Green Matcha Tea Cookies

Traditionally served to emperors and monks, green matcha tea is the tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies. Unfermented green tea leaves are ground into a fine powder and then mixed with hot (not boiling) water and stirred with a bamboo whisk. Researchers in Colorado found in 2003 that matcha tea has 200 times more epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) - a powerful antioxidant - than common North American green tea. This is probably because the whole leaf is consumed rather than just an infusion brewed from leaves, as in regular green tea. This cookie recipe uses the green matcha powder.

1/2 cup (125 mL) organic butter
1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar
1 Tbsp (15 mL) soy milk
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
1 free-range egg
1 cup (250 mL) spelt flour
2 tsp (10 mL) matcha green tea powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder
1/4 tsp (1 mL) sea salt
1 cup (250 mL) rolled oats
1 cup (250 mL) cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Oil a baking tray. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add soymilk, vanilla, and egg and continue to beat until smooth. In another large bowl, sift together flour, tea, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar and stir to combine. Stir in rolled oats and all but 24 cranberries. Using two dessert spoons, drop cookie dough onto prepared baking tray, decorate with reserved cranberries, and bake until golden brown on the bottom. Makes 24 cookies.

source: "Longevi-tea", alive #271, May 2005