How to make vegan raw matcha cookies
We love recipes that take us out of our comfort zone, and give us a gentle nudge towards trying our hands at something that’s a little unfamiliar - that’s what being interested in food is all about.
If you’re hoping to spend the remaining time we’ve got left in lockdown pushing your culinary boundaries (both in terms of the things you’ve tasted and your baking abilities), these cookies will certainly tick a few boxes.
Matcha made its way into the UK food scene a few years back and, there’s no doubt about it, it’s here to stay. It originally became popular thanks to the curiosity evoked by its rather dazzling, certainly unique, green colour.
Its flavour profile is certainly a bold distinctive one, too (love it or hate it, there’s no mistaking matcha). It is a super fine, bright green powder which plays an integral part of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, going as far back as the 12th century. It is made by carefully grinding green tea leaves so that they form a very fine powder. To make tea with this matcha powder, all you need to do is whisk it with boiling water.
But, although it has largely stuck with its original purpose of flavouring delicious traditional tea for centuries, we’re increasingly beginning to realise the fantastic versatility of matcha. You can try it in either hot or cold drinks, whether that be in tea or as a flavour addition to boost smoothies, lattes or even milkshakes. Plus, you can add it to boost the flavour of your main meals, and sweet bakes like cakes, macarons, brownies, biscuits and cookies, to add a distinct yet natural flavour to amp up your grub.
It also boasts a tonne of amazing health properties, such as being rich in antioxidants, theanine (so helps to relax your stress levels), as well as properties which aid digestion and even help sharpen your thinking.
These cookies are also (we’re ticking all the food trend boxes here) completely unbaked. Raw sweet treats, in particular, have seen a huge spike in popularity lately. You can find raw recipes for all kinds of alternative sweet bakes all over social media.
Raw essentially means uncooked and unprocessed food, and it stems from the raw foodism movement (i.e. the idea of the ‘raw food diet’). Food that classes as ‘raw’ has not been refined, canned, chemically processed in any way, and it hasn’t been cooked. It’s been a big trend amongst dieters lately, and has a pretty impressive foodie following.
Along with all these health benefits, these cookies are vegan and gluten-free too. So they’re the perfect go-to for any friends or relatives with food intolerance. There’s no way you’d ever guess that they’re vegan. What’s more, by replacing your standard butter, sugar and flour with clever vegan alternatives, these cookies are way healthier than their regular counterparts.
So, who’s feeling a little experimental? In this recipe, we’ve combined two big hitters in the trends of the foodie world - raw vegan goods, and lockdown baking.
This recipe is an easy, quick, super simple and rather foolproof way for you to have a go at some home baking (possibly with the little ones, if they’re interested in sophisticated grown-up cookies, so long as they’re not put off by green food!), while still sticking to that aim of trying to make the most out of lockdown by making something new.
What we love about this recipe is the way that it encourages us to try out all of these new flavours, ingredients and baking techniques. However, it keeps this venture into the unknown simple, with delicious biccies that are easy to achieve absolutely perfectly at home.
Vegan raw matcha cookies
Ingredients:
- Almond flour, 1 tbsp
- Ashwagandha powder, ½ tsp (optional)
- Cashew butter, 2 tsp (if you’d like to use a nut-free version, we’d recommend substituting this with sunflower seed butter)
- Coconut Flour, 2 tbsp
- Keto maple syrup or agave syrup, 1 tbsp
- Milk, 1 tbsp (could be dairy alternative milk, whatever you prefer)
- Monk fruit sugar, 1 ½ tbsp (or any granulated sweetener of your choice)
- Matcha powder, 1 ½ tsp
- Vegan chocolate chips, 1-2 tsp
Method:
1. Once you’ve sourced the ingredients, it’s pretty easy from here on out. Just add all of the ingredients to a small mixing bowl, then stir them together until the mixture is fully combined.
2. On a tray or in a big Tupperware box, mould the dough into flat, round cookie shapes. Then leave them to set in the freezer for at least half an hour. Then tuck in when you’re ready. (We recommend storing these in the fridge, assuming you don’t gobble them up in one go).
What’s amazing about this recipe is its nutritional info. If you’re feeling like you may have overindulged during lockdown (us too, there’s no shame in it) then these cookies are the perfect way to satisfy your after-dinner craving for something sweet, without opting for something super calorie-dense. In one big cookie, there are roughly only about 165 calories. When you compare this to the fact that you can go well past the 200 (and even be pushing the 300) calorie mark in some chocolate bar varieties, you’re bound to feel good by choosing these instead.
Think you might stick with baking at home even when lockdown’s over? It’s been great taking a bit of me-time and dedicating a few afternoons to learning a new craft. For sure, this certainly won’t be the last time you catch us making our bakes green. We’ve had an awful lot of fun experimenting in the kitchen and trying out all of these delicious innovative recipes.
Lockdown has had its plus points, especially if you’ve found your new favourite hobby in the activity that you’d always hoped to try out at some point. So if you’re planning on spending more time whipping up clever creations in the kitchen, we’d recommend that you have a little nosy at our online shop, to see how Smarter’s latest tech can upgrade your kitchen.
All of our products are designed to provide your kitchen with smart technology that makes cooking an altogether more pleasurable experience. Right now, we’re even offering free UK and EU delivery with a rapid 72-hour turnaround delivery service, so you can have your new favourite gadgets up and running in no time. Just promise you’ll save one of those cookies for us!