Matcha, its magically delicious

Over the 4th of July holiday vacation my younger sister, Katie, came home for the weekend. She moved to Maryland to pursue her Master's degree two years ago. While down there she and her boyfriend are renting their own apartment, a first for both of them. Being on her own, Katie has discovered a similar passion for cooking just like her big sis! She often shares many new products and recipes with me that she tries.

This past week she left me a little treat in my lunch box, green tea cookies with white chocolate chips. I devoured them. I'm a huge fan of green tea, I drink it daily, but had no idea it came in a cooking form. Cue in Katie, she found Matcha powder online, which is finally ground powder of processed green tea and baked those cookies with it.

Amazed by her fabulous find I knew I had to get my hands on some.  I first did a little research. Being sensitive to caffeine I was immediately worried about the reaction I might have. I was surprised to find that it is extremely high in antioxidants and only has 1/3 the caffeine content of a cup of coffee. It also claims to have many health benefits due to the high antioxidants. All thumbs up for me. In order to get my hands on some soon, we made a trip to our local Fairway Market which is more of a specialty store. Sure enough they had a large selection of imported teas with a very big bag of Matcha powder. We had them measure out just about an ounce since it runs almost $59 a pound. 

This product can be used in smoothies, which of course I tried, and of course it was delicious (tasted just like Starbucks Green Tea Frappe), as well as baked goods like cookies and breads, or just as a quick pick me up dissolved in some hot or cold water. Check out some recipes here.

It is treats like this that make me truly proud to be a part of a family that loves to cook just as much as I do. Thanks to my sister Katie, I now have discovered a wonderful new product to experiment with and enjoy!