Green Tea Shortbread Bark

Yum! I found this one on Martha Stewart's website, and knew I had to make it as soon as possible. The "bark" part of the recipe is more accidental than premeditated, but a happy accident made for more interesting cookies. They've been a hit with everyone who's tried them; I even got the seal of approval from a grandmother and baker coworker of my boyfriend's! I'm making another batch to send to my grandma; the real test...

Green Tea Shortbread Bark

[Makes 3 dozen if they're small]

[Adapted from Martha: 

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/green-tea-shortbread-leaves]

[Note: For stronger flavor and color, use more green tea powder. These are very lightly flavored and quite tasty as is!]

Ingredients:

•  2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
•  2 Tbs. Chinese green tea powder (Matcha) (or more for stronger flavor)
•  1/2 tsp. salt 
•  1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•  1/2 c. confectioner's or granulated sugar (plus more for topping)

Directions:

1.  Sift flour, tea powder, and salt into a small bowl; set aside. 
2.  Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. (Hint: If it's not quite room temperature, cut it up into small slices; it'll beat fine, and the friction will warm it up anyway.)
3.  Add sugar; continue to beat until very light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. 
4.  Add flour mixture; combine on low, scraping sides of bowl with a spatula if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed with fingers. (It will be sticky. Fret not.)
5.  Place a piece of parchment on a clean surface; dust with flour. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness; chill in refrigerator or freezer until firm, about 30 minutes. (To make "bark", roll dough out, sandwich between two layers of parchment paper, make a jelly-roll out of it (curl one edge up and keep rolling it, creating a log of dough and parchment) and stick it in the freezer.) 
6.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Cut chilled dough with 2-inch leaf cutters. (If you chose the bark method, pull the dough out of the freezer and unroll it slowly. Pieces will break off, creating bark-like shapes. Ignore the re-chilling part, as there will be no scraps if you're breaking pieces off as you go. (Unless you wait too long and the dough gets mushy, in which case you can stick it in the freezer while the first batch is baking.) Dust with sugar and bake.) 
7.  Using a wide spatula, transfer to baking sheets. Chill until firm. 
8.  Gather scraps together, re-roll, chill, and cut shapes. 
9.  Bake until firm and barely starting to color, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through. (WATCH THEM CAREFULLY!! Smaller cookies will brown faster than larger ones; remove them or deal with burnt edges.) Cool completely on wire rack; store in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 weeks (if they'll last that long without being eaten!).

(Batch 1, covered liberally with powdered sugar before baking. Gives them a nice texture. Notice the small ones got crispy; watch for that, and remove them!)

(Batch 2, sprinkled lightly with sugar before baking. Not as textured. I watched more carefully though, so they're more evenly baked!)