Marble Matcha Brownies
This recipe has been updated and upgraded from the original (published back in April 2020). I made three changes, which gives us better brownies!
I balanced out the matcha batter to have a similar consistency to the chocolate batter, so texturally, the brownies would feel like a whole rather than two disjointed entities.
I bumped up the flavour of both batters, adding depth and tasty tones via brown butter in the matcha batter, and a dash of espresso in the chocolate batter.
I upped the ratio of flour in both batters. There were issues with overly wet batters, and so sometimes this caused an issue with the batters mixing too much, causing the marbling to be muddle. Plus, the middle piece of the brownie would sometimes be undercooked and a bit too gooey. Adding flour fixes this, and the marble effect is much more pronounced here.
Let’s talk brownies.
It’s hard to find a truly good recipe for chocolate brownies nowadays, since everyone’s idea of ‘good’ varies according to taste preferences. Do you want chewy, fudgy brownies? Or is your idea of a perfect brownie one that’s more cakey, more crumbly? Or perhaps it’s a sweet combination of both, a brownie that can hold its structure on the outside, resembling a super moist chocolate cake, but once you get to its middle, it gives way to gooey, oozy chocolate? Everyone has their own preference, sure. But for me, I stand firmly in camp fudgy. And fudgy these brownies are!
But if fudgy isn’t enough to convince you to make these, here are three reasons why it’s a keeper.
It uses a base by Claire Saffitz. There’s a saying that goes, “I would die for Claire from the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen.” And with her brownie base (tweaked by yours truly), I can see why fans would say that, because they are to die for.
With me and my itchy fingers, I couldn’t just follow a recipe as is. I had to riff on it. And in this case, I gave it a vein of Asian flavour, with the addition of matcha!
It’s actually two brownie recipes, made into one! I made Claire’s brownie base (tweaked slightly), and then whipped up a separate base with matcha and white chocolate, and then swirled them together in the baking tin before baking. So it’s a ripple brownie! (Though admittedly, I didn’t do a particularly stellar job with the ripple. Still, it’s a ripple nonetheless!
Get baking, y’all. And ripple away!
Chocolate & Matcha Brownies
Makes 12-16 pieces
Ingredients
Matcha batter
120g (1/2 cup) butter
120g (4.2 oz) white chocolate
150g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
2 eggs
3g (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
80g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
10g (1 tablespoon) matcha (green tea) powder
Chocolate batter
150g (1/2 cup) butter
120g (4.2 oz) dark chocolate (I used 70%)
150g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
2 eggs
3g (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
80g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
30g (4 tablespoons) cocoa powder
5g (1 teaspoon) espresso powder
Directions
Matcha batter: Heat the butter in a small pot or saucepan, and let it cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat, letting it brown and turn nutty, and making sure it doesn’t burn at the bottom. Pour the brown butter through a sieve into a heatproof bowl, and add the white chocolate, sugar, and salt to it. Whisk everything together, melting the chocolate and dissolving the sugar. Then, add in the eggs and vanilla extract, and mix to incorporate. Sift the flour and matcha powder into the wet ingredients, and whisk for 1 minute until a thick, smooth batter forms, and no streaks of flour remain. (Make sure not to overmix the batter at this point.)
Chocolate batter: Similar to the matcha batter, first start off by melting the butter and chocolate in a bowl (you can do this in a pot, or in a microwave too). Then, whisk in the sugar and salt, then the eggs and vanilla extract. Finally, add in the flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder, and fold until just mixed and no streaks of flour remain.
Prepping: Heat your oven to 180°C. Meanwhile, brush (or spray) a 9’’ x 9’’ baking tin (or one of a similar size) with oil, then line it with baking paper.
Marbling: Reserve roughly 1/4 of the chocolate batter in a bowl. Pour the rest of the chocolate batter into the lined baking tin, spreading it out to all sides, and smoothing the top with a spatula. Then, pour all of the matcha batter on top of the chocolate batter, and spread it out evenly again. Now, dollop on the chocolate batter you saved onto the matcha batter (I find a 3x3 grid of dots works well). Using a toothpick or a chopstick, gently swirl and circle your way through the batter to form a marbled effect.
Baking: When brownie base is marbled to your desire, pop the brownie into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester poked through it comes out clean. When done, let the brownie cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before removing it from the tin and setting it on a wire rack to continue cooling to room temperature. Slice it up into pieces, and serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or just devour it on its own!