Matcha Brownies

I absolutely adore all things matcha. It's a pity KW doesn't share my love, which woefully restricts my intake. On the bright side, my boys, especially Russell, loves matcha too. One fine day, I had this wild idea to make a matcha brownie; brownies and blondies have been done to death, while I have never come across a matcha greenie. There weren't that many recipes online and I eventually settled on Yuki's Matcha Green Tea Brownies as I found the lush emerald green tea to be absolutely captivating.

While the recipe is simple, the baking proved to be finicky. I guess brownies are one of those things that can go from oozy gloriousness to overcooked punks in minutes. I only managed to get things sort-of right on my third try. Proof of this recipe though is desite being slightly overbaked on the first couple of tries, the cake brownies won rave reviews from unlikely tasters - Russell's classmates. Now kids can be brutally honest and don't feel the need to hide their true feelings, so I was really surprised when Russell came back with an empty lunchbox. 

A few things to note:

The quality of your matcha powder matters. I tried a couple of brands - Chikiriya Chakoshi-Tsuki Uji Matcha Powder and Green Pot Tea Matcha Green Tea Powder, and I found the former to be superior in terms of flavour.

The oreos were a playful throw in but it worked beautifully with the intense bitterness of the matcha.

Despite the white chocolate chips and sugar content, this was surprisingly not too sweet. In fact, if you are a matcha lightweight, I would advise to reduce the matcha powder by a tablespoon. 

Here are the recipe, adapted from Yuki's Matcha Green Tea Brownies.

Ingredients 

• 80 g (about 6 tbsp) unsalted butter 
• 1 cup white chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 4 eggs 
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour 
• 4 tbsp matcha green tea powder 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 6-8 oreos, roughly chopped up or broken down

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C (340F) - again, I find my oven to be hotter than average so I baked them at 160C on my third try. Place the parchment paper in a 16cm×16cm (6.3inch×6.3inch) pan. 
2. Shift flour, green tea, and baking powder together.
3. Microwave the butter and shredded white chocolate until it melts. Add sugar and mix.
4. Add the eggs to mixture one at a time.
5. Combine all the dry ingredients with a spatula. 
6. Fold in oreos 
7. Pour the mixture into the pan.
8. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.
9. Serve on its own or with vanilla ice cream, which I'm sure would be absolutely glorious.