Bready or Not: Cat Tongue Cookies (Langues de Chat)
Cat Tongue Cookies! NO CATS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THESE COOKIES.
I first heard about these cookies on the Great British Bake Off, where they were used as part of another recipe. My curiosity was piqued.
I am trying out a lot more French recipes. This seemed like a good, basic one to try… even though I HATE piping things. Did I say hate? I meant LOATHE.
That said, this recipe wasn’t too awful in that regard. The dough wasn’t a big sticky mess. I used a gallon Ziploc bag and cut the corner off, the old basic method, and that worked just fine.
The end result reminded me a lot of the old American stand-by, Nilla Wafers. Nothing fancy by themselves, but crisp and refreshing. They would be easy to dress up by dipping them in chocolate, Nutella, jam, whatever–if you want.
I thought they were just fine by themselves, with my cats lurking close by–tongues intact.
Bready or Not: Cat Tongue Cookies (Langues de Chat)
Equipment
- parchment paper
- piping bag or gallon Ziploc
Ingredients
- 9 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar plus 2 Tablespoons
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Line a large baking pan with parchment. Use pencil to draw 3-inch lines spaced several inches apart in rows upon the paper, then flip over so the pencil lines still show through as guides.
- In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar (1/2 cup and 2 Tablespoons) until smooth. Beat in egg whites one at a time until batter is light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla followed by flour. Dough might be stiff.
- Put about half of dough into a Ziploc bag (then cut off corner) or a piping bag with a medium star tip. Squeeze out dough onto the lines on parchment.
- Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until edges are starting to brown. Move to cooling rack. Pipe and bake remaining dough, reusing parchment.
- Store in a sealed container. Good dipped into chocolate or spread with Nutella--or all by itself.
