Matcha and cranberry shortbread bites

Japan meets Scotland and the result is wonderful. Slightly bitter matcha and cranberry shortbread bites are a real treat. They are a little bit bitter and sweet and they melt-in-your-mouth. These shortbread bites will be a great addition to your cookie platter. They are are perfect for people who have allergy to eggs or are vegetarian.

How to make matcha and cranberry shortbread bites

Everybody is saying that making a good shortbread is easy. I disagree with this statement. Making a good shortbread may seem easy but actually it requires certain knowledge and understanding of ingredients.

Many recipes are saying just mix butter with sugar and then add flour and bake. Well, please read the below tips. They will help you to avoid all the issues while making a great shortbread.

TIPS:

1. BUTTER: In order to make the best shortbread you need to use the best butter. Not margarine, or any other butter substitute. Real butter at its best. I used salted butter in this recipe. If you can not find salted butter, you can use unsalted but add 1/4 tsp of table salt. The buttery indulgent taste comes from real butter, this is it.
2. SUGAR: Traditional Scottish shortbread is made with standard white granulated sugar. I also used this type of sugar in this recipe. It works like a charm and is easily available everywhere. Using white granulated sugar makes shortbread airy and light but not powdery.
3. FLOUR: As simple as it may be in order to make a good shortbread, you need to use a soft flour. If you did not know flour can be soft, hard or medium.

• Hard flour has a high protein content and has a good ability to form gluten. It is perfect to make bread.
• Soft flour has a low protein content and lower ability to create strong gluten. This flour is also called pastry flour or cake flour. It makes baked goods more flaky than doughy. For any shortbread recipe soft flour is the best option.
• Medium flour, also called AP flour – it is a mix of soft and hard flour and is the most commonly available in supermarkets.

Fort his recipe, apart from the 3 standard shortbread ingredients I have also used :

4. MATCHA: This is very important to pick the correct matcha powder. Usually, the choice is between:

• Ceremonial grade matcha, which has intense green colour due to the highest amount of chlorophyll. The taste is very mild, quite sweet and can be quite underwhelming when used in baking or cooking. Ceremonial grade matcha is chosen for traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.
• Daily grade matcha. It can be used as a drink or in baking and cooking. The flavour is rich and balanced. It is not too sweet and not too bitter.
• Culinary grade matcha. This is the matcha powder I use in baking and cooking. It has a robust earthy and bitter flavour. The colour is not as potent and vibrant as in the previous two matcha grades but it still creates wonderful green treats.

5. DRIED CRANBERRIES: use good quality dried cranberries and always taste them for freshness before using in a recipe.

HANDLING THE DOUGH – First i rub sugar and butter together for about 8 minutes. The I add flour and matcha and run everything together until crumbs form. Then I stir in dried cranberries. The whole secret is not to overwork the dough. Overworked dough means cakey and tough shortbread due to formation of gluten. We do not want it.

THICKESS AND SHAPING: I used mini cupcake pan for shaping these matcha and cranberry shortbread bites I have divided dough into small portions of 30 g each. I pressed each portion of dough into cavity and baked for 25-30 minutes. These shortbread bites need more time as they are quite thick.

What do matcha and cranberry shortbread bites taste like?

These green beauties have very interesting flavour. They are slightly bitter but the bitterness is wonderfully balanced by sweetness from dried sweet and tart cranberries. The texture is soft and crumbly and every bite is a delight. These matcha and cranberry shortbread bites are a perfect marriage between Japan and Scotland.

How to store matcha and cranberry shortbread bites

Store shortbread at room temperature in a cookie jar or a cookie tin. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months. In order to defrost shortbread, just take it out of the freezer and leave it at room temperature for an hour. It defrosts like a charm.

If you are looking for more shortbread recipes, I can recommend you the following:

Whisky and walnut shortbread

Miso and brown butter shortbread

Amaretto and cranberry shortbread

Cured egg yolk shortbread bites

Click this link to see the best shortbread recipes

I hope you will make my recipe and if you do, please leave a comment below and let me know your feedback. You can also find me on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Gab and Gettr. Please say hi and do not forget to tag me in if you make my recipe. I love seeing your creations.

Recipe source – my own

Enjoy!