Recipe: Matcha series 1/3. Luscious Green Tea (Matcha) Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt!

Number of steps: 8         
Time taken: Mixing ingredients for 10-15 min, in oven for 20-25 min


Interesting Facts About This Dish:
Who doesn't love matcha? Other than the fact that it tastes great, it comes with great health benefits such as, detox, benefits for constipation, better skin, prevention of stinky breath, silkier hair, increase in metabolism, anti aging...etc

When I recently went back to Japan, I realized a mini matcha trend. Considering the fact that it was the middle of the summer, matcha ice creams from different brands were lined up. Convenience stores offered matcha pudding and parfaits too! 


What You Need:
(Makes about 6 regular sized cupcakes)

• 60g of butter (3-4 tbsp)
• 60g of white sugar(3-4 tbsp)
• 1 egg
• 100g all-purpose flour (0.8 cup)
• 1.5 table spoons of matcha powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 50ml milk (I substituted this by using non fat greek yogurt from Fage) 
  
  

Additional Notes:

• Before putting it into the oven, you could add bits of almonds, chocolate or even Japanese black soy beans to give it a fun flavour! 
  
• If the cupcakes seem a little burnt while they are in the oven, cover it with aluminum foil until they are done!
• I baked my cupcakes in a tray for "tiny cupcakes"

1. Make sure the butter and egg is room temperature. If you are just taking it out of the fridge, put the butter in a bowl and put it in the microwave for 5 second intervals until it looks a little softer. For the egg, run it under tap water.

2. Mix the butter until it gets nice and creamy.

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3. Add the sugar. Don't add it all at once - add it little by little. Mix until your mixture gets white.

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4. Mix the egg beforehand in a separate bowl and add it again little by little to the mixture from 3.

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5. Sift the flour, matcha powder and baking powder and mix it into the mixture. Make sure you mix well! 

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6. After mixing well, add the milk and mix. I added greek yogurt instead of milk just because I am obsessed with it! 

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7. We don't want the mixture to be sticky here; we want it to be nice and silky.

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8. In a 355F (180C) oven, bake for 20-25 minutes. Before baking, you could add bits of almonds, chocolate or even Japanese black soy beans to give it more flavour! Stick a wooden stick into one of the cupcakes and if you don't see any of the mixture sticking onto it, your cupcakes are done!  Top it with some frosting if you like after your cupcakes cool down! 

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