These buttery Hojicha Viennese Sablé Cookies are delicately infused with the toasty aroma of hojicha. The crumbly cookie and the white chocolate coating create the interesting crispy and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Perfect with tea or enjoyed solo.
You might also like Matcha Cream Brûlée Pie or Matcha Gâteau Basque.
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What is Hojicha (ほうじ茶, 焙じ茶) ?
"Hojicha" translates to "roasted tea" in Japanese. The name reflects the distinctive roasting process that the tea leaves undergo, giving hojicha its unique flavor and characteristics. Unlike matcha that is widely used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, hojicha is commonly enjoyed as casual sipping.
Why do we love Hojicha?
Most of the people know what matcha is, but not so much about hojicha. I personally love hojicha a lot more, and here’s why? Hojicha is made from roasted green tea leaves, which sets it apart from other green teas that are typically steamed or pan-fired. The roasting process imparts a warm, earthy aroma and a caramel-like taste to the tea. The roasting also reduces its caffeine content, making it a milder and often nuttier alternative to other green teas.
What is Viennese Cookie (Sablés) ?
If you look up Viennese Cookie or Viennese Sablés, you might find more links about Viennese Wirls or Viennese Fingers (Linzer Stangerl is what they call it in Austria). While the name "Viennese Whirls" might suggest an Austrian origin, these biscuits are a British creation. Viennese Finger on the other hand, is a similar cookie in a long shape, and usually dipped in chocolate. The term "Viennese" is likely used to evoke the association with delicate and sophisticated pastries often found in Viennese (Austrian) patisseries.
So why is it called Viennese Sablés here? Sablés, in particular, is a French word that translates to "sandy" in English. In the context of baking, it refers to a type of shortbread cookie known for its crumbly and tender texture. I presume when Pierre Hermé published the recipe of Sablés Viennois (Viennese) in his book, it was how Viennese Sablés was first created. Even though Viennese Sablés, Viennese Wirls and Viennese Fingers look very alike, their recipe are slightly different: Viennese Sablés contains egg white, but most recipes of Viennese Wirls and Viennese Fingers don’t have eggs and contains corn starch.
Ingredient Notes in Hojicha Viennese Cookie
- Hojicha - For this cookie, I am using hojicha powder for the cookie batter and hojicha loose leaf for finishing. The hojicha powder had better be finely ground powder, instead of hojicha in the tea bags.
- Flour - Flour serves as the structural foundation for the cookies. It provides the necessary gluten to give the cookies their shape and the sandy texture. I use all purpose flour here, but you can also use cake flour.
- Butter - Butter is a key ingredient in Viennese-style cookies. It adds richness, flavor, and contributes to the tender and crumbly texture. The high fat content in butter enhances the mouthfeel and helps achieve the "sandy" quality of sablé cookies.
- Powdered Sugar - The fine texture of powdered sugar contributes to the tenderness of the cookies and helps create a smoother and softer crumb that regular sugar can’t do.
- Salt - Salt enhances the overall flavor profile of the cookies.
- Egg White - The egg white serves as a binding agent. It helps hold the ingredients together and contributes to the structure of the cookies. Additionally, it can add moisture and a slight chewiness.
- White Chocolate - White chocolate is optional finishing here, but it adds very nice texture and a little sweetness to the cookie.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Hojicha Viennese Cookie?
Soften the unsalted butter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk the soften butter until it’s softer and pale.
Add the powdered sugar, and cream the butter by whisking.
Add the egg white and cream the butter again. The texture should get a bit harder after adding egg white.
Sift the flour and hojicha powder into mixture, and mix it with a spatula until you don’t see the dry ingredients at all.
Put the star-shaped piping tip in the piping bag, and fill the bag with cookie batter.
Pipe squiggles, swirls on a silicon baking mat or a parchment paper.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
Melt the white chocolate and adjust the texture if needed. (Check recipe tips.)
Dip the cooled cookie in white chocolate, and scrap the bottom of cookie on the edge of the bowl to remove the excess white chocolate.
Place the chocolate-dipped cookie on silicon baking mat. Top with a pinch of hojicha tea leaf to finish.
Equipment
Amazon Basic silicon baking mats are cheap but durable.
For small recipe, I recommend using hand mixer for easier control.
Like most of my recipes, I recommend using a scale for more accurate measuring. Sometimes, I use micro scale to measure anything until 10 grams.
Recipe Tips
Temperature of ingredients matter! Softened butter integrates more smoothly into the dough. And the most importantly, the final cookie batter should be only slightly colder than your hand temperature. The colder the batter, the harder to pipe and the piping line might break easily if it’s too cold. The warmer the batter, the softer it gets, but you will risk melting it during piping. Also the cookie might spreading too much during baking if the batter is too soft.
Squeezing out excess air before piping! The little air pockets in the cookie batter might cause the cracks and discontinue line when you pipe, so make sure you push all the air out with a bench scraper.
White chocolate is too thick! Thick white chocolate might result in a very thick coating. To save the texture of white chocolate, add some cacao butter, which can loosen the thickness of white chocolate but still set quickly after cooling down.
Try this recipe with matcha powder! I did Matcha Viennese Cookie with the same ratio. Simply substitute hojicha powder to matcha powder, and the result was fantastic.
Recipe FAQ
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Recipe Card
Hojicha Viennese Cookie (Sablés)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 150 g unsalted butter soften
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 egg white
- 18 g hojicha powder
- 156 g all purpose flour
- 100 g white chocolate
- loose hojicha tea leaf (for decoration)
Instructions
- Prep: Soften the unsalted butter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Whisk: Whisk the soften butter until it’s softer and pale.
- Cream: Add the powdered sugar, and cream the butter by whisking.
- Cream: Add the egg white and cream the butter again. The texture should get a bit harder after adding egg white.
- Mix: Sift the flour and hojicha powder into mixture, and mix it with a spatula until you don’t see the dry ingredients at all.
- Fill: Put the star-shaped piping tip in the piping bag, and fill the bag with cookie batter.
- Pipe: Pipe squiggles, swirls on a silicon baking mat or a parchment paper.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Melt: Melt the white chocolate and adjust the texture if needed. (Check recipe tips.)
- Dip: Dip the cooled cookie in white chocolate, and scrap the bottom of cookie on the edge of the bowl to remove the excess white chocolate.
- Cool: Place the chocolate-dipped cookie on silicon baking mat. Top with a pinch of hojicha tea leaf to finish.
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