Hojicha Brown Butter Cookies (Printable)

Nutty brown butter meets roasted hojicha tea for cookies with crisp edges and chewy centers, featuring caramel undertones.

# Ingredient List:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 tablespoons hojicha powder
03 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
04 - 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

→ Wet Ingredients

05 - 3/4 cup unsalted butter
06 - 1 cup packed brown sugar
07 - 1/4 cup granulated sugar
08 - 1 large egg at room temperature
09 - 1 egg yolk at room temperature
10 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
02 - Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking while stirring frequently until the butter foams and turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
03 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, hojicha powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly distributed.
04 - In a large bowl, combine the cooled browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Whisk until smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, mixing until fully incorporated.
05 - Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
06 - Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them approximately 2 inches apart.
07 - Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers remain soft.
08 - Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The brown butter creates this incredible nutty depth that makes people ask what your secret ingredient is.
  • Hojicha powder gives you that warm, roasted tea flavor without any bitterness, so even tea skeptics enjoy them.
  • They come out crispy at the edges but chewy in the middle, which is honestly the dream texture for a cookie.
02 -
  • Do not skip cooling the brown butter, because adding it warm to your eggs will scramble them and you will end up with a grainy, unpleasant dough.
  • The hojicha powder can clump if your flour is humid, so sift it together with your dry ingredients if you live somewhere damp, and watch your oven temperature closely because every oven runs slightly different and underbaking by even one minute changes the texture.
03 -
  • If you cannot find hojicha powder, substitute it with matcha for a brighter green tea flavor, though you will lose some of that caramel richness.
  • Room temperature ingredients blend together more smoothly, so take your eggs and butter out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you start baking.
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