25 Matcha Christmas Cookies

There is no cookie on the Christmas tray that looks quite like a matcha cookie. The vibrant green color, the delicate white chocolate drizzle, and the gold sprinkles make them look like they came from a fancy bakery — and they taste just as good as they look. They are buttery, tender, and lightly sweet, with the gentle earthy flavor of green tea in every bite.

Before we start, one important note: these are matcha christmas cookies, a completely different cookie from the green grinch crinkle cookies you may have seen elsewhere. Those are chocolate cookies tinted green with food coloring and rolled in powdered sugar. This recipe gets its green color naturally from real matcha green tea powder, and the flavor is earthy and delicate rather than chocolatey. Both are beautiful green holiday cookies, but they taste nothing alike, and this guide is all about the matcha version.

This guide gives you twenty-five ways to make, bake, decorate, store, gift, and enjoy matcha christmas cookies — from choosing the best matcha powder and the perfect green color to the white chocolate drizzle, gluten-free swaps, cookie exchange tips, and gift packaging ideas. Whether you are baking for your family, a holiday party, or a cookie exchange, these cookies are festive, fun, and unforgettable.

1. What Are Matcha Christmas Cookies?

Matcha christmas cookies are buttery sugar cookies flavored with matcha green tea powder, which gives them their vivid green color and their gentle, earthy flavor. They are cut into Christmas shapes — trees, stars, snowflakes, and ornaments — and decorated with white chocolate drizzle, white icing, and gold sprinkles. The result is a cookie that looks elegant and tastes light and sophisticated.

Matcha is finely ground green tea leaves, and it has been used in Japanese tea ceremonies for centuries. In baking, it adds a beautiful green color and a flavor that is earthy, slightly sweet, and a little bit grassy — in the best way. The cookies are one of the easiest holiday cookies to make, because the dough is a simple sugar cookie dough with matcha powder mixed in, and the decorating is as simple or as fancy as you like.

2. Choosing the Best Matcha Powder

The matcha powder you choose makes a real difference in these cookies. Use a culinary-grade matcha powder, which is made for baking and cooking, rather than a ceremonial-grade matcha, which is expensive and meant for drinking straight. Culinary matcha has a stronger, slightly more bitter flavor that holds up beautifully in baked goods.

Look for a matcha powder that is bright green, not yellowish or brown, because the color of the powder is the color of your cookies. Store the matcha in an airtight container away from light and heat, because it fades quickly when exposed to air. A good culinary matcha is affordable and easy to find in grocery stores and online, and a single tin will last you through many batches of cookies.

3. The Vibrant Green Color

The vibrant green color is what makes these cookies so striking, and it comes entirely from the matcha powder — no food coloring needed. Use two to three tablespoons of matcha powder for a standard batch of dough, and sift it with the flour before adding it to the wet ingredients. Sifting is important, because matcha powder clumps easily, and clumps make green spots in the finished cookies.

If you want a deeper green, add one extra tablespoon of matcha, but do not add too much, because matcha is slightly bitter and too much will make the cookies taste grassy. The green color darkens slightly as the cookies bake, so bake a test cookie first and check the color after baking. For the prettiest green, pull the cookies out while they are still soft and pale green around the edges.

4. The Matcha Flavor

Matcha flavor is gentle and earthy, with a slight sweetness and a hint of grassiness that pairs beautifully with butter and sugar. It is not a strong flavor, so the cookies taste like a delicate sugar cookie with a green tea finish, rather than a cup of tea in cookie form. The flavor is sophisticated enough for adults and mild enough for children.

To make the matcha flavor shine, use a good-quality culinary matcha and do not skimp on the vanilla extract, which rounds out the earthiness. A pinch of salt is also important, because it balances the slight bitterness of the matcha. If you want a stronger matcha flavor, add a half tablespoon more powder, but taste the dough first — the flavor should be gentle, not overpowering.

5. The Cookie Base

The cookie base is a classic roll-out sugar cookie dough: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt, with matcha powder sifted in with the flour. The butter should be softened to room temperature, not melted, because melted butter makes the cookies spread too much and lose their shape. Beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy, which takes about three minutes with an electric mixer.

