needed
I use a plastic piping bag that I bought from my local craft store. You can use a 12″ or 16″ bag – just refill when the bag gets low on cookie dough. For the swirly effect, you will need an open star tip, which is what I used for the cookies in these photos and the same piping tip that you would use for churros. You can also use a closed star tip if you like fewer ridges, similar to how I pipe some of my cupcake frostings. Piping bags and tips are VERY affordable and don’t take up much space in your kitchen, so don’t be afraid to pick some up.
What Matcha Powder Should I Use?
I say this in all of my matcha baking recipes, but you don’t need to worry about labels like ceremonial grade matcha or culinary grade. What you want is a very strong flavor and strong color, which can be found in a variety of different “grades.” A lot of it is trial and error. If you want to skip the trial part (matcha is expensive!), I recommend using Maeda-en Universal Quality matcha. I’ve also used their ceremonial grade, which is very good but very expensive. Ippodo also sells great matcha. You should NOT have to have any added green food coloring. If you do, that’s a sure sign that your matcha is not good for this recipe.
Tips and Tricks for Piping Cookie Dough
These Danish butter cookies used to really be tricky for me. It always seemed like the dough was too stiff to press through the piping tip. Unfortunately, kitchen temperature can play a big role in how loose your dough is. My rule of thumb is, it’s better for the dough to be a little too warm while piping so it’ll go easy through the star tip, and you can always chill the dough afterwards to firm it back up. So maybe start with butter that is very soft. You can also go by feel, take a little blob of dough and just push it through the tip with your finger. If it easily goes through, you’re golden. I do call for 3 tablespoons of whole milk in the recipe to loosen it up a little, but you can test your dough at 2 tablespoons as well and add more milk as needed.
By the way, this may be a good time to point out that I do not use eggs or any leavening ingredients in this recipe. This is not a mistake! I did not want any added ingredients that could possibly fluff up the cookies during baking and lose the sharp ridges. Having a more liquidy dough already risks losing some of the crispness.
More Asian Christmas Cookie Recipes
Looking for more Asian cookies that go well with Christmas-y themes? Check these out:
- Matcha Crinkle Cookies
- Red Bean Crinkle Cookies
- Ube Crinkle Cookies
- Kinako Cookies
- Yuzu Thumbprint Cookies
Matcha Swirl Butter Cookies (Spritz)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter, 114g
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 50g
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour, 140g
- 1/2 tsp matcha for baking
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- sprinkles, optional
Equipment
- open star tip (you can also used closed star)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a metal baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- With an electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add flour and matcha and mix until dough forms.
- Add 3 tbsp milk and mix. At this point the dough should be thin enough to pipe, but if not, add up to one tablespoon more of milk.
- Transfer cookie dough to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
- Pipe circles of matcha dough onto a lined baking tray in a wreath shape, about two inches in diameter and one inch apart, as cookies don't spread much during baking. Top with sprinkles, if using.
- Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until cookies easily lift off the tray. If working in a very warm kitchen or if you feel the cookie dough became too thin and warm as you were working with it, you can chill the dough before baking.
- Leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature.
