Soft and fluffy Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes topped with a white cloud of vanilla whipped cream taste just like a Matcha green tea Frappuccino! These cupcakes are delicate with just enough matcha flavor without being overpowering or bitter.
I remember those hot summer days in college when I would order all these Starbucks Matcha Green Tea Frappuccino. Do they still have that? It was one of my favorite sweet drinks. And these Matcha cupcakes are just like those drinks in cupcake form!
This Matcha cupcakes recipe is one of the very first recipes I’ve developed before I even started this blog. I intended to open up a cupcake shop just like everyone and their grandmas, but that idea never came to fruition. And I’m glad it didn’t, since writing on this blog is way more fun!
What is matcha?
So, what is matcha anyways? If you don’t already know, matcha is green tea leaves ground into a fine powder. But not all green teas are matcha. Matcha is produced from a shade-grown leaf called tencha, that is specifically grown and processed for this purpose.
You can buy matcha at all Japanese grocery stores, as well as pretty much any Asian grocery stores, and even mainstream American supermarkets nowadays. You may find 2 to 3 types of matcha or matcha powder mix at the store:
- Culinary matcha – this is the one we want for cooking and baking.
- Ceremonial matcha – this is more expensive and usually reserved for drinking.
- Matcha latte mix – this is not the one you want because it is usually presweetened and can contain creamer or dry milk. But you don’t need it because making a homemade matcha latte is super easy!
What does matcha taste like?
Good matcha should not be bitter or acidic. Matcha is like freshly cut grass, earthy with a hint of the ocean.
How to make Matcha Cupcakes
Easy matcha green tea cupcake batter
- Add all the wet ingredients – buttermilk, oil, egg, vanilla extract – in a large mixing bowl.
- Using a hand whisk, beat until combined. You can use an electric mixer or a stand mixer, but it is not necessary.
- In another bowl, sift flour, matcha powder, baking soda, and baking powder together. Then stir in sugar and salt until well distributed. Add the flour mixture into the liquid mixture.
- Whisk until a smooth batter forms.
- Use a large cookie scoop to divide the cake batter evenly into 12 lined muffin cups.
- Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
What type of frosting is best for matcha cupcakes?
Matcha is such a delicate flavor that you don’t want to overpower it with a too strong or too rich frosting. I opted for a light and fluffy whipped cream to top these cupcakes off and a dusting of matcha powder.
- Beat heavy whipping cream with sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer here would be wise, but you can certainly make whipped cream by hand.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, fill a pastry bag fitted with your favorite piping tip and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes.
- Finish off with a dusting of matcha powder.
My typical whipped cream recipe doesn’t contain a lot of sugar, but I increased the amount of sugar in this recipe just a little bit to make it sweeter, which pairs well with these cupcakes.
But I prefer buttercream frosting…
Even though whipped cream is my preference for these matcha cupcakes. If you want a richer frosting, I would recommend using a not-too-sweet buttercream and flavor it with matcha powder to amp up the matcha flavor even more.
Try one of these buttercream frosting recipes and add up to 1 tablespoon of matcha powder to it.
Do I need to stabilize the whipped cream to use as frosting?
I’ve successfully used whipped cream as frosting for cupcakes many times before without the need to stabilize it. See these Banana Split Cupcakes and these Pina Colada Cupcakes.
But if you want to stabilize your whipped cream, you can add ½ – 1 teaspoon of powder gelatin to the whipped cream.
- Bloom the gelatin in a tablespoon of water
- Microwave until the gelatin dissolves completely
- Mix the gelatin mixture into your whipped cream when it is at soft peaks stage
- Continue whipping until stiff peaks form
Baker’s Tips
- You can use either type of matcha powder in this recipe: culinary or ceremonial. However, it is more economical to use culinary matcha powder meant for cooking and baking.
- Make sure your matcha powder is pure tea powder and not a matcha latte mix, which is usually already sweetened and can contain creamer.
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, check out how to make homemade buttermilk.
Storing leftover matcha cupcakes
These cupcakes are best within 1 – 2 days, but you can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Making ahead
The cupcakes can be made a few days ahead and stored at room temperature for 3 – 5 days without the frosting. They can even be kept frozen for up to 6 months, be sure to wrap them well. Simply thaw them at room temperature and add the frosting when you plan to serve.
Whipped cream is easy to make so I recommend making the whipped cream and topping the cupcakes the day of or just before you plan to serve, especially to save fridge space.
More matcha recipes
- Matcha Madeleines
- Matcha Shortbread Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Matcha Cookies
- Matcha Green Tea Mochi
- Matcha Donuts
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, send me a photo, rate it and don’t forget to tag me @wildwildwhisk on Instagram. I’d love to see what’s cooking up in your kitchen. Cheers!
Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes
Ingredients
Matcha Cake
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 175 g
- 2 tablespoon matcha powder, 11 g
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, 141 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk, 175 g
- ½ cup vegetable oil, 105 g
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 236 g
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, 47 g
- ½ - 1 teaspoon matcha powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup standard size muffin pan with cupcake paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
- Sift flour, matcha powder, baking soda, baking powder in another bowl, add salt and sugar and whisk until evenly distributed. Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredient mixture and stir until a smooth batter forms.
- Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups using a large cookie scoop and bake for 17 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 - 15 minutes until cool to the touch before removing them from the pan and setting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the whipped cream, beat together heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with your favorite tip and pipe a swirl on top of the cupcakes. Dust some matcha powder on top. Keep refrigerated.
Video
Notes
- Use culinary matcha powder for baking, make sure your matcha powder is pure tea powder and not a matcha powder mix used to make matcha latte.
