Hello QCK, and welcome to another day of Outside the Cookie Box — a 5-day cookie series dedicated to the recipes you won’t find in anyone else’s cookie tin.
All week long, I’m sharing playful, inventive, flavor-forward cookies that bring something new (and maybe a little unexpected) to your holiday baking lineup. My hope is that you stumble on a few “forever favorites” you’ll return to year after year — and maybe learn a little cookie science along the way. 🙂
My very close friend, Elul, has been making these insanely good white-chocolate matcha lattes — the kind you take one sip of and think about for the rest of the week. I wanted to capture that same cozy, creamy magic in cookie form, so I took a page from her book and baked the flavors right in. In the context of this cookie box — where we’ve got warm and spicy, sweet and salty, an uber-decadent chocolatey moment, and a new nostalgic classic — this one felt like the perfect finishing note. It’s like an upgraded sugar cookie: soft, buttery, and familiar, but lifted with the earthy, mellow bitterness of matcha and the toasty caramel sweetness that comes from slow-melting white chocolate. Together they taste delicate, comforting, and just a little fancy — the kind of cookie that makes people go, “Wait… what is this?!” in the best way.
When Laschelle tasted it, she did this involuntary almost fainting thing in her chair and said “I’m sorry, I’m just taking in all the flavors. Wow.” It was overly validating.
My Favorite Cookie Hacks
• Add a tablespoon or two of dry milk powder.
I learned this from Christina Tosi of Milk Bar — it’s her secret to deeper, richer flavor in cookies. You can add it to almost any recipe and it just elevates everything.
• Add spices during the creaming stage.
Incorporate vanilla, cinnamon, or any spices while the butter and sugar are still being creamed. It “blooms” the flavors, making them more intense, even, and aromatic throughout the cookie.
• Chill the dough.
Not new, but essential. Chilling keeps the butter cold, which means it melts more slowly in the oven and helps the cookies stay soft and thick instead of spreading too fast.
• Pull them from the oven early.
Cookies continue to cook from residual heat. Taking them out 1–2 minutes before they look done ensures they finish perfectly soft and stay that way for days.
Recipe:
| Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 15 Mins | Category: Cookies | Servings: 15 |
Ingredients:
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp matcha powder
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp dry milk powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup white chocolate chunks (or chopped white chocolate)
Directions
- Cream the butter and sugar.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light, fluffy, and slightly pale — about 2–3 minutes. - Add the eggs, matcha, and vanilla.
Mix in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, scraping the bowl as needed to make sure everything is smooth and fully incorporated. It should be bright green at this stage as the matcha blooms. - Add the dry ingredients.
Add flour, dry milk, baking powder, and salt. Mix until the dough forms. - Fold in the chocolate.
Add the white chocolate chunks and mix until evenly distributed. - Scoop and chill.
Using a medium cookie scoop, portion the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill the dough balls for at least 30 minutes so the cookies bake up thick and soft. - Bake.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until the edges are set and the tops look just barely matte. They should still be soft in the center, they’ll finish setting as they cool. - Cool and enjoy.
Let the cookies rest on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or fully cooled — both are dreamy
Thank you so much for visiting QCK! I’m happy to have you here. If you try any recipes, or have any requests, please let me know! Otherwise happy cooking and lots of love from my kitchen to yours. ❤
Quarter Cup Kitchen 
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