Healthy Vegan Matcha Cookies With Poppy Seeds

Healthy vegan matcha cookies with stress-reducing effect – crisp edges, chewy centers, made with oatmeal and poppy seeds – a recipe that’s both vegan and gluten free. These are basically vegan matcha sugar cookies tweaked to be healthier and without refined sugar.

Vegan Matcha Cookies Recipe Naturally Gluten Free

These healthy vegan matcha cookies are perfect for matcha lovers, they are slightly sweet, with a hint of green tea and complemented with a delicate crunch of poppy seeds. I love matcha due to its cognitive performance enhancing abilities, it really helps me focus during work.

These vegan matcha cookies can be categorized as healthy gluten free vegan matcha cookies, matcha oatmeal cookies or matcha sugar cookies – fully qualified to be all three!

Whenever you need something sweet and chewy with a subtle energy kick, these healthy vegan matcha cookies are perfect for a cozy afternoon snack, large gatherings, or just as a simple dessert with your cup of tea!

You might also like these gluten free vegan Cinnamon & Maple Sugar Cookies.

See This.

Healthy Vegan Matcha Cookies Overview

I tried to make these matcha cookies recipe with egg and also with a vegan flax egg. Both worked really well!

The difference only happened when I sneaked it some apple sauce in the recipe, thinking that could be a good egg replacement as well. But it turned out this changed the entire texture of the cookie, they turned out more fluffy and soft and didn’t spread much. I have a picture below for comparison.

If you want a gluten free vegan cookie recipe with apple sauce then you can actually transform this recipe but matcha cookies will not be chewy and crispy.

Gluten Free Vegan Matcha Cookies Ingredients (Picture)

What you need:

Vegan Matcha Cookie Ingredient List

• Vegan butter – I used Miyoko’s because it has a list of cleaner ingredients than the rest of vegan butters on the market.
• Maple sugar – it helps with crispness and texture in general, and maple sugar is the closest best alternative to regular cane sugar. Coconut sugar will yield different results.
• Oatmeal flour – used as a gluten free alternative to regular white flour. I just used a grinder to make the flour from gluten free rolled oats. I also tried replacing half of the amount with sorghum flour and it worked really well.
• Matcha powder – in order to make this vegan matcha cookies healthy ( that provide natural energy ) and with a vibrant green color, you need high quality matcha green tea powder like this Organic Japanese Matcha Powder. If you use a simple culinary grade matcha powder then you will get a less vibrant green color with less health benefits, but it’s less expensive and more affordable.
• Flax egg – a vegan egg replacement that consists of ground flax seeds and warm water – it works perfectly. Or if you’re not vegan use a regular egg.
• Poppy seeds – for flavor and extra crunch, if you don’t want them, just omit their addition.
• Salt – for flavor enhancing and sharpening.
• Baking soda it gives these matcha sugar cookies a chewy, coarse texture.
• Vanilla extract for a subtle vanilla flavor, but it’s totally optional.

Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below.

How To Make Vegan Matcha Oatmeal Cookies

1. Prepare the ingredients, heat oven to 350°F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cream together the softened vegan butter and maple sugar for about 3-4 minutes until it gets fluffy and aerated.

3. Add the rest of wet ingredients, and then incorporate the dry ingredients at the end. Mix well.

4. Chill the dough 20-30 minutes in the fridge. Chilling will solidify the fat in the cookies and will prevent spreading too much and too fast while baking. Plus a firmer dough is easier to work with and form balls.

5.  Shape the cookie dough into small balls using a small ice cream scoop (size of about 1/2 tablespoon). Arrange balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake for exactly 12 minutes. Transfer the matcha cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely (cookies will continue to crisp as they cool).

Matcha Powder For Baking

Matcha is recently very popular due to it’s labeling as a mood-and-brain food and it’s rich antioxidant content. It was determined that matcha is up to 137 times greater in catechin (a type of antioxidant) than in other types of green tea [1]. Studies also show a reduction in anxiety after consuming matcha, by activating dopamine and serotonin receptors [2] and also anti-inflammatory effects [3].

There are two main grades of matcha: culinary and ceremonial. The former is best for cooking ( it has a less vibrant green color and is more bitter, which helps the flavor forming when added to baked goods). And the ceremonial is best for general drinking: the taste is light, smooth and sweet (with a mild earthiness) because the tea leaves were less exposed to heat (grown in shade), therefore it’s more pleasurable to enjoy it by itself.

High-quality matcha powders comes at a high price, of course, because it’s harder to harvest and process: they are stone ground for a smoother consistency and easier mixing. My favorite ceremonial grade Organic Japanese Jade Leaf Matcha, it never disappoints, I use it even in baking sometimes.

If you you’re looking to use a cheaper matcha powder then this organic matcha green tea (culinary grade) is the perfect option.

Vegan Matcha Cookies: Variations And Substitutions

• Make the matcha cookies smaller or larger, both taste great.
• You can use a combination of flours: I tried oatmeal flour and sorghum flour (50:50), it works well too.
• Add other seeds if you like (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, hemp etc.) or nuts.
• Using an egg instead of vegan “flax egg” works the same. You could replace it with apple sauce or mashed banana as well.
• You could cut the sugar in half if you want, but the texture will be less chewy or crispy.
• Make ahead, and keep the raw dough up to 48 hours before baking.

Other Vegan Oatmeal Cookies Recipes

Did you try this healthy vegan matcha cookies recipe?

Then please leave a comment and a rating below, it’s really helpful for me and readers. Thank you! 

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.

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