Matcha Brownies

This Green Tea Matcha brownies recipe is the perfect combination of thick, fudge, and gooey inside and crinkly, crispy top with the best Japanese green tea taste. Absolutely out of this world, it is the perfect dessert for matcha lovers!

Jump to:

• 📖  How the brownies should look like
• 🍵 What is matcha
• 🌟 Why this is the best recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• 🎓 Expert tips
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🇯🇵 More Japanese dessert recipes
• 🍫 More Brownie recipes
• Chewy Matcha Brownies

📖  How the brownies should look like

1. Crinkly top – During baking a crinkly skin should form on top of the brownies that is crispy and makes the brownies brownies and not a cake. Please note that if you are changing the recipe eg. reducing sugar, you won´t get the iconic crinkly top
2. Dense texture – Brownies should rise only a tiny bit due to the eggs however they should not rise like a sponge cake, in fact, they should stay rather dense. Having said that, dense does not mean flat. If you have been experiencing “flat” brownies before, probably you either have to increase the quantity of the brownie batter or choose a smaller pan
3. Fudge center – Brownies should have a fudge, gooey texture. There is nothing worse than over-baked brownies with crumbly texture! I suggest rather underbaking than overbaking the brownies. Besides over baking, reducing the fat content (butter) also results in cake texture as opposed to gooey
4. Intense matcha green tea taste – These fudgy matcha brownies should have a deep matcha flavor and color that is achieved by using high-quality, culinary grade matcha powder

🍵 What is matcha

Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. It is extremely popular in Japan and getting more and more well known all around the world in recent years in formats of tea, latte, mochi, cakes, ice cream, and of course the Japanese tiramisu. Matcha offers plenty of health benefits and contains a concentrated amount of antioxidants, it is the best kind of tea to start the day in my opinion.

If you tried matcha before and found it bitter, next time go for higher quality, it should not be bitter at all. The highest quality matcha used for traditional tea ceremonies is having a so-called ceremonial grade. For baking, you do not really need the highest grade matcha but avoid supermarket versions. Instead, search for organic, pure matcha powder ideally from Japan. If unsure about the origin and quality, just go for "ceremonial-grade matcha" from Uji (a region in Japan), you can`t go wrong with that. It is obviously way more expensive than normal supermarket tea however absolutely incomparable and also lasts forever since you will only need a small amount. The finest quality matcha gives a beautiful bright green color and wonderful taste to your desserts!

I bought my quality matcha powder in Japan but you can search for matcha tea on Amazon and choese one according to the reviews and your budget.

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

1. It is extremely easy – This easy Matcha Green tea brownies recipe is totally doable from scratch, no need for box mix. Both the mixing process of the brownie batter as well as the baking process are very simple even if you are a beginner in the kitchen
2. It is super quick – Making these brownies is not just easy but quick as well, the recipe comes together in 10-15 minutes.
3. It is super delicious – Imagine the intense green taste that is very well balanced with some salt... It is gooey, fudgy, and chewy at the same time. You will love it!
4. No special equipment is needed – All you need is a brownie tin that you probably already have at home and you are good to go!
5. It is super versatile – This Matcha Brownie recipe can be made using different chocolates eg. you can substitute white chocolate with dark chocolate, or you can even load the brownies with raspberries! Feel free to experiment!

📝 Ingredient notes

1. Butter: Use always unsalted butter as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. In this recipe, the butter will need to be melted so no need to bring it to room temp as we usually state in many other recipes
2. Sugar: For the matcha brownie I use a combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar. If you had baked my recipes before you probably realized that usually, I don´t use a huge amount of sugar, however in the case of brownies, sugar is super important and has a huge impact on the brownies' texture and the iconic crackly top. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my sugar guide
3. Egg: Room temperature as always
4. Flour: I use simple AP (all purpose) flour. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my flour guide
5. No baking powder: Having no chemical leaveners in the recipe (like baking powder) will ensure a fudge, gooey brownie!
6. Matcha: Japanese green tea powder, see my notes above. Please avoid cheap supermarket matcha powder that tastes bitter and has no color whatsoever. Remember, the quality of the matcha will drive the color as well as the taste of your brownies. Ceremonial grade matcha should taste pleasant, smooth, and almost nutty and its color should be very bright green that can beautifully color your green tea brownie. The quantity stated in the recipe is highly dependent on the quality of your matcha, you might need to use slightly less or more
7. Chocolate chips: Make sure you use high-quality white chocolate that has a pleasant taste! In this recipe, I am using Callebaut White Chocolate (callets). This is high-quality chocolate (yet affordable) that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter than the average supermarket chocolate. I am using white chocolate chips twice in the recipe, half will go into the brownie batter in a melted format, the other half will go into the mixture just before baking

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. How to melt chocolate without burning it

Have you ever wasted chocolate due to incorrectly melting it and burning it? Never again!

For making any brownies, you usually need to melt the chocolate. A double boiler is a common method for melting chocolate without burning it however with white chocolate, the risk of chocolate breaking is higher.

In this matcha brownie recipe, I suggest melting the butter in the microwave, in the meantime semi-melt white chocolate as well separately, again in the microwave - strictly stirring every 30 seconds. Place both of them into plastic containers as it is much easier to burn them in a glass container.

Once butter is melted, pour it over the semi-melted white chocolate and stir throughout until fully incorporated.

Another way is to melt the butter and white chocolate together over double boiler.

