A recipe for Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue Cookies)! These light buttery cookies are baked until set with crisp, golden edges.
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)
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
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:
- Basic Country Loaf with Spelt from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Sweet Sesame Crock-Pot Chicken from Shockingly Delicious
- Linguine with Cauliflower Pesto from Bewitching Kitchen
- Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread from Oh! You Cook!
- Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing from Making Miracles
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
Langues de Chat (French Cat Tongue 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.
katie
What cute cookies!
Tara
Thanks!
gloria
I love Ros blog and these cookies look delicious!
Tara
Thanks! I love her blog too!
Beth
These cookies look great. Love your blog!
Tara
Thanks!
Emily @ Life on Food
These cookies look fabulous. I love all things French. Happy Reveal Day!
Tara
Thanks! I have only tried a few French recipes, but this is making me want to try many more.
Traci
These look incredible! What a wonderful SRC pick!
Tara
Thanks!
shari brooks
these look amazing! I’m putting these on my to bake list! great choice. fellow SRC Group D member
Tara
Thanks! Hope you enjoy them!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
Eat within 2 days? No problem. Great SRC choice!
Tara
Thanks! Definitely wasn’t an issue for us 😛
turnips 2 tangerines
These cookies look awesome~ Great SRC pick~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
Tara
Thanks!
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!
Tara
Hope you enjoy them as much as the ones you had in France!
Jessi
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 🙂
Amy (@amy_donovan)
These look fantastic and I love the idea of dipping a few in chocolate. YUM!
Tara
Thanks!
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
Tara
Thanks!
Emily @ Life on Food
Who doesn’t love a good cookie? Especially one dipped in chocolate. Great pick!
Tara
Thanks!
Asiya @ Chocolate and Chillies
These look great…just like the lady fingers you use in tiramisu! Great SRC pick!
Tara
Thanks! I really need to try ladyfingers someday.
Fantastical Sharing (@FantasticalSR)
Those are almost too pretty to eat! I bet they are delicious 🙂 Happy Reveal Day
Tara
Thanks, they were!
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories
What a wonderful job you did with these! They are perfect!
Tara
Thank you!
Kirstin
YUM! these look great. I just tried my hand at Lady Fingers last week…it was kind of fun.
Tara
Thanks! These were a lot of fun too.
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!!! 🙂
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!
Tara
Thanks!
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!
Tara
Thank you Paula!
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!
Tara
Thanks! I’ve only recently gotten better with piped cookies. So much fun!
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
Tara
Thanks so much! It was such a fun recipe!
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!
Tara
Thanks! I definitely recommend them.
V
Hi , thank you for your recipe. i made it last night and my bf love it so much. thank you again.
Tara
So glad you enjoyed them!