Hop on the Matcha train! Here’s our top 5 recipes

Matcha is a super fine powder made from pulverising green tea leaves. Due to it being concentrated, it’s significantly more potent than brewed green tea, packing higher levels of antioxidants per serving. This makes it a super healthy additive which can be used to create fresh new recipes and enhance existing ones.

Being that the powder is made purely from green tea leaves, it naturally has the same benefits brewed green tea would have. Matcha also packs a bigger caffeine boost than your average tea, making it one of the healthiest wake-me-up drinks available. Drinking the stuff is great for promoting alertness, aiding digestion, cleansing the pallet and improving the ability to relax.

• Increase in focus and alertness
• Increase in metabolism
• Enhances your mood
• Stronger immune system
• Calming and nourishing to your soul
• Detox your body
• Improves wellbeing
• Clearer skin
• Higher energy levels

Though we do admit we’re a tad late to join the matcha train, we’re glad we finally got onboard! For months now we’ve been deciding which fresh creations are ahead of the rest, taking into account the taste, texture, health level and prep experience of each recipe. We’ve conveniently whittled the once pages-long cook book to just a carefully selected few. We’re leading with our top 5 finalists which includes a mixture of solid food and drink, and have tried our best to keep things simple and sweet.

Matcha favourites Nº1

Matcha Coconut Latte

Recipe serves: 1 latte

Ingredients:

• ½ – 1 teaspoon Aiya Cooking Grade Matcha
• (or 1 tablespoon Aiya Matcha Zen Cafe Blend which is lightly sweetened)
• ¼ cup hot water
• ¼ cup warmed coconut milk
• Sweetener of your choice

Method:

1. Sift your matcha so it is lump-free
2. Spoon the matcha into a large mug. Add the hot water and coconut milk and whisk briskly until frothy – about 30 seconds or so. (You can also use a small kitchen whisk if you don’t have a matcha whisk).
3. Taste and add additional water, coconut milk, and/or sweetener to your liking. (Honey goes well for a smoother flavour).

Matcha favourites Nº2

Gluten-Free Matcha Crepes

Recipe serves: 10+ crepes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup wholemeal buckwheat flour
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 4 eggs, at room temperature- if vegan, use 4 flax eggs (1 tbsp ground flax : 3 tbsps water, let sit for 5 minutes)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil or melted unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons matcha powder
• a pinch of salt
• coconut oil, for cooking

Method:

1. Sift the buckwheat flour, matcha powder, salt, and coconut sugar into a large bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the almond milk, water, eggs, and oil. You can also do this in a blender.
3. Add half of the flour mixture. Once incorporated, add the rest of the flour mixture.
4. Melt some coconut oil in a skillet over medium low heat.
5. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the crêpe batter into the skillet, tilting and rotating the pan to form a large, circular and even crêpe.
6. Cook until the bottom of the crêpe is golden brown. Gently lift the bottom of the crêpe to check, and flip to cook the other side for another thirty seconds to a minute.
7. Remove from the heat and set aside. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Bonus:

Chocolate Ganache Drizzle & Roasted Hazelnuts Topping

Ingredients:

• 2 cups full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup or 175g dark chocolate
• hazelnuts, for garnish

Method:

1. Heat up the coconut milk in the top of a double boiler over medium heat.
2. Once the coconut milk begins to warm, add the chocolate and whisk until fully incorporated.
3. In a separate pan, toast the hazelnuts over low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent them from burning. Once fragrant and golden brown, put the hazelnuts on a clean kitchen towel. Rub the hazelnuts with the towel, and the skins should slip right off.
4. Drizzle the crêpes with the chocolate ganache and garnish with the hazelnuts.

Matcha favourites Nº3

Matcha Cucumber Lemonade

Recipe serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 Persian cucumbers, chopped
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 2 cups cold water
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup blue agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
• 1 cup ice (plus more for serving)

Method:

1. In a blender, puree the cucumbers and mint leaves until just chunky.
2. In a large pitcher, combine the water, lemon juice, agave and matcha powder. Add the lemon mixture to the puree and blend until very smooth. Return to the pitcher.
3. Serve in ice-filled glasses with mint and cucumber garnishes.

Matcha favourites Nº4

Healthy Coconut Matcha Fudge

Recipe makes: 36 pieces

Ingredients:

• 880g (4 cups) Low Fat Organic Cottage Cheese, room temp
• 1 tsp Vanilla Paste (I used homemade!)
• 68g (2¼ cups) Stevia
• 16g (2 tbs) Matcha Powder
• 85g (⅓ cup) Raw Coconut Butter, melted
• ¼ cup  Metamucil
• ¾ cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

Method:

1. Line an 8 inch brownie pan with parchment paper both ways. In a high-speed blender or food processor, add the cottage cheese, vanilla paste, stevia and matcha powder. Puree until completely smooth.
2. Whilst blending, pour in the melted coconut butter. Continue blending and gradually sprinkle in the metamucil. Once thoroughly combined, scoop the mixture into the prepared brownie pan and spread out the surface to flatten. Place the pan in the freezer for 2 hours.
3. Place the shredded coconut in a large bowl. Slice the fudge into 36 pieces (it will be a tad sticky, but that’s normal… once it’s coated in the coconut it won’t be!). Coat the fudge squares with the shredded coconut, then place on a large serving plate.
4. Once all the fudge is coated with the coconut, refrigerate uncovered overnight and serve the next day (You can serve them immediately if you want to, but they’ll be really soft at this point… everyone liked these best the next day).

Note:

I used Stevia in the Raw in the Bakers Bag.  Alternatively, you can try using a combo of Stevia Extract (1½ tsp) and Powdered Erythritol (¾ cup).

If you REALLY like coconut flavour, feel free to add some coconut extract too.

Matcha favourites Nº5

Pear-Green Protein Smoothie

Recipe makes: 1

Ingredients:

• 1 packet (2 scoops) DailyBurn Fuel-6 Protein in vanilla
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 pear, cored
• 1/2 teaspoon of matcha tea powder

Method:

Simply combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.

Sources: Daily Burn

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