Matcha White Chocolate Brownies are healthy flourless chewy protein bars made with bananas, almond butter, vegan white chocolate chips and Fraser Tea Ceremonial Matcha Organic Green Tea.
This post has been sponsored by Fraser Tea. All opinions are our own. Thanks in advance for supporting the brands that keep HWC Magazine going.
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Guilt Free Brownies
- Flourless and gluten-free
- Fast and Easy - Ready in 30 minutes
- Super easy brownie mix made in the food processor or blender
- Naturally sweetened with bananas just like our Mocha Banana Ice Cream
- Boost of antioxidants with organic matcha
- Dairy free and made with vegan white chocolate chips
- Super chewy and fudgy
- Only 5 ingredients
- No added refined sugar, except the addition of vegan white chocolate chips
- Oil free and butter free
- Healthy snack on the go and almost healthy enough to eat for breakfast.
- Perfect teatime accompaniment for Hanami (the Japanese celebration of the blooming of the Sakura flowers)
Our healthy matcha brownies are subtly sweet. Each bar has a nice balance of the naturally sweet bananas, the earthy flavor of the matcha green tea, the nutty flavor of almond, and a bite of fresh strawberry.
Simple Ingredients
It’s hard to believe that mixing 3 healthy ingredients in a food processor could create such a delicious fudgy chewy brownie bar. It’s simply magical. We leave out the flour, eggs, and butter entirely.
- Bananas – Fresh or frozen. If using frozen, keep them frozen until ready to use in your batter. If they do unthaw, you want to drain off the extra moisture to prevent a change in the batter consistency.
- Almond Butter – mild flavor to allow the flavor of the Matcha to shine through
- Matcha – 3 heaping tablespoons
To keep green tea brownie recipe dairy free, we stirred in vegan white chocolate chips just like in our recipe for Chocolate Matcha Crispy Truffles. You might prefer regular white chocolate chips or even semi-sweet chocolate chips added to the brownie batter.
Luckily strawberries are in season. Matcha and strawberries go together are like a match made in heaven. We like to garnish the Matcha White Chocolate Brownies with a few slices. However, this is totally optional.
Brownie vs Blondies
The difference between a brownie and a blondie is the ingredients used. A brownie usually has chocolate, and a blondie is usually made with brown butter and sugar. As our Matcha White Chocolate Brownies contain white chocolate and do not have brown butter, they probably fall more closely to the brownie category.
Feel free to call these Matcha Blondies or Matcha Brownies – entirely up to you. All we know is that they disappear fast.
What is Matcha?
Have you tried matcha before? Matcha is stone ground Japanese green tea. The difference between matcha and green tea is that matcha is covered up during the last part of the growing season (usually in March or April) allowing it to increase it antioxidants and obtain that vibrant green color.
The best ceremonial grade matcha are picked by hand once a year, usually in May. Only the youngest and smallest leaves at the top are picked. Did you know that just one cup of matcha tea is equivalent to the antioxidants of drinking 10 cups of regular green tea? According to Forrester and Lambert, consumption of green tea may provide protection against chronic diseases, including cancer.
Ceremonial vs Culinary Grade Matcha
Did you know there are different grades of matcha tea? The spectrum runs the gamut from the most expensive of the ceremonial grades, down to the much less costly culinary grades. Ceremonial grade matcha is vibrant green in color and has a mellow earthy flavor with vegetal grassy notes. Culinary grade generally has a less vibrant color and the flavor is slightly more bitter. When used in baking or smoothies, the culinary grade is delicious.
Ceremonial grade matcha is usually consumed as a drink and prepared by whisking with hot water. We like to go outside the box and use the ceremonial grade in our quick and easy no bake treat: Matcha Red Bean Energy Balls.
In this recipe we used Japanese ceremonial grade Fraser Tea Ceremonial Matcha Organic Green Tea for our Matcha White Chocolate Brownies recipe. This matcha is brilliant green and has a very smooth earthy flavor. Fraser Tea is family-owned business with a dedication to make delicious hand crafted healthy organic tea blends in both loose leaf and non-GMO pyramidal tea bags.
We also use plenty of culinary grade matcha, and find its perfectly designed for use in baked goods like our Baked Matcha Lemon Glazed Donuts, smoothies, Matcha Chocolate Chia Parfait, lattes, Sakura Shortbread Cookies, and much more.
In a pinch, you can also use a culinary grade of matcha for this recipe as well. Cinnamon Swirl Matcha Organic Green Tea from Fraser Tea works beautifully in this recipe.
How to make Green Tea Brownies
Best Baking Hacks
- It is best to use parchment paper to prevent sticking to the pan just like we did with our vegan rocky road bars. In addition, if you keep your parchment paper long enough you can pull it directly out of the baking dish. We were fresh out of parchment paper, so we made do with oil spray.
