These treats are known as cat’s tongue cookies, or langues de chat, because of their long, thin shape. Adding a bit of fresh orange zest to these confections really kicks up the flavor and gives them a heavenly aroma as they bake.
Prep Time: 1 hours
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened (1/2 stick)
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered)
- 2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Preparation:
Beat the butter, sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the egg whites, one at a time, to the creamed butter. Gently fold in the flour and refrigerate the batter for 45 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe into 1/3-inch wide, 2 1/2-inch long cookies. Bake them for 10 minutes until the cat’s tongues are light golden brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for seconds, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Variation: For lemon cat’s tongues, use lemon zest in place of the orange zest and replace the vanilla extract with 1/8 teaspoon lemon extract.
This cat’s tongue recipe makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.