💡 Top Tip: Aim to use good quality white chocolate with high cocoa content both in terms of texture also taste point of view. Low-quality chocolate might already break at the melting stage and becomes greasy

2. Step-by-step process

Making Matcha brownies chewy and fudgy is not difficult but there are a couple of key steps you have to get right to achieve the right texture.

1. Melt butter and semi-melt white chocolate in the microwave
2. Pour melted, hot butter over chocolate and stir until fully combined
3. In another bowl whisk together the eggs with sugar with the help of an Electric hand mixer until pale this might take 5-7 minutes
4. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg-sugar mixture, mix well with a Rubber spatula. Do not use a mixer at this point
5. Sift in dry ingredients; flour, salt, and matcha powder together. Sifting is necessary to avoid lumps later in the brownie mixture
6. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Make sure you fold it with a Rubber spatula only until the mixture comes together, literally 30 seconds
7. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared 7 inch /18 cm square brownie pan , then place the remaining white chocolate chips on top, then gently swirl them into the brownie batter

💡 Top Tip: Do not use a mixer and do not over mix the brownie batter. Over mixing ingredients would result in incorporating too much air and gluten into the mixture in which case the brownie might get a crumbly, cake-like texture

3. How to bake

Baking these Matcha Brownies is a super delicate matter, the most important part of this recipe!

First of all, never bake any dessert without properly pre-heating your oven first, so start with that. The brownie will be baked at 180 C / 356 F (no fan). Preheat the oven +20C / 68F as the oven temp drops when you open the door. Always use Digital oven thermometer to avoid over-baked crumbly or under-baked desserts.

Each oven is different so you might need to adjust the time slightly but in my oven, I bake the brownie for 35 minutes. It is ready when the edge looks sort of baked, and the middle slightly gooey but not raw. Usually, recipes state "bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean", however, this is totally not the case for making brownies. The toothpick should be gooey, and if it is clean, it means you sadly overbaked your dessert.

Please note that while the brownie inside will stay beautiful green, the brownie top will be naturally browning somewhat. You can reduce the browning by baking the brownie at lower heat for longer and/or baking it at the lower end of the oven.

Let the brownies cool in the 7 inch /18 cm square brownie pan, then carefully cut it into 9 squares.

💡 Top Tip: Do not take the brownie out of the baking pan while it is still hot, as it will further set as it cools. Also do not attempt to cut it while it is hot as it will be way too sticky.

4. How to get crackly crunchy top on brownies

Everyone is crazy about crackly brownie surfaces, let me tell you that I was not very good with that for a long time, due to I always tried to bake brownies with less sugar than I should. Please do not change this recipe, it is perfect with the right amount of sugar to give you that lovely crackly surface. Reducing sugar will have an impact on the overall texture of the brownie as well as the crackly top, of course, you are free to do that for health reasons, but expect that the texture will change.

If worried about the sweetness of this brownie, instead of reducing sugar, make sure you use high-quality white chocolate that will offset the sweetness of the sugar and do not forget the salt. Brown sugar also brings beautiful molasses flavor to matcha brownies besides the sweetness so make sure you do not skip that.

💡 Top Tip: If, for some reason, the crackly surface would not develop on your brownies, bang the tray on the kitchen counter a few times (5-10 minutes before the baking time ends), that will encourage cracks to form on top

5. How to get gooey center on brownies

For gooey brownies, first of all, you need a brownie recipe that has the right ratio of ingredients eg. high enough fat content (butter) vs flour, good news is that this easy Japanese green tea brownies recipe perfectly delivers on that!

Secondly, you must measure your ingredients with a digital scale, a little bit too much of this, not enough of that can majorly change this recipe eg. adding a little bit too much flour might ruin the gooey center you strive for.

Thirdly, do not over-bake the brownies! In fact, it is like making cookies, you have to take them out of the oven when they do not look properly baked yet... It is better to under bake your brownies than to over-bake them.

💡 Top Tip: The brownie is ready when the edge looks baked and the middle looks gooey but not raw. The brownie will further set as it cools and it will even further dry for the next day.

🥣 Equipment notes

What baking pan is the best to make these Matcha brownies? Honestly almost any pan can be used however my preference is a 7 inch /18 cm square brownie pan that makes 9 wonderful large brownie slices! What is a more important topic is how you prepare your pan before baking!

Remember, the brownie will be gooey, fudge so you want to make sure that you can remove it from the pan in one piece without breaking it. How to prepare the 7-inch pan before baking? With the help of a pastry brush (or your fingers), brush the inside of the cake pan with a very tiny bit of oil or melted butter, then use parchment paper on the bottom and side as well. The oil is only needed for the parchment to stick to the pan. What I love about this pan preparation is that even though this Brownies recipe is super fudge, with the help of the parchment paper it is incredibly easy to remove the baked dessert from the pan, it won´t stick to it whatsoever.

🎓 Expert tips

1. While making any brownie, avoid using a mixer to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet as that would result in too cakey texture
2. Your matcha brownie will be as delicious as the matcha you are using. Avoid cheap supermarket matcha powder in baking
3. For the best fudge brownie experience, not over bake your brownie and consider using an over thermometer to be able to measure the oven temp correctly
4. An inexpensive Rubber spatula is super useful whenever "fold" is mentioned in the recipe. With the help of your spatula, you will be able to fold the ingredients properly
5. Feel free to experiment with flavor pairings eg. raspberries would go really well with the matcha brownie (consider longer baking time if using fresh and especially frozen fruit)
6. If you like colorful Asian recipes, why not try this wonderful colorful Ube cake from Jolina?

❓ Recipe FAQs

🇯🇵 More Japanese dessert recipes

🍫 More Brownie recipes