Matcha blondies (aka green tea white chocolate brownies)

I have really missed baking, what with being crazy busy at work and paperwork for the sale of my family home being finalised just before Monsieur Poisson and I left on a rather rushed trip to Europe. The first two weeks back in Sydney were no better, with masses of catch-up needing to be done work-wise to meet a tight deadline.

The actions of leisurely baking are always comforting and, coupled with the winter weather, there are so many levels of warmth that mixing, stirring and standing in front of an oven can bring. However with the travel from Munich back to Sydney wearing me out (my inability to sleep on flights strikes again) combined with two weeks’ worth of long work hours, the motivation to spend hours in the kitchen are pretty low – and that’s despite the promise of comforting baking aromas and warming sweets afterwards.


Cue: easy one-bowl mix-and-bake! Brownies are always great as they don’t require much forward planning or concentration – there’s no need to soften butter at room temperature, or cream sugar with butter or eggs. It’s so easy you could almost make them while half asleep. Or recovering from jetlag.

But instead of making my usual chocolate brownies, I decided to make use of some of the matcha powder stashed in my pantry. When friends travelling to Japan ask if there’s anything they can bring back for me, I always request matcha powder. It’s so expensive here, although not a great deal cheaper there I’m told, and so little choice in the way of brands and packet sizes. I’ve long been a tea-drinker and I love the smell of tea and tea leaves almost more than savouring the beverage itself. Matcha has a great aroma and the slight bitterness it imparts to desserts makes them less rich and cloying.


Matcha always pairs well with white chocolate, where one tempers the flavour of the other, so hence the combination of the two to make these matcha blondies. The colour is a bit vomitus green unfortunately, as happens with anything matcha, but Angie suggested a great tip for this – drop in some green food colouring until you’re happy with the shade. I mixed white chocolate chips and chopped macadamias in for texture, as I like some crunch to break up the fudginess, but, as always with brownies, these are optional and you can always underbake the batter if you prefer gooier centres as well. (I don't as I have issues with raw batter heheh.)

I’ve never made blondies (aka white chocolate brownies) before as I’m not a fan of sugary, white chocolate – I prefer my chocolate dark, bitter and shiny – but it’s not an obvious white chocolate flavour that you get with these. Matcha blondies is the obvious choice of name but call them “greenies”, if you will. Make them in mini-loaf pans, slice into fingers and each piece will feature some crust, or bake in a shallow tin as per usual.


Matcha Blondies
(loosely adapted from Triple Chocolate Brownies from delicious. Magazine April 2007, recipe by Bill Granger)

Ingredients:
  • 200g white chocolate, chopped
  • 125g butter, chopped
  • ½ cup caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup plain flour
  • ¼ cup (unsweetened) matcha powder
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
  • ½ cup chopped macadamias (optional)

Method:
  1. Preheat oven 160°C. Grease and line a shallow slice tin or 8 mini-loaf tins.
  2. Melt white chocolate with butter in a bowl which fits snugly over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir mixture until chocolate is melted and goopy. (I found that melted white chocolate doesn’t combine with butter the same way dark chocolate does. Instead of being a glossy mixture, the white chocolate sank to the bottom of the butter but never fear – the mixture comes together when the dry ingredients are mixed in!) Set aside to cool slightly.
  3. Beat sugar into chocolate mixture then whisk in eggs one at a time – it may look a little curdled. Add flour and matcha powder then beat until smooth. Stir in white chocolate and macadamia bits.
  4. Pour mixture into prepared tin(s) and bake around 40 minutes if in the one tray, or around 30 minutes if in mini-loaves. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from tin to cut into whatever shape that takes your fancy.

happy cooking!

16 comments:

  1. I never knew that blondies were white chocolate brownies! I guess you learn something new everyday, lol. I really love the look of the blondies! And I do prefer my brownies to not be raw in the middle either ;) hehe

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  2. Mmm, love green tea goodies but not so much a fan of white choc... "vomitus green" - lol

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  3. Ooh I like the look of these "Greenies" hehe. Nice tip with the green food colouring too.

    Also how cute is your placemat in the first photo!

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  4. Green tea blondies? Now that's something i've never thought of doing! Excellent idea :)

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  5. they look fantastic and i love matcha1 thanks for the recipe :)

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  6. What gorgeous brownies. I have never cooked with matcha but you have inspired me. I really must try these and I love your cake tin as well xx

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  7. Yum I love matcha anything, and nawww the little lift-outs of greaseproof paper are very clever!

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  8. ah brownies - also my go-to recipe for when I'm lazy/tired but really want some baked goodies. I've never made blondies before but I love matcha so am keen to give these a go!

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  9. I like white chocolate so blondies are right up my alley as well.

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  10. I tried to make white chocolate brownies a few months ago and they turned out.. well. Horribly! Yours look amazing :)

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  11. These greenie-blondies sound delicious. An innovative take on the norm. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

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  12. They look awesome. I love Angies suggestion on the food colouring. The first time I used matcha I kept adding it until I got the colour!! I shall say no more on that subject :)

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  13. oooh that is a great tip with the food colouring! yeah, matcha powder is pretty expensive :( i've still got a little box of it left but havent decided what to make with it yet. sometimes i just use it to make green tea lattes and milkshakes ^^

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  14. Heh, was googling matcha brownies and came across this and vaguely remember you posting a pic of these up. Though I don't ever recall giving you the tip about colouring! Hmm looking for 'green' baking recipes, maybe matcha blondies if I can't find any other alternatives.

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