Use granulated sugar in the dough for a crisp edge, and do not overmix after the flour goes in, or the cookies will be tough instead of tender. Stop as soon as you cannot see any more dry flour, and the cookies will be buttery and delicate every time. The dough should be soft but not sticky, and it should hold together when you press it into a disc.

6. Rolling and Cutting Christmas Shapes

Rolling and cutting the shapes is the most fun part of this recipe. Roll the chilled dough out on a floured surface to about a quarter inch thick, and cut trees, stars, snowflakes, and ornaments close together so you waste as little dough as possible. Dip the cutters in flour between cuts so the dough releases cleanly, and transfer the shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet with a thin spatula.

Chill the cut shapes on the baking sheet for ten minutes before they go in the oven, because cold dough holds its shape much better. The points of the stars and the branches of the trees are the first parts to overbake, so watch the cookies closely in the last two minutes. If the dough gets too soft while you are cutting, pop it back in the fridge for ten minutes and continue when it is firm again.

7. Baking Time and Temperature

Bake these cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for nine to eleven minutes, until the edges are set and just barely firm but the centers still look soft. The cookies will look underdone in the middle when you take them out, and that is exactly right — they finish baking on the hot pan as they cool, and the centers set into a soft, tender texture.

Do not wait until the cookies look golden, because matcha cookies should stay green, not brown. The green color fades if the cookies overbake, so pulling them out early keeps the color bright and pretty. Let them sit on the baking sheet for five minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

8. The White Chocolate Drizzle

The white chocolate drizzle is what makes these cookies look like they came from a bakery. Melt white chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each burst, until the chocolate is smooth and pourable. Drizzle it over the cooled cookies with a fork, making zigzag lines across each cookie.

Work quickly, because white chocolate sets fast. If it gets too thick while you work, warm it for ten seconds in the microwave and stir it again. Let the drizzled cookies sit undisturbed for at least thirty minutes so the chocolate sets completely. The white drizzle against the green cookie is a beautiful contrast, and the sweet white chocolate balances the earthy matcha perfectly.

9. Decorating With Gold Sprinkles

Gold sprinkles are the finishing touch that makes these cookies look festive and elegant. Sprinkle gold star sprinkles, gold sanding sugar, or edible gold pearls over the white chocolate drizzle while it is still wet, so the sprinkles stick. If you wait until the chocolate has set, the sprinkles will bounce right off.

Use the sprinkles sparingly — a few gold stars on each cookie are enough to make them sparkle without overwhelming the green and white. You can also dust the finished cookies with a little edible gold dust for a shimmering finish. The gold against the green and white is the classic Christmas color combination, and it makes these cookies look truly special.

10. The Soft, Tender Texture

The soft, tender texture is what makes these cookies so beloved, and it comes from three things: butter, powdered sugar, and underbaking slightly. Butter gives richness, powdered sugar dissolves completely and keeps the cookies tender, and taking the cookies out of the oven while the centers still look soft lets them finish baking on the hot pan.

Use a mix of granulated sugar and powdered sugar in the dough — about half and half — for the best texture. The granulated sugar gives a slight crispness at the edges, and the powdered sugar gives a melt-in-your-mouth center. Do not overmix the dough after the flour goes in, or the cookies will be tough instead of tender. Stop as soon as you cannot see any more dry flour, and the cookies will be soft and tender every time.

11. Making Them Ahead

These cookies are perfect for making ahead, because the dough can be made up to three days in advance and kept in the fridge. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, and let it sit on the counter for fifteen minutes before rolling so it is soft enough to handle. The flavor actually improves with a long chill, because the matcha and butter deepen as the dough rests.

You can also bake the cookies a day or two before you need them and decorate them the morning of the party. Store the undecorated cookies in an airtight container, and drizzle them with white chocolate the day you serve them so the chocolate stays glossy and the sprinkles stay bright. If you are making a big batch for a cookie exchange, bake the cookies over two days and decorate them all at once.

12. Gluten-Free Swaps

These cookies adapt well to a gluten-free diet with a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend. Use a blend that already contains xanthan gum, and measure it by weight for the most accurate result. The cookies will be slightly more delicate than the wheat version, so let them cool completely on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack.

Chilling the dough is even more important for gluten-free cookies, because the flour needs time to absorb the moisture. Chill for at least an hour, and handle the dough gently when rolling and cutting. The flavor is exactly the same — earthy matcha, sweet white chocolate, and buttery cookie — and nobody at the cookie exchange will guess they are gluten-free.

