Don’t adjust the color of your screen- yes these cookies are green! Sometimes I feel like making something a bit different than the usual, so this weekend I made a batch of cookies with a unique flavor twist! I had some matcha green tea powder in my cupboard for a while now, and I wanted to try it in something other than green tea smoothies.

Matcha is powdered green tea that be used to make many awesome hot or cold drinks – I picked it up online to make drinks like Starbucks Iced Green Tea latte – with a ton less calories! (See the recipe at the end of this post).

The cookies have a delicate but delicious green tea flavor, and are healthier than most cookies. To further up the uniqueness, I added some sliced almonds in a heart decoration. Between that and the green, it’s like Valentine’s Day meets St. Patrick’s Day.

Even when it comes to cookies, I have high nutrition standards. This recipe uses oats and whole wheat flour, not refined white flour. The sugar is replaced with Splenda, and I boost the protein with some whey, some egg white, and some nonfat yogurt in the mix. I started with my healthy breakfast cookie recipe, and tweaked it from there. To make a smoother textured cookie, I ground the oats in a blender to make oat flour. I also wanted the dough to be light in color, so the green would show, so I omitted the flaxseed and used white whole wheat flour (a lighter color variety of whole grain flour). The breakfast cookies have lots of flavor from cocoa and raisins, so I use canola oil, which doesn’t really have any flavor. But for the green tea cookies, I wanted some butter flavor to boost the delicate green tea, so I added just a tablespoon of real butter to the whole batch.

The end result? Healthy, well balanced cookies with fiber and protein and less fat and sugar – that taste “excellent” per Val’s description. As with all low fat baked goods, it’s best to store them in a plastic bag in the fridge or freezer to keep them from drying out. These little green guys make irresistible nibbles through out the day, anytime.

Green Tea Sweetheart Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly coat a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.  Process the oats in a blender until finely ground, and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Add in the rest of the dry ingredients to the oat flour, and stir well.  Mix the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to wet and stir to combine.  Drop the cookie dough into 20 portions (about 1” each) on greased cookie sheet and decorate with almond slices, by gently pressing almond slices into dough. Bake for 6 minutes and remove promptly from cookie sheet.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. May be frozen also for longer storage.

Makes 20 cookies, serving size: 2 cookies.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 95 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 14 g carb ( 2 g fiber), 7 g protein

Green Tea Smoothie

Mix 1/2 cup Silk Unsweetened Soymilk, 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein, 1 tsp matcha green tea, and 1 packet Equal or Splenda. Blend with 5 ice cubes and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Breakfast Cookies
2. Homemade Protein Bars
3. Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
4. Chocolate Chippers
5. Lentil Soup and Almond Butter Cookies
6. Peach Cobbler: Easy, Healthy Dessert Recipe
7. Lemon Poppy Protein Bars (plus gluten free version)