You’ve probably experienced it before: you’re scrolling online, only to find a mouth-wateringly delicious meal with a recipe right alongside it. The urge to grab it right through your screen is like nothing you have ever felt before.
You frantically scurry to the kitchen, pulling out all the utensils and praying you to have all the ingredients. Finally, the moment has arrived, and your long-awaited creation is done. You take the first bite: it’s a monstrosity.
To arrive at the final verdict, I will be assessing the recipe from three different standpoints: accessibility, difficulty and of course, taste.
Every two weeks, I will review and decide whether trending recipes on social media are an absolute feast or a total flop; you’re welcome in advance!
For the first installment, I decided to investigate a twist on the classic brownie by making white chocolate matcha brownies. Matcha is a green tea powder, originating from East Asia, but has grown increasingly popular in western countries within the last few years. To learn more about the history of matcha, click here.
Here is an overview of the ingredients and instructions that I followed, which are slightly different than the original:
- 125g (4 oz) white chocolate
- 110g (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 200g (1 cup) white sugar
- 50g (¼ cup) brown sugar
- 5mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 120g (1 cup) flour
- 12g (2 tbsp) matcha powder
- 3g (½ tsp) salt
- Microwave white chocolate and butter in 30 second increments, taking it out to stir in between until mixture is smooth.
- Beat together eggs, both sugars and vanilla until thick and pale.
- Add white chocolate/butter mixture into the egg/vanilla/sugar mixture.
- Add in flour, matcha powder, and salt. Mix.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes at 175°C and let rest for at least 30 minutes
To arrive at the final verdict, I will be assessing the recipe from three different standpoints: accessibility, difficulty and of course, taste.
With regards to accessibility, most of us probably don’t have matcha powder lying around in our kitchen cabinets. That being said, you could omit the matcha, leaving you with white chocolate brownies or even regular chocolate brownies. The one critique I have is the level of sweetness.
This recipe was very straightforward in execution. The biggest problem you’ll run into is an arm cramp. My hands were sore after whisking the eggs and sugars, so if you have an electric mixer or stand mixer, now is the time to use it.
Lastly and most importantly, taste. After 30 minutes of cooling, I found the brownies still slightly underbaked towards the center. I then left them to rest overnight, and in the morning, the texture resolved. As the original video claimed, it was extremely fudgy. The matcha not only added a unique element of nuttiness but also made the batter a vibrant green, which is always fun while baking.
If you’re someone who either hasn’t tried matcha before or is an avid matcha lover, you are more than welcome to experiment with the amount of powder you use.
Another alteration possibility is baking powder. I made another batch, adding in 4g (1 tsp) of baking powder along with the dry ingredients to lighten the thickness of the brownies. I would recommend using this additional ingredient if you want the texture to be a spongy cross between a brownie and a cake.
The one critique I have is the level of sweetness. The brownies were a bit too sugary with the white chocolate, white sugar and brown sugar. If you try this at home, I would suggest adding less of said ingredients.
Overall, a simple recipe for a unique twist on a classic recipe.
The final verdict: feast.