13. Dairy-Free Swaps

To make these cookies dairy-free, swap the butter for a good plant-based butter that comes in stick form, and use a dairy-free white chocolate for the drizzle. The texture will be very close to the original, though the cookies may spread a little more, so chill the dough for a full hour and bake them on a cool baking sheet.

Coconut oil also works in place of butter, but it makes the cookies slightly crispier and adds a faint coconut flavor that actually pairs nicely with the matcha. Use refined coconut oil if you do not want the coconut taste, and unrefined if you do. Either way, the cookies will still be soft, green, and completely delicious.

14. Storing Your Matcha Cookies

Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, and they will stay soft and tender the whole time. Put a slice of bread in the container with them — the bread dries out while the cookies stay moist, which is an old baker’s trick that really works. Replace the bread slice every couple of days if you are storing a big batch.

Do not store the cookies in the fridge, because the cold dries them out and makes the white chocolate drizzle go dull. If your kitchen is very warm, keep the container in a cool pantry instead. Layer the cookies between sheets of parchment paper so the drizzle does not stick to the cookie above it, and keep the container away from strong smells.

15. Freezing the Dough

Matcha cookie dough freezes beautifully, and these cookies are perfect for making ahead. Roll the dough into a disc, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze it for up to three months. When you want fresh cookies, thaw the dough in the fridge overnight, roll it out, cut the shapes, and bake them as usual.

You can also freeze the cut shapes on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer them to a freezer bag. Bake them straight from frozen with two extra minutes in the oven, and decorate them once they are completely cool. This is the best way to have fresh cookies on demand all through December — bake a small batch for unexpected guests, a batch for the neighbors, and a batch for yourself, all from the same freezer bag.

16. Cookie Exchange Tips

These cookies are made for cookie exchanges, because they travel well, they look beautiful, and everyone loves them. Bake them the day before the exchange so they are fresh, and pack them in a single layer in a sturdy tin lined with parchment paper. Bring the recipe printed on a card, because at least three people will ask for it.

Make your cookies stand out by cutting them into tree shapes and decorating them with white chocolate drizzle and gold stars — the green trees look stunning on a crowded cookie tray. If the exchange has a theme, these fit the elegant Christmas theme perfectly. Bring a few extra, because the host always sneaks one before the exchange even starts.

17. Gift Packaging Ideas

A bag of these cookies makes a wonderful homemade gift, and the packaging is half the fun. Stack six cookies in a clear cellophane bag, tie it with gold ribbon, and add a small tin of matcha powder and a handwritten recipe card. The green cookies show through the bag, and the gold ribbon does all the decorating for you.

For a fancier gift, layer the cookies in a decorative white tin with parchment paper between the layers, and tuck a small whisk and a tin of matcha on top for a complete matcha gift set. A cookie tin full of matcha christmas cookies is the kind of gift that makes neighbors, teachers, and coworkers feel truly appreciated. It costs very little to make, but it feels like a luxury.

18. Pairing With Green Tea

These cookies were made to be served with a cup of green tea. The earthy matcha cookie and the warm, grassy tea are a perfect match — the cookie soaks up just enough tea to be delicious without falling apart, and the flavors echo each other beautifully. Serve them together on a quiet December afternoon for the ultimate cozy treat.

They also pair beautifully with coffee and hot cocoa. The matcha loves the warmth of vanilla, so a vanilla latte is a natural match. For a holiday dessert table, serve the cookies alongside green tea, hot cocoa, and a pot of coffee, and let guests help themselves to whatever they like best.

19. Matcha Cookies for a Tea Party

These cookies are the centerpiece of any Christmas tea party. Set them out on a white platter with a teapot, delicate cups, and a few gold ornaments, and the whole table will look like it came straight from a fancy tearoom. Add a small bowl of matcha powder and a bamboo whisk as decoration, and the party will be unforgettable.

For a children’s tea party, set up a cookie decorating station where each child gets a plain green tree-shaped cookie and a bowl of white chocolate drizzle and gold sprinkles to decorate it. For an adult party, serve the cookies with a pot of green tea and a plate of shortbread. The cookies are the star, but the theme is what makes the party memorable.

20. Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most common mistake with these cookies is using too much matcha powder. Two to three tablespoons is plenty for a full batch, and more than that makes the cookies bitter and grassy instead of delicately earthy. Measure the matcha carefully, and taste the dough before you add more. The second most common mistake is overbaking them — the centers should look soft when they come out of the oven, and the cookies should stay green, not brown.

The third mistake is not sifting the matcha powder, which leaves green clumps in the finished cookies. Always sift the matcha with the flour before adding it to the wet ingredients. The fourth mistake is decorating the cookies while they are still warm, which melts the white chocolate drizzle. Wait until the cookies are completely cool, and work in small batches so the chocolate sets properly.

21. Variations to Try

Once you master the basic recipe, try some fun variations. Add a half cup of white chocolate chips to the dough for a creamy sweetness that pairs beautifully with the matcha. Or dip the cooled cookies halfway in melted white chocolate and sprinkle them with matcha powder for a dramatic, two-tone finish.

For a sandwich version, spread white chocolate ganache between two thin matcha cookies. You can also add a teaspoon of lemon zest to the dough for a bright, citrusy note that lifts the earthy matcha flavor. The variations are endless, and every one of them is delicious.

22. Why These Belong on Your Christmas Table

Every Christmas table needs a cookie that looks elegant, and this is that cookie. The vibrant green color, the white chocolate drizzle, and the gold sprinkles are the look of a sophisticated holiday, and the soft, buttery texture is the kind of thing people remember. They are easy enough for a beginner to bake, impressive enough for a cookie exchange, and delicious enough that nobody will leave them uneaten.

They are also the kind of cookie that starts traditions. Bake them once, and your family will ask for them every December. Write the recipe on a card, tuck it in your recipe box, and make a batch every year — some recipes are worth keeping forever, and this is one of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of matcha should I use?

Use culinary-grade matcha powder, which is made for baking and cooking. Ceremonial-grade matcha is expensive and meant for drinking straight. Culinary matcha has a stronger flavor that holds up beautifully in baked goods, and it is much more affordable.

Will the cookies taste like green tea?

Yes, gently. The flavor is earthy, slightly sweet, and delicate — like a sugar cookie with a green tea finish. It is sophisticated enough for adults and mild enough for children. If you want a stronger flavor, add a half tablespoon more matcha powder.

Can I use food coloring instead of matcha?

You could, but the cookies would not taste like matcha at all. The matcha powder is what gives these cookies both their green color and their flavor. If you want a green cookie without matcha flavor, make grinch crinkle cookies instead.

How do I keep the green color bright?

Use fresh, bright green matcha powder, sift it with the flour, and do not overbake the cookies. Pull them out while the centers still look soft, and store them away from light, because matcha fades when exposed to air and light.

Can I make these cookies ahead of time?

Yes. The baked cookies keep for a week in an airtight container, and the raw dough freezes for up to three months. Decorate the cookies the day you serve them so the white chocolate stays glossy.

How do I keep the cookies soft for days?

Store them in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The bread dries out while the cookies stay moist. Replace the bread every couple of days, and do not store the cookies in the fridge.

Conclusion

Matcha christmas cookies are everything a Christmas cookie should be: elegant, buttery, and full of gentle green tea flavor in every bite. The vibrant green color, the white chocolate drizzle, and the gold sprinkles come together in a cookie that is easy to bake and impossible to forget. And remember — this is the matcha version, not the green crinkle cookie. Both are beautiful green holiday cookies, but this one is the delicate, earthy, naturally green cookie your family will ask for again and again.

This holiday season, make a batch for your family, a batch for your neighbors, and a batch for the cookie exchange. Brew a pot of green tea, set out the cookies, and pin this recipe for your next baking day. Share it with someone who loves Christmas cookies, and enjoy the most elegant cookie of the season.

More holiday cookie inspiration from Bedinspo:

• Sprinkle Embroidery Christmas Cookies — beautifully decorated Christmas cookies with piped sprinkle embroidery.
• Italian Fig Cookies — traditional fig-filled cookies with a sweet, spiced filling.
• Toasted Pecan Snowball Cookies — buttery pecan cookies rolled in powdered sugar.
• Eggnog Snickerdoodles — soft snickerdoodles flavored with creamy eggnog and nutmeg.