Whether you love it, hate it or have never tried it, matcha is still one of the current health food trends – if Instagram is anything to go by – as our desire for a greater variety of speciality teas coupled with healthy lifestyle choices continues to grow, the popularity of matcha doesn’t seem to be going anywhere?
Matcha: What’s so good about it?
Matcha is miraculous in many ways; made from 100% organic green tea leaves ground to a fine powder, this ‘green miracle’ has 15x the health benefits of regular green tea. Packed full of goodness, it instantly makes your feel energised yet calmer and focused, helping you to perform at your best.
More matcha benefits:
- Detoxifies effectively and naturally
- Calms the mind and relaxes the body
- Rich in fibre, chlorophyll and vitamins
- Enhances mood and aids in concentration
- Provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
- Prevents disease
- Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar
- Packed with antioxidants including the powerful EGCg
- Boosts metabolism and burns calories
This brings me onto Neptune Tea, a contemporary premium tea brand, working with Japan’s premiere tea farms to source a range of extraordinary organic Matcha green tea. Founded by Wei Gong in 2011, the brand has recently unveiled a new visual identity and product strategy that signifies its growth and transformation into a leading contemporary tea brand for today’s health conscious and determined individual. I was kindly sent some samples and of course, I created a recipe using this wonderful stuff!
Matcha recipe time!
Ingredients:
For the donuts –
- 150g rolled oats – can be gluten-free (I used Flahavan’s)
- 2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder (I used Lucy Bee)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (I used Lucy Bee)
- 2 tablespoons chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Wyldsson’s ‘Nutella’)
- 1 tablespoon almond or cashew butter (I used Meridian Foods)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (I used Meridian Foods)
For the white chocolate matcha glaze –
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 50g white chocolate (can be dairy-free/vegan)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
- 1 teaspoon matcha tea powder (I used Neptune Tea)
- Freeze-dried raspberries, to decorate (I get mine from Sainsbury’s)
Get making!
- Make the donuts – Mix together the oats and cacao/cocoa powder in a bowl. Melt the coconut oil with the maple syrup, hazelnut spread and nut butter until smooth. Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix to form a flapjack mixture.
- Line 4 donut holes in a tin with clingfilm. Divide the mixture into 4 and using your fingers, press into each one to fill and smooth out on the top. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.
- Now gently melt the coconut oil with the white chocolate until smooth, then remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and matcha tea powder.
- Remove from the chilled donuts from the tin and place on a wire rack with something underneath for excess glaze.
- Spoon over the matcha white chocolate to cover the tops and sides of each donut, then sprinkle with freeze-dried raspberries.
- Return to the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.
- When you’re ready to serve, simply eat one straight from the fridge – yum!
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