Cats Tongues
Submitted by liwewe
Cats Tongues (Langues de Chat) are delicate French butter cookies piped into thin finger shapes with browned edges and a pale, crisp center. Made with just butter, powdered sugar, egg whites, and flour.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
30 minLangues de Chat, or cats tongues, are one of the most refined cookies in the French pastry playbook. Paper-thin, lightly crisp, with browned edges and a pale center, they shatter on the first bite and melt away almost instantly.
The batter is deceptively simple: creamed butter, powdered sugar, egg whites, vanilla, and flour. But the technique matters. The butter needs to be beaten until smooth, white, and creamy before anything else goes in. This is what gives the finished cookie its delicate, airy texture.
Piped through a small round tip into 2 ½ inch fingers with slightly fatter ends (think dumbbell shape), they bake in just 6 to 10 minutes. Watch them closely. The window between done and burned is razor thin.
Chef Tips
- Pipe the batter on the diagonal in staggered rows with space between each cookie. They spread during baking and will merge if too close.
- Pull them when the edges are golden but the center is still pale. The cookies continue to crisp as they cool on the rack.
- Store in an airtight tin. These absorb moisture quickly and go from crisp to chewy within a day if left uncovered.
Variations
- Dip one end in melted dark chocolate after cooling for an elegant petit four.
- Add finely grated lemon or orange zest to the batter for a citrus-scented version.
- Sandwich two cookies together with ganache or raspberry jam for filled langues de chat.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).
Brush 3 or 4 large, heavy baking sheets with melted butter.
Dust with flour.
Place the butter in a small stainless steel bowl and beat with a wooden spatula, warming it over low heat as needed to make it smooth, white and creamy.
Sift the sugar over the butter and beat it in.
Beat in 1 egg or egg white with the wooden spatula.
Beat in the remaining egg or whites, 1 at a time, with a wire whisk.
Whisk in the vanilla.
Sift the flour over the batter and mix it in with the wooden spatula.
Scoop the batter into a large pastry bat fitted with a 5/16 inche plain pastry tube (Ateco #3) and pipe the batter on the diagonal in fingers 2½ inches long and ⅜ inches wide at the center, arranging them on the baking sheets in staggered rows and separating them by 1½ inches.
The ends of each finger should be fatter than the center, like a dumbbell.
Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges but still pale in the center, about 6 to 10 minutes.
Slide the cookies onto a wire rack using a metal spatula and let cook to room temperature.
Store in a covered airtight cookie jar or tin for up to 1 week.
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