Days are meant to slip into one another and these Matcha Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies are a great dessert, balanced by the earthy roasted flavors of matcha, brown butter, and black sesame.
Gokayama, Toyama Prefecture
Moon reflections balance off the white snow. To the eye, the icy ground is a sleek sheen of mirrors. There should be a poem composed. But nothing comes to mind.
It is a very January state of things.
Just like the silk floss comforters, which are kept in the cupboard, snow lays thick, folding onto itself in deep, billowed layers. The roofs of gassho zukuri farm houses are steep triangular summits, allowing snow to easily shed from the top. In a region known for its snowfall, it’s never too early for accumulation.
As if connected by a painter’s continuous brush stroke in black ink, the distinct peaked roofs, backlit by the minimal winter daylight, look like miniature mountain ranges. A world of silhouettes and shadows.
Back in the room of the ryokan the stain up above still catches the eye. It always seems darker each morning, as if the Tenjyouname, a yokai spirit, spent a productive night licking the ceiling. Evenings pass defrosting legs under kotatsu, face steaming into pots of nabe. Walks down the street are never too long. You watch the same woman drag her ancient blind Chihuahua, which pees into the banks of shoveled snow. Peated whiskey accompanies a read of the daily news.
It may not be a thick division, the world outside still buzzes with too many things. Yet these days are different. In heavy nights, you sit. The light of not-so-ambient desk lamp, hunches its brightness onto the floor.
Feelings here are hard to define, as if they too lay tangled in the dark recesses of January, packed into sentences of politeness and silence. Inspiration is not forthcoming. Where words of eloquent prose should flow, your mind drifts back to the Chihuahua and its pee. You sigh, and trudge on in thought.
Days like this require fortifications.
Matcha Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies
Chewy, thick, these Matcha Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies are an equilibrium of sweet and earthy. It is like a roasted cup of Genmaicha tea in dessert form. Brown butter and black sesame round out the earthy notes of matcha without overwhelming the palate. Smooth and never overly sweet the buttercream is a creamy compliment to the thick matcha cookie.
Baking Talk:
Browning the butter is an important factor for these earthy toasted flavors. Browned butter can be made ahead, but make sure it is very soft when using it in the recipe.
The dough will feel a little greasy to work with but don’t be concerned. Allowing the dough to set up in the refrigerator prevents the dough from spreading in the oven.
Matcha Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
For the Matcha Brown Butter Sesame Cookies
- 2 ¼ cups bread flour 270g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 300g
- ⅓ cup oil 66g
- 6 teaspoons butter, melted 18g
- 2 tablespoons shortening 11.5g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder
- 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoons milk room temperature
Brown Butter Matcha Frosting
- 12 tablespoons butter browned, still melted but cooled 170g*after browning butter it will be less
- 12 tablespoons butter, very soft 170g
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar 454g
- 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon matcha powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
To make the Matcha Brown Butter Cookies
- Whisk flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat sugar, oil, butter and shortening for 3 minutes on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently. Decrease speed to low, adding the vanilla, eggs, and matcha, again scraping the bowl. Gradually incorporate in dry mixture, followed by the black sesame seeds.
- Using an ice cream scoop, portion out the dough, placing it onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Flatten the scoops of dough into a hockey puck like disk. Let cookie dough chill for 1 to 2 hours.
- Arrange rack into center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange cookies so there is a 2 to 3 inch space between each cookie. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, 7 to 9 minutes. The cookies will look raw in the middle but start to look gold on the bottom edges. Let cookies cool on rack for 5 minutes, before transferring. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
To make the Brown Butter Matcha Frosting
- In the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat brown butter and butter until completely blended into a uniform texture, about 3 to 4 minutes on medium speed. Lower mixer speed to low, gradually adding powdered sugar, matcha, vanilla, and salt. Raise speed only to medium to incorporate smoothly. You don't want air bubbles so don't raise speed too high.
To assemble the Matcha Brown Butter Sandwich Cookies
- Spread frosting onto cookies pressing together to spread frosting. Ideally refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the sandwich cookies together.