- Almond butter has a mellow nutty flavor that allows the matcha flavor to shine through. In addition, it has a bit of a thinner consistency compared to other nut butters. Please note that each type of nut butter has a different consistency. This recipe has only been tested with almond butter.
- Over ripe bananas work best as they are sweeter. When our bananas are getting overly ripe and do not have time to make our Gluten Free Cardamom Banana Pancakes, we peel them and throw them in a bag and freeze. Then, when you or the kids need a quick snack you can make Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies or matcha brownies.
- We have the best luck with FROZEN bananas for this recipe. We keep them frozen until ready to make the batter. Then, we chop the bananas and pulse in the food processor or high-powered blender. If for some reason your frozen bananas become slightly thawed, make sure to drain out any extra liquid as this will change the consistency of the batter.
- Be sure to allow your matcha brownie recipe to cool completely and then refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting to serve.
- Either ceremonial or culinary grade matcha can be used in this recipe. We like to dust the brownies with a little matcha powder before serving.
- You can store our matcha white chocolate brownies in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for us to 2 months in a freezer safe container-- like they are actually going to last that long! (smiling)
- Make 2 batches as these healthy vegan snacks go quick.
Celebrate Hanami
Happy Hanami! Beautiful sakura (cherry blossom) trees are in full bloom in Japan. There is no better way to celebrate the season than with a few Matcha White Chocolate Brownies or shortbread matcha cookies and tea at your favorite park with family and friends. Hanami is the Japanese celebration of viewing the Sakura blossoms. The season is really short, so it is a good thing that these matcha bars are so easy to make.
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Strawberries and matcha are a match made in heaven. Fresh strawberry slices are a nice garnish for our matcha white chocolate brownies. White chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate pair very well with matcha. The earthy vegetal flavor of matcha compliments the sweet chocolate in one delicious bite. Matcha, strawberries and white chocolate are the 3 flavors that remind us of spring in Japan.
Absolutely! Matcha adds a delicious earthy flavor and bright green color to baked goods. Natural way to add a burst of green color to baked goods without artificial dyes.
One slice of our healthy matcha brownies has about 67 mg of caffeine. However, unlike coffee, matcha does not give you the caffeine jitters and is actually promotes a euphoric feeling upon consumption.
Wishing everyone a happy Hanami and a beautiful healthy spring!
More Delicious Matcha Recipes
Baked Matcha Lemon Glazed Donuts
Matcha Banana Strawberry Ice Cream Cups
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Matcha White Chocolate Brownies
Equipment
- food processor or high speed blender
- 8 x 8 inch baking pan
Ingredients
- spray oil to prevent the magic matcha bars from sticking to pan or use parchment paper to line the pan for even easier removal.
- 3 bananas medium frozen bananas - keep frozen until ready to make the brownie batter.
- 1 cup almond butter
creamy - 3 tablespoon matcha (green tea) powder heaping! We used Fraser Tea Imperial Matcha Organic Green Tea. (Reserve one teaspoon of matcha as a garnish to dust on the top just before serving)
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
(We used vegan white chocolate chips) - 2-3 whole strawberries sliced thinly for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F). Line your 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper or spray your loaf pan with oil to prevent your bars from sticking to the pan.
- Cut up your frozen bananas into slices. Put your frozen banana slices into the food processor or high speed blender. Pulse until banana looks like fine grains of sand. Add matcha (green tea) and almond butter and and pulse and mix until well combined. Toss in a handful of white chocolate chips and mix with a spoon. (reserve 1 tablespoon of white chocolate chips for the top)
- Pour your magic matcha bar mix from your food processor/ blender into your prepared 8 x 8 baking pan. Spread evenly. Sprinkle on the remaining one tablespoon of white chocolate chips on top of the batter.
- Bake the matcha white chocolate brownies for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely at room temperature. Then, refrigerate matcha brownies for at least one hour before slicing.
- Slice your magic matcha bars into squares, sprinkle with a little matcha green tea. Garnish with slices of fresh strawberries, if desired. Enjoy the Hanami season!
Video
Notes
- It is best to use parchment paper to prevent sticking to the pan. In addition, if you keep your parchment paper long enough you can pull it directly out of the baking dish. We were fresh out of parchment paper, so we made do with oil spray.
- Almond butter has a mellow nutty flavor that allows the matcha flavor to shine through. In addition, it has a bit of a thinner consistency compared to other nut butters. Please note that each type of nut butter has a different consistency. This recipe has only been tested with almond butter.
- Over ripe bananas work best as they are sweeter. When our bananas are getting overly ripe and do not have time to make our Gluten Free Cardamom Banana Pancakes, we peel them and throw them in a bag and freeze. Then, when you or the kids need a quick snack you can make Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies or matcha brownies.
