B-b-b-baking: It's not easy being green.

I've been wanting to make use of my matcha green tea powder since I got it during the first week after I moved to London. It was on sale for 50% off at the time at my favourite tea spot here called The Tea Haus, but I'll save that story for another time.

It was St. Patty's Day, so while everyone was out drinking and wearing shamrock antennas, leprechaun hats, and the sort, I was hiding. For one, I was hiding because I don't own any green attire and could have been pinched (gasp!), but I also wanted to hide from the crazy party people out there! Residence party people party pretty hard...

Partly in honour of St. Patty's Day, and my desire to make this for a while, I made a loaf of matcha-red bean swirl bread. Aside from the pictures, this entry will be rather short because it was just a matter of combining two recipes I've used on my blog before.

What I have learned today about St. Patrick's Day:

- While in elementary school, they gave us green food-dyed milk and shamrock cookies for St. Patrick's Day, apparently, the adult version consists of green beer.

- On St. Patrick's Day, eating and drinking restrictions from Lent are lifted, so you can drink and eat to your heart's content, but I already do that on a regular basis, so for me, every day is St. Patrick's Day! :D

- Kermit the Frog would win St. Patrick's Day if it was a contest, because he's pretty darn green.

Green bread dough?

Green bread dough that rose for 2 hours instead of 1 because my dad kept talking to me on Skype.

Koshian! i.e. Japanese sweetened, fine red bean paste. It's quite pliable (notice all my finger intends from patting and spreading it).

Because it rose longer than it was supposed to, I almost couldn't fit the rolled log of dough in the loaf pan. 

The swirl in the middle is rather thick, and not as swirly as I would have liked. It would probably have been better to roll the dough out thinner and tighter. Still tastes good though! :)

Matcha-Anko Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour and Just One Cookbook)

*Vegan-friendly if you use soymilk or almond milk*

Ingredients for white sandwich bread

2 cups of koshian (i.e. fine, sweetened red bean paste)

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. 

2.Make white sandwich bread dough, but stir matcha powder into dry ingredients. You can knead the matcha powder into the dough, but it just takes a bit longer, and won't be as evenly distributed (that's what I did because I forgot to add it). Let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

3. After the first rising, flatten the dough, and spread the red bean paste across the surface, leaving at least an inch from the edges.

4. Roll the dough away from you into a log, and seal the edges. Place the log into a lined or nonstick loaf pan, and cover with plastic wrap to rise again for 45 minutes.

*Note: If your first rising was 2 hours long, the second rise probably only has to be about 30 minutes, as opposed to 45.*

5. Remove the plastic wrap, and bake the bread in the oven for approximately 35 minutes.

6. Et voila! Green bread!

I love the combination of matcha green tea and red bean :) I've had it in Asian cake form and icecream form, and now in bread form!

-M