Matcha Crinkle Cookies

So excited my favorite holiday is coming up! I especially love the cold weather, because I can layer and layer and layer clothing and you will never see how much weight I'll be gaining from all the Christmas treats :P. I can't tell if it's the cold weather that makes me so hungry, or I just get enticed by all the creative spicy and chocolate-y names people come up for xmas treats or how pretty they look.

The only thing I don't like about the holidays is that my birthday falls a few days after. Which means I only get ONE present for both christmas and my birthday :( I think I've been complaining about this every year since I was born (yes really, right out of the womb). Also, back in the days, I had to share a birthday with my twin, so my six year old self was obvi not too happy with only half the attention :P. Now that I'm super old and don't have parties with clowns and balloons like I used to, I'm totally cool with it (maybe, maybe not haha).

Anyway, finally time to get started on baking holiday cookies myself! It's been a while since I've added something to my matcha recipe list, so I added matcha to one of my fave chocolate crinkle cookies! They're really chewy and fudge-y and not tooth-achingly sweet. They keep pretty well in a sealed container and make beautiful presents for cookie-swapping.

Matcha Crinkle Cookies

adapted from bettycrocker
makes 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2-3 oz white chocolate chips (~about 1/4 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar (minus about 2 tbsps)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, at room temp
1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp matcha powder (using Panatea culinary grade matcha)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar (about 1/2 cup)

1. In a mixing bowl or large bowl, mix flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt.
2. In a medium sized boil, melt chocolate chips over hot water. I have a lot of trouble melting white chocolate in a microwave. I don't know why it doesn't melt as easily as real chocolate. I guess fake chocolate is just annoying like that! So I place a medium boil over a small pot with water and melt it slowly like that. Let it cool for a bit, then add sugar, oil, vanilla and beat in the eggs
3. Stir in white chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix until well incorporated. But don't over-beat like crazy :P. Your batter may seem pretty goopy and you will even question if it is really a cookie batter and not a semi-cake batter. But trust me, it will stiffen in the fridge! Cover and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
4. Line baking pan with a silicone mat or baking paper
5. Prepare a shallow bowl with powdered sugar. Roll about 2tsp of dough into a ball with your palms and drop into powdered sugar. Roll around powdered sugar to coat fully. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. These will really spread.
6. Place pan in the fridge for a bit while you preheat the oven to 350F. Once the oven is ready, bake for 11-14mins or until the edges barely get a little golden. Immediately remove the cookies from the pan. I simply slid my silicon mat off the pan and onto a wire rack.