Tara's Multicultural Table

Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)

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A recipe for Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)! These light buttery cookies are baked until set with crisp, golden edges.

Four Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) on a blue flower plate with two dipped in chocolate.

Secret Recipe Club

This is my second posting for The Secret Recipe Club!

In the Secret Recipe Club, each blogger is assigned a different blog each month. They secretly choose a recipe, prepare it, and post it on a designated day.

This month, I was assigned The More Than Occasional Baker!

Ros’ blog was new to me and it was difficult to decide on just one recipe. She has a huge collection of both sweet and savory recipes, with a large assortment of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, breads, brownies, and pastries.

I finally settled on these Langues de Chat, but others now on my list include Portuguese Egg Tarts, Rose Cupcakes, and London Almond Cookies.

Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)

Aerial view of Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) on a plate and wooden board next to a cup of coffee and blue flowers.

This was my first time making Langues de Chat and they are such a fun treat! These cookies are also a fantastic way to use up leftover egg whites with only a handful of pantry staples.

Langues de Chat are French cookies with variations around the world. The name translates to Cat Tongues due to their long, slender shape. They are also known as Kue Lidah Kucing in Indonesia, Lengua de Gato in the Philippines, and Lingue di Gatto in Italy.

The original recipe I followed has egg whites beaten until stiff before mixing into the batter, but I simply mixed them in one at a time when updating and loved the results.

After chilling briefly in the refrigerator, the thick batter is piped into thin strips and baked until the edges are golden brown.

The cookies are best on the day they are baked, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

A Few Langues de Chat Tips

Two photo collage of piped and baked Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) on a baking sheet.

Do not pack in the flour when measuring or you may end up with too much. To measure flour, gently spoon it into the measuring up and level with a knife without pressing down. The most accurate way to measure is by weight.

Really watch the temperature when baking these cookies. They can darken quickly.

For more even baking, rotate the pans halfway through cooking, at around 3-4 minutes.

Chilling the dough before baking will help them hold their shape.

You can leave the Langues de Chat plain or garnish with a variety of options. My particular favorite is dipping one or two sides of the cooled cookies in melted chocolate.

Other options include sprinkling with some dried lavender, cinnamon, or even sprinkles. Citrus zest would also be delicious.

Cool completely to room temperature before storing or dipping in chocolate.

This Langues de Chat recipe uses only the egg whites. Looking for uses for egg yolks? Try my Cà Phê Trứng (Vietnamese Egg Coffee), Gelato al Gianduia (Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato), and Vanillekipferl (Austrian Vanilla Crescent Cookies).

Notable Ingredients

Vanilla sugar adds a wonderful light vanilla flavor to the Langues de Chat. You can buy small packets of vanilla sugar in the European section of many larger supermarkets, but it is easy to make at home.

Scrape out the seeds of one vanilla bean and mix well with 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar. Store in an airtight container with the scraped out vanilla beans.

If unavailable, swap for 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix in with the last egg white.

Check out what everyone else made:

Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) on a plate with coffee and blue flowers in the background.

This recipe was originally posted in September 2013 and updated in May 2023.

Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) Recipe

Adapted from The More Than Occasional Baker

Plain and chocolate-dipped Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies) on a blue flower plate.
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5 from 1 vote

Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)

A recipe for Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)! These light buttery cookies are baked until set with crisp, golden edges.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword cookie, dessert, egg white, France, French
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Total Time 53 minutes
Servings 35 Cookies

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon (12 grams) vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Melted chocolate for dipping, optional

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy.
  • Beat in the egg whites, one at a time.
  • Mix in the flour and salt just until combined.
  • Transfer to a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeter) round tip and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or lightly grease.
  • Pipe 3 inch (7.5 centimeter) long strips on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches (5 centimeters) between each strip.
  • Bake in the preheated oven until golden around the edges, 6-8 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking time if needed.
  • Allow to cool to room temperature on the baking sheets.
  • If desired, dip the cooled cookies in the melted chocolate and allow to set before serving.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  9. sallybr

    Your post brought me memories of my years living in France…. I used to love those cookies, the technician in our lab used to bring them every couple of weeks to spice up our coffee… fond memories! I should really try to make them myself one day, so I’ll be pinning your post right away!

    Reply

      • Jessi

        5 stars
        Made these tonight to add to my Christmas cookies. I was pleasantly surprised by the chewy texture. They are cooling on the counter now and the flavor is subtle, but delicious. Thanks for a relatively easy and tasty recipe. My oven does run a bit low, so rather than the 6 min in the recipe, I went by the picture you posted 🙂

        Reply

  11. Bobbi Renee Hass-Burleson

    Oh myyyy the ones dipped in chocolate are calling my name!! Wonderful recipe!

    Happy Reveal Day!
    Bobbi ~ Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen

    Reply

  17. avril

    What a beautiful blog you have! My mother’s side of the family is from France so I hold a special place in my heart for anything FRENCH….especially baked goodies!!! 🙂

    Reply

  18. Bean

    I’ve never heard of these before, but they look amazing! I love how versatile they are with all the different flavors and garnishes!

    Reply

  19. Paula @ Vintage Kitchen Notes

    For some reason I made this type of cookies when I was very young, which is weird since it’s not easy to make them look good. But they look perfect Tara! Great job!

    Reply

  20. The Wimpy Vegetarian

    I haven’t made these since culinary school! I loved them – thanks so much for the reminder. They’re a little tricky with the piping, but so worth it 🙂 Great garnish ideas too!

    Reply

  21. Bakingaddict

    I’m so glad you picked these. It’s been a long time since I’ve made these myself. I love what you’ve done with the garnishes and dipping in chocolate is genius! Happy belated SRC reveal day

    Reply

  22. dena @ohyoucook

    They remind me of elegant lady fingers. I’m going to have to bake up a batch … dipped in chocolate. Great SRC choice!

    Reply

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