Little Matcha Emeralds

I always lament at the fact that there're so many things for you to try in such a short time. It just saddens and makes me feel terrified when I start to connect my life span, impending health problems that I'll have to face as I get older, and the endless list of things to try while I'm still alive. And when it comes to baking and cooking, I have a tendency to get distracted by the never-ending list of recipes awaiting to be tried out. Then, I'll suffer from indecisiveness LOL!

Sometime late last year, I somehow spotted Kelli's green tea sablés on her blog through blog-hopping. I don't remember the exact route that led me to this sweet discovery. But I've got to say, it was a happy accident! Nonetheless as I've lamented to you just now, I was distracted by so many other recipes that I literally forgot about these shortbread cookies. And unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the recipe was sitting at a corner of my mountain-high stack of many other recipes ... calling out my name. It only came to my consciousness after I saw the small bag of green tea powder that my Mom and Aunt sent me a while back. I thought to myself, "I forgot the forgotten! It's time! It's time!" 

   

So, off and I went to prepare the ingredients. My apartment was filled with a lovely green tea scent by the evening. (Yes, I had a green tea dream that night! Ahhhh ...) Surprisingly, these shortbread cookies weren't too sweet even after they'd been coated with a layer of granulated sugar. Hmm ... Besides its lower sugar content, I wonder could that also be due to the green tea powder?

Highly recommended, these little emeralds have made their appearance all over the world ever since they debuted back in May 2007. (Oh yes! I'm well-aware that I've been a late-bloomer since young.) And, they've received tons of raved review. This is a must-try if you're a green tea lover! They're crumbly, sandy in texture, slightly crunchy and buttery, and with the perfect sweetness and green tea flavor! Mom, these are dedicated to you!

Sablés au thé vert (adapted from Kelli's)
  
(A)
64g powdered sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp Matcha green tea powder
*The higher quality your green tea powder is, the brighter green the cookies will be
142g butter, softened

214g all-purpose flour, sifted

3 large egg yolks, at room temperature 

some sugar, for coating

1. Whisk together (A), then cream well with butter till smooth and light in color *Be patient, it'll take sometime for the mixture to turn into light-green color
2. Mix in sifted flour into the creamed mixture till combined, then followed by egg yolks and mix till a mass has formed and the mixture is just incorporated
3. Turn the dough out onto a plastic film and shape into a disk, wrap well and chill in the refrigerator till firm
4. On a slightly floured surface, roll out the chilled disc of dough into 1/2-inch thickness
5. Cut out cookies with 2-inch leaf-shaped cookie cutter, then coat their surface evenly with sugar and arrange them onto prepared baking sheets
   *I used a slightly smaller cookie cutter
   **This was what I did when my dough got stickier after a little while out from the fridge. I gathered the dough scraps up and gently pressed them together so that they "became one" again (NO kneading please!), then wrapped it well and chilled till firm again before proceeding with rolling, cutting and baking
6. Bake sablés at 180C/350F for 12-15 minutes or till their edges are just slightly golden
7. Remove them from the oven and transfer to cool on the wire rack completely
   *Please store the sablés in an airtight container that blocks the sunlight out as the green color in Matcha will fade away due to sunlight exposure.