This is a matcha latte in cookie form. Atop the chewy, Grinch-green cookie sits a cloud of ermine icing, an old-fashioned boiled-milk frosting (like the kind you might find in midcentury American baking and grocery store cupcakes), whose sugared lightness balances out the more intense, bittersweet base. Out of the oven, these cookies might look puffy, but as they cool on their pans, they will continue to cook and deflate, becoming their truest chewiest selves. If you want to skip the frosting, a little powdered sugar is a lovely, snowy finish.

Matcha Latte Cookies
Ingredients for the cookies:
• 1 1/2 cups/185 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons matcha powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup/113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup/150 grams granulated sugar
• 1/4 packed cup/50 grams light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (such as Morton)
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• Nonpareil sprinkles (optional)

Ingredients for the frosting (optional):
• 3/4 cup/150 grams granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Small pinch of coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup/237 milliliters whole milk
• 1 cup/227 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Make the cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. In a large bowl, stir the matcha and vanilla into a paste using a wooden spoon or flexible spatula. Add the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt, then beat until pale green and fluffy. Switch to a whisk and beat in the egg until smooth.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold until just combined. Refrigerate the dough, uncovered, while the oven heats.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a #40 (1 1/2-tablespoon) cookie scoop or two spoons, scoop out 1 1/2-inch rounds and place them a couple of inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until puffed and no longer wet-looking on top, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on the pan. (Unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.)

If you’d like, make the frosting when you’re ready to serve the cookies: In a medium saucepan off the heat, whisk together the granulated sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to bubble, about 4 minutes, then continue whisking the mixture as it boils until thick like pudding, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer this hot mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Beat on high speed until the bowl feels cool to the touch. It may take up to 10 minutes. With the mixer on medium-high speed, add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until smooth before each addition. When all of the butter has been incorporated, add the vanilla, then raise the speed to high and beat until very fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Using a butter knife or spoon, frost each cooled cookie and top with sprinkles if you’d like. Serve immediately.

Total time: 45 minutes plus cooling; makes about 20 cookies.

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