Unique Christmas Cookie Ideas with Asian Flavors

Looking for unique Christmas cookies to break up the usual sugar overload? Try these cookie recipes that incorporate Asian flavors, including matcha, black sesame, and ube! These easy Asian cookie recipes will make your cookie trays really pop with color and flavor.

1. Honolulu Cookie Company Copycat Recipe

Who doesn’t want to spend Christmas in Hawai’i? Well, now you can bring a little bit of the islands to you, without the shipping costs. These Honolulu Cookie Co. copycat cookies are my most popular cookie recipe!

Macadmia Nut Shortbread Cookies (Honolulu Cookie Co Copycat)

• 1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks) softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup chocolate chips of choice for dipping
• 4 tsp vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco)

Check out this recipe

2. Matcha Crinkle Cookies

These matcha crinkle cookies went viral on Tiktok and for good reason. They’re super easy, super delicious, and super beautiful to look at. The vibrant green color is 100% natural from matcha powder. It’s perfect for Christmas, right?

Best Matcha Crinkle Cookies (No Chilling!)

• 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 cup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp matcha See notes

For rolling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp matcha optional

Check out this recipe

3. Matcha Checkerboard Cookies

Here is another matcha cookie with a really eye catching design. These matcha checkerboard cookies are a lot easier to make than they look and make a great addition to a Christmas cookie platter.

Easy Matcha Checkerboard Cookies

• 2 sticks butter 1 cup
• 1/2 tsp baking powder optional, see notes
• 1/4 tsp baking soda optional, see notes
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar can sub 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp matcha
• sanding sugar for sprinkling optional

Check out this recipe

4. Black Sesame Cookies

If you’re tired of the red, green, and overly sweet treats, give these black sesame cookies a try. They’ve got a nutty flavor that won’t send you into a sugar high. Plus, their natural gray color creates a striking contrast to all the icing you normally see at Christmastime.

Black Sesame Cookies (Sugar Cookie Style)

• 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
• 2 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2-3 tbsp black sesame paste see note
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Check out this recipe

5. Matcha Strawberry Pinwheel Cookies

I know, I know, it’s another matcha cookie. Should I just change my name to matcha mommy now? But these matcha pinwheels are perfect for Christmas. If you want, you can use red food dye instead of the strawberries to make the cookies red and green.

Strawberry Matcha Pinwheel Cookies

• 2 sticks butter 1 cup
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar can sub 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberry blended into powder
• Optional 1 drop red food coloring
• 1 tsp matcha
• Flour for dusting

Check out this recipe

6. Kinako Cookies

Have you tried kinako before? It’s a roasted soybean powder that tastes almost like peanut butter. Used in sweet treats, it’s so good! If you give these kinako cookies a try, you can even roll them out and use Christmas cookie cutters. They’d taste really great with white icing as well.

Kinako Sugar Cookies (Roll Out)

• 1 cup softened unsalted butter 2 sticks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup kinako

Check out this recipe

7. Ube Crinkle Cookies

If you made an entire Christmas cookie platter of crinkle cookies, I don’t think anyone would complain. These vibrant purple crinkles get their flavor from the root vegetable ube!

Easy Ube Crinkle Cookies

• 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 cup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup ube halaya jam optional, see notes
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp ube extract

For rolling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Check out this recipe

More Asian Baking Ideas:

Looking for some cakes or bars to round out your holiday desserts? Check these Asian bakes out:

• Matcha chiffon cake
• Mochi brownies
• Yuzu pie bars
• Mini matcha cupcakes
• Black sesame layer cake