If you have never heard of matcha or even better yet, tasted it, where the heck have you been for the last year? Either love it or hate it, just give it a try first!
I want Matcha More!
Basically, matcha is stone-ground green tea leaves. Matcha is packed with so many powerful anti-oxidants and has a range of health-benefits. Drinking one cup of matcha equals to 10 cups of regularly brewed green tea. This is because if you are drinking a cup of matcha you are actually consuming the whole leaf and the healthy components that are in the leaves. Although matcha is said to be exceptionally good for your health, be sure not to consume more than a cup per day as it is quite high in lead.
Matcha has a leafy, grass-like flavour. The quality of the type of matcha you consume unfortunately comes with a price. It is expensive and the higher the grade of matcha, the more expensive. The texture of a good grade matcha should be extremely fine, similar to that of eyeshadow. The taste should not be overly bitter, but rather sweet.
My husband went to Cape Town for work earlier this year. One morning he popped into the lovely vegan restaurant called Raw & Roxy for some rocket fuel. He not only got the rocket fuel, but also a little gift for his wife all the way in Pretoria – my first ever matcha. What a treat! This specific matcha is from the Get-Matcha range and it is as pure as it can get. So, so happy with the product! It’s like powdered green gold – if I work with it EVERYTHING should be far away so that no accidents or spillages happen.
Tip: As you will see in the recipe directions you need to spread out the last half of the matcha blondie mix on top of half of the cream cheese mixture. This is quite hard, as the matcha blondie mix is more like dough than a batter. You can use your hands to pull apart smaller pieces of the dough and place it on top of the cream cheese mixture.
These matcha blondie cheesecake bars are my first ever matcha creations and it will most definitely not stop here. Tune in for more!
Ingredients
- ½ Cup / 115g Butter
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 10ml Vanilla Essence
- 2 Large Eggs
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon / 15ml Matcha
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Tub Cream Cheese (room temperature)
- 30ml Caster Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Line a 20cm x 20cm oven pan with baking paper. Spray with non-stick spray. Set aside for later.
- In a large microwave-proof bowl, melt the butter. Add the sugar and mix well.
- Add half of the vanilla essence, 1 egg and the salt. Mix until combined.
- Add the matcha and combine well.
- Add the flour and mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl mix together the cream cheese, the other half of the vanilla essence, and the egg that is unused. Combine until the mixture is lump-free.
- Add half of the matcha blondie mixture to the pan. Press down until even.
- Add half of the cream cheese mixture and spread out evenly.
- Add the rest of the Matcha blondie mixture on top of the cream cheese. (see tip above)
- Place spoonfuls of the remaining cream cheese mixture on top.
- By using the edge of a sharp knife or a skewer, marble the mixture.
- Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until a skewer / the edge of a knife comes out clean when pressed into the blondies.
- Leave to cool & then cut into equal parts.