Monstrously Delicious: Mike Wazowski Matcha Thumbprint Cookies

Matcha thumbprint cookies are a delicious twist on the classic thumbprint cookie recipe, incorporating matcha green tea powder’s earthy and slightly bitter flavor. With my version, I decorated the cookies to look like Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.

What are thumbprint cookies?

Thumbprint cookies are a type of classic cookie characterized by their small, round shape with an indentation (or “thumbprint”) in the center. The indentation is typically created by pressing your thumb or a utensil (like the back of a spoon) into the dough before baking. This indentation is then filled with various types of sweet fillings, which can vary from jams and jellies to frosting, chocolate, nuts, or other sweet spreads.

Who is Mike Wazowski?

Mike Wazowski is a lovable lime-green monster from the Pixar animated film “Monsters, Inc.” With his round, one-eyed charm, he’s like the living embodiment of a happy, winking emoji 🙂

Some Tips to Make Mike Wazowski Matcha Thumbprint Cookies

• Soft Butter: Ensure that the butter is soft before creaming it with sugar. Softened butter will mix more easily and create a smoother cookie dough.
• Properly Shape the Cookies: When forming the cookie dough balls, make sure they are uniform in size to bake evenly.
• Baking Time and Temperature: Follow the recommended baking temperature and time in the recipe. Overbaking can make the cookies dry while underbaking can result in cookies that are too soft.

Ingredients

For the matcha cookies

• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons Sugar, 75g
• 2 ½ tablespoons Matcha Powder, 15g
• 1 cup Flour, 120g
• ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda,  1.25g
• ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, 1.2g

For the decoration

• 1 heaping cup Powdered Sugar, about 125g
• 2 – 3 tablespoons Hot Water
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 ½ tablespoons Milk Chocolate Chips

Instructions

For the matcha cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and set it aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until smooth. Add the matcha powder and mix until incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. 

4. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. 

5. Roll into small balls (about 30g each) and lightly flatten the dough. You will have some extra dough and set it aside for Mike’s horns.

6. On each flattened cookie dough, make an indent to where you want Mike’s eyeball with a small shot glass or something similar (I used a round cookie cutter with aluminum foil wrapped around).

7. With the leftover dough, make small triangles and attach them to where Mike’s horns should be.

8. Bake the cookie dough for 7 minutes or until the cookies look dry and lightly cracked on the surface but still very soft.

9. When they come out of the oven, press the indents down again to make more defined wells for the frosting. Allow to cool.

For the decoration

1.Whisk the powdered sugar, hot water, and vanilla.

2. Spoon the frosting into the indents of the cookies and place green M&M in the center of the frosting. Let the frosting set. 

3. Microwave chocolate chips in 15-second increments (for about a total of 75 seconds) and pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag. Draw Mike’s pupils on top of the M&Ms and mouth underneath the eyeballs.

4. (Optional) Add highlight on Mike’s eye by piping a tiny amount of the leftover white frosting on top.

If you like this Mike Wazowski Matcha Thumbprint Cookies, you may also like:

• Oreo White Chocolate Balls – Minions
• Nightmare Before Christmas Cookies
• Baked Mochi Donuts – Rilakkuma & Hello Kitty