Matcha Brownie Recipe {without White Chocolate}

This simple matcha brownie recipe creates soft, moist, and chewy matcha brownies that are swirled to perfection with the flavors of rich, sweet chocolate and earthy, distinct matcha green tea. 

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If you are a matcha lover like me, you NEED to try this Matcha Brownie Recipe. 

It is one of the BEST matcha desserts. It may even rival green tea ice cream as my favorite dessert. 

These easy matcha brownies are soft, chewy, and decadent. 

The slightly bitter matcha flavor balances the sweetness of chocolate for a unique brownie that’s not too sweet. 

Best Matcha Brownie Recipe

I wanted to make a simple matcha brownie recipe without white chocolate chips or a white chocolate mixture. It’s just so common. 

The sweetness of the white chocolate does go extremely well with earthy matcha flavors, like in this Best Matcha Cookie Recipe. 

But, I wanted regular brownies with a twist. 

So this recipe uses melted semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocolate swirl part of the brownie batter. 

The matcha batter is free of any chocolate to keep its vibrant green color. 

These slightly fudgy matcha brownies are soft and thick with that thin, crispy, crackly top crust that is so fun to bite into in classic brownie recipes. 

I did not want to make gooey matcha brownies at all. 

To me, perfect brownies have a chewy texture. They’re somewhere in between fudgy brownies and cake-like brownies. 

This matcha brownie recipe achieves that. These matcha brownies are chewy, soft, and rich with a slightly fudgy texture. 

For Matcha Drink Recipes:
- Matcha Coffee Recipe
- How to Make Strawberry Matcha Latte
- Iced Matcha Latte Recipe with Oatmilk or Milk of your Choice
- Starbucks Hot Matcha Green Tea Latte

The Power of Matcha

Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder made from green tea leaves. 

When you drink matcha, you ingest whole green tea leaves. Which means you are getting more antioxidants and nutrients than when you drink regular green tea. 

Matcha is considered a superfood. To learn more about its health benefits, check out Healthline’s “7 Proven Ways Matcha Tea Improves Your Health”.

You can also make this easy, 3-minute Iced Matcha Latte Recipe with the milk of your choice.

Best Matcha Powder

To learn about the differences between ceremonial grade matcha and culinary grade matcha, please go to this Matcha Cookie Recipe. There is a whole section that talks about the two. 

For matcha recipes, it is important to use a good quality matcha powder. 

It doesn’t need to be a ceremonial grade matcha. That can be very expensive. And the delicate earthy flavors can be easily lost in baked goods.

A culinary grade matcha or a premium grade matcha that is fresh, bright, and a good quality is the best matcha powder for this recipe. 

When matcha green tea powder starts to get old, it loses its color. It becomes a dull, almost grey-ish green. 

Lower quality green tea powders tend to be more dull and brown from the beginning. 

I know you can’t see the color of the matcha powder before buying (except in Amazon reviews and that can be skewed by lighting), but if your matcha powder starts to change color, it may be time to purchase a new one.

An old matcha powder can negatively affect the taste of these green tea brownies. 

For these matcha brownies, I like to use Omaker Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder (it's no longer available) or RISHI Organic Everyday Matcha Powder. 

It is a better value to use Omaker Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder, but RISHI Organic Everyday Matcha Powder has such a gorgeous color that stays after baking. It’s also delicious in matcha lattes. 

How to Make Matcha Chocolate Brownies

This matcha brownie recipe is very simple. 

First, we make the brownie base batter.

This batter is used for the base of both the chocolate and matcha parts of the brownie. 

After making the brownie base, scoop out a ½ cup of it with a measuring cup and pour it into a separate bowl. Set aside. 

Add matcha green tea powder to the remaining brownie base batter and mix until just combined. If this batter seems too thick or sticky, you can add a tablespoon of water or milk. Set aside.

The next step is to melt the chocolate chips. I didn’t want to use cocoa powder because melted chocolate adds such a great moist texture to brownies and cookies. 

I like to do this by adding the chocolate chips and milk to a small saucepan then placing it on low heat and stirring constantly. 

If you prefer, you can place the chocolate chips and milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30-second increments. Stirring between each increment. 

Be careful not to overheat the chocolate. If you do, it’ll be stiff and unusable.

The chocolate continues to melt as you’re mixing it, so it's an important step. Mix it well to see if it melts completely and is smooth before deciding whether or not to heat it longer.

Once the chocolate is melted, pour it into the bowl with the ½ cup of the brownie base batter. Mix until just combined. 

Next, pour some of the matcha batter into a lined baking tin. Add the chocolate batter in random spots on top of the matcha mixture. If there is any room in between the green tea batter, you can add the chocolate mixture there too. 

Keep alternating until you add all of the two batters into the prepared pan. 

If you would like to add an additional swirl effect, carefully swirl a butter knife through the batter in the pan. You can also accomplish this when you smooth and even out the batter with a rubber spatula.

Be careful not to completely mix the two batters together. This will lead to a yucky brown color instead of two distinct, beautiful colors - vibrant green and fudgy chocolate brown. 

Tips for the BEST Matcha Brownies

- For soft, thick brownies, I recommend using an 8” x 8” square baking pan. 

- Prepare the baking pan by lining it with parchment paper that hangs over at least two opposite sides of the pan. 

After baking and cooling, you can use the overhanging parchment paper as “handles” to easily lift the brownies out of the baking pan. 

- Allow the melted butter to cool some before adding the other ingredients to it.

Adding eggs to hot butter will cook the eggs, which will create clumps in the batter and change the texture of the baked brownies.

- Baking times can vary by oven and location. It’s better to underbake brownies than to overbake them because they continue to bake in the pan while they cool. 

Check your brownies about 5-10 minutes before the baking time listed in the recipe card below. A toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies should not come out completely clean. It should have a few sticky crumbs on it.

Learn how to make the Iced Matcha Latte pictured above with this Iced Matcha Latte Recipe.

- For the cleanest cut, allow the matcha brownies to complete cool before slicing. 

- This matcha brownie recipe will yield 9-12 brownies depending on how big or small you cut them. 

The brownies are rich, so it may be best to cut smaller brownies and just go for seconds. 

How to Store Matcha Brownies

Store these matcha brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.

After that, they start to dry out and become crumbly. 

I also recommend allowing the brownies to fully cool before storing. Otherwise, they may develop sticky tops. 

You may also like…
- Best Matcha Cookie Recipe - Easy, Soft, & Chewy
- Fruity Pebbles Bar Recipe - Easy, Fun & Unique
- How to Make Starbucks’ Iced Chai Tea Latte
- Matcha Protein Shake Recipe

Have you tried these matcha chocolate brownies? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. 

I also love to see photos of the recipes you make. Tag or mention @lovemischka on Pinterest, FB, Instagram, or Tiktok.