These soft and chewy hojicha cookies with white chocolate chunks are full of roasted green tea flavour! They're the perfect balance of sweet and earthy flavours with a sprinkle of flaky salt on top.
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Hojicha cookies are a delicious tea-infused twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie. The roasted green tea adds a nutty tea flavor to this buttery cookie dough. The cookies are studded with white chocolate chunks, which goes perfectly with the deep and bold flavour of the cookies.
Whether you love hojicha as a drink or you just love a good chocolate chunk cookie, this recipe will be a hit!
What is hojicha?
Hojicha is a roasted Japanese green tea with a nutty, toasty, and caramelized flavour and brown colour. The roasting process reduces the amount of caffeine in the tea so hojicha is a great mild tea to enjoy in the evening.
Hojicha powderย is made by grinding hojicha tea leaves into a fine powder. This powder acts in a similar way to matcha powder in that it dissolves in water and is a more concentrated form of its tea leaf counterpart. Hojicha powder is perfect to use in baked goods and desserts to infuse them with a strong tea flavour.
Why you'll love this recipe
- This recipe is so quick and easy to make! No need to chill the cookie dough.
- These hojicha cookies are so delicious! They're sweet but with a strong hojicha flavour to ground them.
- These cookies are thick, soft, and chewy in the middle.
- You can make different variations by changing the mix-ins. Try dark chocolate or chopped nuts instead of white chocolate.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Hojicha powder - You can buy hojicha powder from most places that also sell matcha powder. I buy mine online fromย Hojicha Co.ย Be sure to buy a finely ground hojichaย powder, not hojicha tea leaves. Hojicha powder has a more concentrated flavour and colour which is ideal for making cookies and baked goods.
- Milk powder - This is a "secret" ingredient that I love adding to my cookies and baked goods. It gives baked goods a subtle creamy and milky flavour without needing to add liquid milk, which would not be possible to add to cookie dough. It's optional so if you don't have any, just omit it but I recommend trying it out if you can.
- Baking powder - In combination with baking soda, this helps the cookies rise and puff up nicely when baked.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter -ย This needs to be softened to room temperature so that it can be creamed with sugar.
- Granulated sugar - Sugar not only sweetens these cookies but also helps your cookies become fluffy rather than dense by trapping air when creamed with butter.
- Brown sugar - This gives an extra caramelized flavour and makes cookies chewier.
- Egg -ย This should be at room temperature before using otherwise the butter may solidify on contact with cold ingredients or the mixture can curdle.
- Vanilla extract
- White chocolate -ย Roughly chop this into smaller pieces. Save a handful for pressing on top of the cookies when they're almost finished baking for picture-perfect cookies (optional).
- Flaky salt - For sprinkling on top! I always love to balance sweet cookies with some salt. This is optional but I highly recommend it on all your cookies.
How to make hojicha cookies
Prep - Preheat oven to 350ยฐF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Mix dry ingredients - In a small bowl, stir together flour, hojicha powder, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar - In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to beat softened butter until very creamy and pale in colour. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and cream together for about 3 minutes.
Add the rest of the wet ingredients - Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until combined.
Mix dry mixture into wet mixture - Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until some flour patches remain. Add the chopped white chocolate and finish folding together with a spatula.
Scoop cookie dough - Use a large 4-tablespoon scooper to scoop out balls of cookie dough. Release dough onto your lined baking sheet, leaving 2" in between each to account for spreading.
Bake - Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. About 2 minutes before they're done baking, press a few pieces of extra white chocolate on top of each cookie for picture-perfect cookies.
Cool cookies - Use a round cutter or bowl that's slightly bigger than your cookies to swirl the cookies around in them to push any uneven edges in. Sprinkle the cookies with flaky salt (optional). Let cookies cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Storage
These hojicha cookies can be stored in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookies are still good to eat for up to 5 days but they will be drier the longer they are stored.
Freezing
You can freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container, freezer bag, or wrapped well in plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature or reheat until warm before eating.
You can freeze the unbaked cookie dough by scooping them out into dough balls and freezing them in one layer until they're firm. Transfer the cookie dough to a freezer bag and freeze it for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature before baking.
Tips & tricks
- Use room temperature ingredients. The butter and egg must be at room temperature in order to cream them together properly. If you forget to take them out of the fridge ahead of time, very gently warm the butter in the microwave or by holding the bowl over the stovetop but be careful not to completely melt it. Eggs can be submerged in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
- Cream the butter and sugar very well. Creaming the butter and sugar well aerates the dough so that your cookies are fluffy, puffy, and soft. You should be creaming the butter until it's very smooth and pale in colour and then cream it with sugar for about 3 minutes.
- Don't overmix after adding the flour mixture. After adding the flour, you should only mix the dough until it's just combined. Use a spatula and fold the dough to prevent overmixing. Overmixing will cause the cookies to be dense.
- Press extra chocolate chunks on top of the cookies in the last few minutes of baking. This step is optional if you want the tops of your cookies to show the white chocolate chunks.
- Use a circular cutter or bowl to swirl cookies after baking for perfect circles. This step is also optional. You can also just use a fork or spatula to push any uneven edges inwards. Be sure to do this immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven while they're still soft.
Frequently asked questions
Hojicha tastes earthy and nutty with mild toasty and caramelized notes. It tastes like a strong roasted tea with little to no bitterness.
Yes, the cookie dough can be scooped out ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Bake them off when you're ready to have freshly baked cookies!
To make a bigger batch of cookies, simply multiply the ingredients by 2 or 3 as needed.
More cookie recipes to try
- Matcha Mochi Cookies
- Biscoff Stuffed Cookies
- Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Sโmores Cookies
- Butter Cookie Box (10 cookies from 1 dough)
Recipe
Hojicha Cookies
Ingredientsย ย
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon hojicha powder
- 1 tablespoon milk powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 115 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped + extra for topping
- flaky salt, for sprinkling on top (optional)
Instructionsย
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, hojicha powder, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to beat softened butter until very creamy and pale in colour. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and cream together for about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until some flour patches remain. Add the chopped white chocolate and finish folding together with a spatula.
- Use a large 4-tablespoon scooper to scoop out balls of cookie dough. Release dough onto your lined baking sheet, leaving 2" in between each to account for spreading.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. About 2 minutes before they're done baking, press a few pieces of extra white chocolate on top of each cookie for picture-perfect cookies.
- Sprinkle the cookies with flaky salt (optional). Let cookies cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
annie says
the texture for these weren't my favorite compared to another recipe where oil and milk was used instead
Chris says
Can I omit the milk powder?
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Winnie says
I love hojicha. I cant wait to make them. Can I make them smaller? If so, do I have to adjust the bake time? Thanks.