Japanese · Dessert

Matcha Cake Cookies

Image 1
Tested by
Valentiful
Cooked and tested by the Valentiful team

Curious about matcha? These Matcha Cake Cookies are the perfect introduction! Their soft, chewy texture and subtle sweetness, balanced by creamy richness, made them a top seller at Bento Picnic—and now you can recreate them at home!

This recipe uses a simple gluten-free cake mix as the base, making it quick, easy, and irresistibly good. The combination of whipped cream cheese and matcha tea powder gives these cookies their tender richness, perfectly balanced sweetness, and vibrant green hue that makes them a show-stopping addition to any dessert spread.

Why This Recipe Works: Using cake mix as a base takes the guesswork out of baking, especially for gluten-free baking. Instead of stocking your pantry with multiple specialty flours and experimenting to find the perfect ratios, the cake mix does all the heavy lifting for you.

Tastes
Colors
Techniques
DietaryGluten-Free · Soy-Free · Nut-Free · Allium-Free · Sesame-Free · Vegetarian
Yield20 Cookies
Serves20 (1 Cookie)
TimeActive 30m · Inactive 1h · Total 1h 45m

Ingredients

1 lb Yellow Cake Mixgluten-free if desired
8 oz Cream Cheesesoftened
4 oz Buttersoftened
1 Large Egg
Powdered Sugarfor dusting

Sourcing Tips

Look for organic matcha powder from Japanese tea farms. The quality makes a huge difference!

Instructions

Whisk matcha powder and cake mix in a large bowl. Set aside.
Blend cream cheese, butter, egg and vanilla in another bowl.
PRO TIP: A stand mixer or food processor works great for this!
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until a thick dough forms.
Cover dough and refrigerate for about an hour, or until firm.
Chilling is Key: Don’t skip the chilling step! It helps the dough firm up, so the cookies hold their shape while baking.
Preheat oven to 300 °F and line baking sheets with parchment.
Scoop the dough into 1-ounce portions (about a heaping tablespoon each) and dust the tops with powdered sugar.
Dust the tops of each cookie with powdered sugar.
Bake for 12-16 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges.
Cool the cookies on a wire rack before storing them in an airtight container.
Finished cooking?

Serving & Keeping

Make ahead: You can freeze portioned scoops of dough on a parchment-lined tray. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe container or ziploc bag.