- We have the best luck with FROZEN bananas for this recipe. We keep them frozen until ready to make the batter. Then, we chop the bananas and pulse in the food processor or high-powered blender. If for some reason your frozen bananas become slightly thawed, make sure to drain out any extra liquid as this will change the consistency of the batter.
- Be sure to allow your matcha brownie recipe to cool completely and then refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting to serve.
- Either ceremonial or culinary grade matcha can be used in this recipe. We like to dust the brownies with a little matcha powder before serving.
- You can use regular real white chocolate chips or even semi-sweet chocolate chips if desired. If you have a dairy intolerance, use a vegan white chocolate chip.
- Store the matcha white chocolate brownies in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for us to 2 months in a freezer safe container-- like they are actually going to last that long! (smiling)
- Make 2 batches as these healthy vegan snacks go quick.
Larry says
Your new site is a lot faster for me. Thanks. I know the technical part is very hard. Love these brownies. Perfect for St Patty day!!!
HWC Magazine says
We are delighted to hear that the site is loading faster for you. These Matcha White Chocolate Brownies would be the perfect way to celebrate St. Patty's Day. Good day to you.
Aubry says
Thank you so much for the email about your new site and new recipe -- this looks so good. Hard to imagine a three ingredient brownie with none of the traditional ingredients. Wow. Do you have similar non-dairy deserts like this?
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Aubry. Dairy and us are not friends either. Here are few healthy dairy free desserts that you can eat on the go...
Chocolate Espresso Fig Balls
No Bake Cranberry Bliss Balls
Cranberry Oatmeal Breakfast cookies
Dana says
Just heard about these. Look great and so easy. I have some matcha I received as a gift, and I don't drink it very often at all -- I am going to try this Saturday. Need to find that Almond butter. Is it commonly available at a regular supermarket? Are there other substitutes I can use?
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Dana and thank you. You can find almond butter in a regular super market usually next to the peanut butter, jellies and jams. Almond butter works best because it has a thinner consistency compared to creamy peanut butter and it has a mellow nutty flavor that lets the matcha flavor shine. We have not tested this recipe with other nut butters like peanut butter but if you do, please report back and let us know how it went.
Kenny says
I was going to ask about storing these, but when we make these they don't stay around very long.
HWC Magazine says
Thanks Kenny. They won't last long. However, refrigerate after cooled for up to 3 days or up to 2 months in the freezer for safe storage.
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Love your new blog design! And really, really like these brownies -- such interesting flavor. Really. Good. Stuff. 🙂 Thanks!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much John. We are delighted to hear that you are liking the new website design. We celebrated the completion of the design with about 4 matcha white chocolate brownies. Thank goodness, they are relatively guilt free.
Hannah Kaminsky says
Wow, such a creative recipe! I'm amazed at how simple it is, and yet the results are quite spectacular. I have to try it ASAP!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Hannah! These matcha brownies really are so quick and fast to make. We think you are really going to love that chewy fudgy texture. Take Care
Raul says
These go in my Yum box. So happy I found the app and can store recipes. 5 ingredients and no gluten. Super.
HWC Magazine says
So glad you liked this little gluten- free treat Raul. They are super easy to make a little healthier than other treats. Take Care
Katerina says
Such a pity we don't live next door! I could enjoy these bars with my afternoon chocolate! Pinned and stumbled!
ChgoJohn says
Hanami felice, BAM!
I dunno, BAM. These might be too healthy for me Maybe if I deep fry them before dipping them in chocolate ganache would help them. 😉
Actually, I really do think they're great. Loved the way you used bananas and almond butter to add sweetness. Very good idea.
Arrivederci!
Abbe @ This is How I Cook says
I just had matcha tea for breakfast. How I wish I had one of these to go with it. We plan on being in China mid September for 18 days. Plan on leaving from Hong Kong, but I'm still checking. Maybe?
Shashi @ RunninSrilankan says
Bobbie - these bars sound wonderful! I so love your combo of sweet bananas, matcha green tea, almond butter and white chocolate chips!
Happy Hanami to you too - I love Arman's nobake treats too and now You and he can get together and open up a treat shop on either coast - what do you say?
Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
The name itself is so intriguing my friend. Lvoe how creative you are. And these bars are bursting so many many magical flavors.Thank you for the great recipe, Bobbi! Can't wait try!
Raymund says
Nice to see you all went natural color here, I have seen matcha bars in their bright green glory which honestly did not appeal me as I know it contains a lot of color, This is way much better now I wanna make one
Smitha says
These are lovely scrumptious bars. loved the texture and its really magical
Healthy World Cuisine says
I am so glad you like this recipe. I really love that chewy fudgy texture too.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I'm going to share you recipe with my friend how is a tea enthusiast and very into healthy eating. Her husband loves sweets and I bet this would make them both happy.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you Karen. That is the great thing about this recipe as it is very healthy but because of the fudgy texture it makes you feel like to are having something very naughty.