Matcha Checkerboard Cookies (vegan, gluten free)
Jul 01, 2022 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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These adorable Matcha Checkerboard Cookies are vegan, gluten-free and make the perfect sweet, buttery and crumbly bite to satisfy your sweet tooth.
If you’re looking for a cookie that looks as good as it tastes, you’re going to love these pretty little checkerboard cookies. They’re flavored with matcha and vanilla so they taste like a matcha latte! But they’re vegan and gluten-free, so everyone can enjoy. Get ready for your new favorite cookie.
Ingredients for Vegan Matcha Latte Cookies
Here’s what you need for these matcha checkerboard cookies:
- Gluten-free flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Arrowroot starch. You can also use cornstarch.
- Baking powder. This helps lighten your cookies a bit.
- Vegan butter. Use unsalted vegan butter. And make sure it’s the stick, not the spread. Otherwise, the spread-style butter will melt too quickly and your cookies may flatten completely.
- Matcha. I highly recommend using ceremonial grade matcha powder for the absolute best results in color and flavor.
- Sugar. Finally, I use granulated sugar to sweeten these buttery cookies. This preserves the bright matcha color better and makes the cookie dough easier to work with.
A Note about Ingredient Substitutions
As with most vegan and gluten-free baking recipes, making any ingredient substitutions will yield different results!! That includes using another brand of gluten-free flour or swapping stick butter for spread-style butter. So be warned!
However, if you don’t like matcha, there is one swap you can make in this checkerboard cookie recipe. Instead of matcha, use instant espresso or cocoa powder.
Tips for Making Matcha Checkerboard Cookies
While you make these matcha butter cookies, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- It’s important to chill the dough. For best results, make these cookies in a cold space so the dough stays easy to work with.
- Also, if the dough becomes too soft as you work with it, pop it back into the fridge to firm up.
- Finally, be careful not to over-bake. The cookies will continue to bake after you remove them from the oven, so once they look set and are starting to turn golden on the edges, pull them from the heat.
How to Serve Matcha Checkerboard Cookies
These cute cookies make a great sweet snack for any time of day. They’re buttery, crunchy, and delicious with coffee or tea. To really embrace your matcha moment, serve them alongside Matcha at Home.
More Recipes with Matcha
- Strawberry Matcha Sugar Cookies (vegan, gluten free, oil free)
- Matcha Butter Mochi Cake (vegan, no eggs)
- Matcha Latte Gummy Bears (vegan, gluten free)
If you make these matcha checkerboard cookies, be sure to tell me what you think with a comment below!
Matcha Checkerboard Cookies (vegan, gluten free)
Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp gluten free flour roughly 240g
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup 1 stick (113g) unsalted vegan butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tsp unsweetened milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- sanding sugar optional
Instructions
- Preparing the dough
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt until evenly combined.
- In a separate bowl, beat softened vegan butter and sugar until creamy. You can use a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer. Then add vanilla, milk and beat again until smooth.
- Add flour to the butter mixture in 1/2 cup increments until all the flour has been added. The dough should be soft but workable.
- Remove half of the dough mixture and set aside. To the remaining dough, mix in matcha powder until smooth.
- Shaping the dough
- Form each ball of dough into a rectangular log, roughly 2" tall x 6" long and use your hands to make sure both are are close in size as possible. If you'd like, you can clean up the edges using a sharp knife, or use a pastry cutter to help flatten the edges. Place them on a baking sheet, cover with food wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- After chilling, use a sharp knife to slice the dough rectangles into 9 kong strips each. First, start by slicing the dough into 3 parts, lengthwise, then turn onto its side and cut into thirds again. You will end up with 9 strips of plain dough and 9 strips of matcha dough.
- Next, re-assemble your rectangles by alternating matcha and vanilla dough strips. (Example: bottom layer should be made with matcha, vanilla matcha followed by a middle layer of vanilla, matcha, vanilla and a final top layer of matcha, vanilla and matcha). See photos for more reference.
- Press your mix and match logs together and refrigerate again for about 30 minutes to firm up.
- To bake
- Once ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F.
- Slice the dough short-wise into nice 1/4" slabs. You should have a beautiful checkered pattern. Space out evenly on a nonstick baking mat and bake for 11-12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