- The whipped cream will last as long as the cupcakes without any stabilizing agent, but make sure you beat until stiff peaks.
- You can stabilize the whipped cream using ½ - 1 teaspoon of gelatin powder, bloom it in a tablespoon of water, microwave until completely dissolved, and mix this in with the whipped cream while it is at soft peak stage and continue beating until stiff peaks.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
This post was originally published on 5/1/2017. The recipe has been updated and republished on 8/13/2020 with the latest improvements, extra tips, process photos and a video to help you in the kitchen.
These are SO good. I love matcha everything. These have the perfect sweetness and matcha combined. I’m so glad I found your blog, and I’m looking forward to making lots of things using your recipe!
Thank you so much Jennifer! Glad you enjoy it!
Great recipe! The store was out of baking powder and whipping cream. So, I substituted buttermilk + baking soda for baking powder and the cupcakes still turned out great! I tried substituting half and half + butter for the whipping cream, but it wouldn’t whip :'( So I had a frosting-less cupcake, but still tasty nonetheless and definitely better for my health xD
Aww, I’m sorry you couldn’t find whipping cream. If you still want to add frosting, you can check out my swiss buttercream or American style buttercream, they both aren’t too sweet. But I’m glad you like the cupcakes still 🙂
I absolutely loved how they turned out! I made these for my mama because she loves green tea and she loved them. I’m not a baker so I wasn’t so sure if they would turn out well since a lot of things were new to me. Ofc they turned out good though! They would’ve been better if I could actually frost things properly but oh well, practice makes perfect😂
I’m so happy to hear that your mom loves them! As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters 🙂
These cupcakes didn’t rise for me unfortunately. 🙁
Not sure if it is because I used coconut oil as my vegetable oil or perhaps over mixed. I used an electric mixer.
What is the consistency of the batter supposed to look like? Mine was quite runny.
Oh no, I’m sorry it didn’t rise. Hmm if you use the same amount of coconut oil, I would think it should work but I’ve never made it with coconut oil before. Overmixing can put too much air into the batter, the cupcakes will over-rise and then collapse in the oven, that sounds like it could be the problem. I can’t remember exactly the consistency of the batter since I haven’t made this recipe in a while… Some cupcake recipe can be quite runny when made with oil. If you try this recipe again, try it without the electric mixer, I always make cupcake batter by hand, also to be on the safe side, reduce the baking soda by half to reduce over-rising. I hope you try it again, and let me know.
Bad leavening was probably the culprit.
This recipe is excellent – thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
I’m just wondering.. Would I be able to substitute the Matcha powder for Lavender (for the cake) and earl grey tea (for the frosting)? I was thinking of using this recipe to make lavender cupcakes with earl grey whipped cream frosting, since the Matcha cupcakes were so, so good. I tried a different lavender and earl grey cupcakes recipe, but it didn’t turn out great.
Are you planning to put crushed lavender into the batter? Lavender is very strong, so I would be careful not to use too much. I don’t really know how much to use, but definitely not a straight substitution with the matcha powder. I believe there is lavender extract if you want to make it with an extract. You may have to test it out to see what the perfect amount is either way. As for the whipped cream, you could try steeping the earl grey tea in hot cream, then you must let it cool and refrigerate until cold before whipping. Come back and let me know if it works!
Hi, my first time checking your website so I decided to make this recipe and I just Loved it!!!!! The cupcakes are so moist and the flavor of the matcha is perfect!! Well maybe because my sister brought me the matcha I used from Japan!! I think I`m gonna use this recipe for all the recipes, so I just have to change the flavor… Do you think I can do that? For example for the red velvet I added the vinegar and change the matcha for the chocolate??
I actually have a red velvet recipe if you want to check that out. The vinegar is not there to impart any flavor, it’s used in conjunction with baking soda to create lift/rise in the cupcakes. You can use the recipe and change to your liking if it’s just something simple like changing out the matcha powder for some other powder. Just keep in mind that each powder for flavoring has different strength and taste so what you get with the matcha powder may not be the same for others. For example, if you are to use it to make a chocolate cupcakes, it would be very bland because you’ll need a lot more cocoa powder to get a deep chocolate flavor. Feel free to browse around though, I have a lot of different flavor cupcakes if you’d like to try. 🙂
Solid recipe! I used cake flour and a buttermilk sub (whole mik and vinegar). My cupcakes have a nice, moist crumb and rose well. I will probably increase the matcha next time because I like a stronger matcha flavor. Overall, I was pleased with my results and will definitely make these again.
Excellent, thanks for the feedback Vanessa!
I made these again yesterday. I used AP flour, whole milk + lemon juice, and increased the matcha by 1-1.5 tsp. They were perfect! Everyone gobbled them up. Going to make another batch soon.
Thanks Vanessa! I’m happy to hear everyone loved them 🙂
Hi Trang, can I substitute butter milk with whole milk? Thanks!
Buttermilk is usually thicker than whole milk, so I wouldn’t substitute directly. You can try one of these:
1. You can try adding lemon juice or vinegar to whole milk to make a buttermilk substitute, usually 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk.
2. Try mixing half milk half plain yogurt or sour cream.
I think one of these will make good substitute but keep in mind I haven’t used them before, so forgive me if they don’t work perfectly.
Can I use cake flour for this with the same measurement?
Yes Kimberly, you should be able to.
Can you use this to make a cake?
Hi Chris, you sure can. Although I’ve never made a cake with this recipe so I don’t know what size it will be, but probably a small 2-layer cake. You will need to adjust the baking time when baking in a larger pan. It will take longer so just watch it so it doesn’t burn.