Matcha or green tea powder is a flavor that I really enjoy. It also makes a really great drink when mixed with plant milk. The inspiration for this recipe came out of a desire to incorporate that flavor into a choux recipe. Any comments about the green tea pastry cream looking like an elementary school slime experiment are totally valid. We actually added a tiny touch of food coloring because the brand of matcha powder we used was a bit dull. Regardless, these vegan matcha and chocolate eclairs are so awesome. It was Jimmy’s idea to add cocoa powder to the choux dough for some extra flavor and a different color. If you like matcha and you like chocolate, we think you’ll really enjoy this recipe.

These vegan matcha and chocolate eclairs are a variation of our vegan eclair and vegan honey and yogurt eclair recipes.

a plate with two vegan eclairs beside a mug filled with matcha flavored soy milk.

If you try this recipe, leave us a comment below to let us know how it goes. We would love to hear from you!

Vegan Matcha and Chocolate Eclairs

Little Lighthouse Baking Co.

Vegan eclairs made of chocolate choux. They are filled with matcha pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache.

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Prep 30

Cook 45

Rest 2

Total 3 15

Course Dessert

Cuisine French, Vegan

Servings 10 pieces

Ingredients

Matcha Pastry Cream

1 cup unsweetened soy milk (plus 1 tbsp)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp matcha powder
pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup sugar
⅓ cup Just Egg
3 tbsp vegan butter

Chocolate Choux Dough

¼ cup water
¼ cup unsweetened soy milk (plus 1 tbsp)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa powder
½ tbsp sugar
3 ½ tbsp vegan butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup Just Egg
¼ cup unsweetened soy milk (to mix with the Just Egg)

Chocolate Ganache

60 grams vegan milk chocolate (1 candy bar)
1 ½ tbsp unsweetened soy milk (20g)

Instructions

Make the matcha pastry cream.

As always, prepare this first. Place a medium or large sieve over a mixing bowl. Set aside the butter in one tablespoon pieces.
Add the soy milk, matcha powder, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt to a small sauce pan. Mix with a whisk to break up the lumps of matcha powder and leave to simmer on medium heat. It will simmer pretty quickly, in only a few minutes.
In a small or medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and Just Egg.
Mix with a whisk until evenly combined.
Once the milk mixture has started to simmer, slowly whisk in half of it into the Just Egg mixture.
Next, slowly whisk in all of the mixture from the mixing bowl back into the pot with the remaining milk mixture. Whisk continuously on medium heat to cook and thicken the mixture. It should be thick enough to see the streaks of the whisk in it.
NOTE: We added a tiny bit of green food coloring to make the color stand out more in the pictures.
Turn off the heat. Scoop the mixture from the pot into the sieve you prepared earlier. Using a rubber spatula, press it through the sieve to get rid of any lumps in the mix. Don’t forget to scrape the outside bottom of the sieve to get any of the mix that collects there.
The lighting made the pastry cream look darker.
Mix in one tablespoon of butter at a time while the mixture is still warm. The butter should melt and incorporate into the pastry cream.
Place the pastry cream into a piping bag with a small narrow tip. Allow it to cool in the fridge while you make the eclairs.

Make the chocolate choux dough.

Prepare and gather the ingredients for the choux pastry. Using the second listed amount of soy milk, mix it together with the Just Egg. Set aside for later.
Combine the water, soy milk, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Mix it with a whisk until the butter and cocoa butter dissolve and then leave it for a few minutes until it starts to simmer.
Once the liquid ingredients begin to simmer, carefully add in all the flour. Turn the heat to low. Continue to mix until the flour is incorporated and no white flour spots remain. The mix will thicken into a dough and almost form a ball. It should come off the sides of the pan easily. This shouldn’t take more than about 3 minutes.
Scoop the dough out of the pan and into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Avoid using a plastic bowl as the dough will be hot. Smash the dough down and flatten it to help release the heat. Leave it to cool for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can mix the dough over some ice or some ice packs to help it cool more quickly. You can also mix the dough for a few minutes in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
Once your dough is just barely warm or room temperature, add in the Just Egg mixture a few tablespoons at a time. The amount is up to you. We’re just trying to avoid mixing a ball of dough sitting in egg soup—that would be more difficult to mix! Mix it with the rubber spatula and allow it to fully incorporate in between each addition. The final consistency should just barely run off the spatula and look pipe-able. Add more soy milk a tablespoon at a time if your mixture is still too thick.
Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Prepare the baking tray.

Line a half sheet tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If using parchment paper, you can pipe or dab a small amount of the choux mixture onto each corner of the baking tray underneath the paper. This will help keep the paper from sliding around as you pipe.
Scoop the choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch opening or smooth tip.
You can close the narrow end of the bag towards the tip with a tie. And then place it inside of a tall glass. This makes it a bit easier to fill the bag.
Keeping the tip very close to the tray, squeeze continuously and pipe a strip of the mixture approximately 4 inches long. It should also be about 1 inch wide.
NOTE: Pipe slowly! If you pipe too quickly, you're going to make a thin strip of dough!
Pipe a second strip of dough on top of the first one. This vegan choux recipe doesn't puff up the same way as non-vegan versions do. So the two layers help give the eclairs some extra height. There should be enough mixture to make about 10 eclairs.
Wet the tip of your finger and gently flatten the little pointy tips that form on the ends from piping.

Bake.

Place the tray in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 45-47 minutes. Do not open the oven at all until the last few minutes of baking. The pastry needs consistent heat for the moisture to turn to steam and cause them to rise. Be aware that the cocoa in the dough will make it difficult to notice any browning as it bakes. We just know from experience that our regular eclairs finish baking around 45-47 minutes. Everyone's oven is different.
NOTE: Bake for closer to 47 minutes for a more hollow center and crisper outside. This is what they looked like about halfway through baking.
Once the eclairs are finished baking, turn off the oven. Leave the tray in for about 10 minutes. Keep the oven door slightly open to allow the eclairs to continue to dry out while slightly cooling.
Remove the tray from the oven. The eclairs will still be warm. I use a metal skewer first to make three small holes spaced evenly along the bottom of each eclair to allow any remaining steam to escape. Then use a small sharp knife to make the holes a little bit wider by rotating the knife after inserting the tip into each hole. The eclairs can deflate and soften if left to continue cooling without making the holes.
Grab the piping bag with pastry cream that is resting in the refrigerator. Insert the tip of the piping bag into one of the holes on the bottom of the eclair. Carefully squeeze the pastry cream into the eclair. You will feel the cream push back a bit when you’ve filled each hole with enough of the pastry cream. Wipe off any excess cream from the hole. Repeat on each of the three holes on all of the eclairs.

Make the chocolate ganache.

Microwave 1 bar (60 grams) of vegan milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time until melted. Heat 20 grams (approx. 1.5 tbsp) of soy milk. While stirring the chocolate, slowly pour in the milk until it becomes a smooth mixture. Set aside to cool.
NOTE: You can also use the same amount of chocolate chips or any other form of chocolate by weight. The amounts listed here are for how we like to make ganache using this brand of chocolate. Whatever chocolate you use, just make sure that you stir the chocolate enough to dissolve and melt any remaining little chunks. You might need to add a little more milk if your chocolate is still looking grainy.

Final Assembly.

You can either use a small spoon or rubber spatula to cover the eclairs with the chocolate ganache. Or you can dip the tops upside-down into the melted chocolate ganache.
As an additional final garnish, we piped some extra matcha pastry cream onto the top of each eclair using a small star piping tip.