Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Lengua de Gato Cookies

As far as I remember, there were only a few cookie varieties being sold at my aunts' bakeshop before.  They specialized mainly on pastries.  However, especially during the Christmas season, the cookie orders were abundant.  I can still picture those plastic jars with yellow lids on the bakeshop counter in my mind.  I cannot imagine how my aunts managed to press, pipe, bake and pack all those cookies!

If I am not wrong, their bestsellers then were the spritz, arrowroot and lengua de gato (cat's tongue) cookies.  As I have been in cookie-making mode lately, I decided to give these cookies (using the bakeshop recipes) a go one by one.

Spritz
Arrowroot
I loved making these two using the KitchenAid cookie press I recently bought from Costco for only $14!

Yesterday, as I had a cup of eggwhites stored in the freezer, I excitedly tried making the lengua de gato cookies.  These are Filipino butter cookies but considering how it's called, it's probably of Spanish origin.


Since these cookies are very thin and light, I kept on "testing" them after every tray came out of the oven.  I don't know just how much I ate but I had to skip lunch as I was already full!

Before I share the recipe, just a last note.  I tried using baking paper and silpat to line my baking trays and also tried putting the cookie dough straight onto non-stick baking trays (without lining).  The resulting cookies had different looks.


As seen from the photo above, I had the best results with the silpat-lined.  The cookies had straight edges.  The ones baked in baking paper all had wonky edges while the ones baked with no liner spread and browned more but were still as easy to remove.  Taste and crunchiness were the same for all. 

Here now is the lengua de gato cookies recipe so next time you have leftover eggwhites, you would know what to do with them.  

LENGUA DE GATO COOKIES (makes 300+ pieces)

Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks, 1 pound, 454 grams) salted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup eggwhites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange flavouring
3 1/2 cups cake flour

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (325F).  Line baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Lower mixer speed to medium then add eggwhites gradually followed by the vanilla and orange flavourings.  

Slowly mix in the flour.  Beat until everything is well combined and batter is smooth.

Fit a piping bag with a plain round or star tip (#12 or #21).  Spoon cookie batter into the piping bag.

Pipe out thin strips of batter onto lined baking trays, about 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches apart.



Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cookie edges start to brown.

Loosen cookies from the trays while still warm.  When completely cool, pack them in airtight containers.

Enjoy!

15 comments:

  1. Hi Corinne, I buy Lengua de Gato everytime I go home to Manila. Thanks for sharing your recipe. One cup of egg whites is approximately how many eggs? Can we halved this recipe

    Aren't you going to share the recipe for the spritz too. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will need about 7 eggs to make one cup of eggwhites. Yes, you can half the recipe. But let me tell you, this whole lot was gone within 2 days in our house!

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  2. hi sis, favorite ko po kc tlga ang lengua de gato, tas kagabi lang po gumawa kame, apf,eggwhites,butter and sugar .. tas yung result po nya na gusto ko di ko nalasahan ^_^ tsaka palapak po ata ahahha .. alam nyo po ba yung lasa ng tartland baguio lengua de gato,?? halos pangkaraniwan nman po nag ingredients nya sa iba pero bakit p ganun ang lasa nya naiiba kc lasang gatas pero sa ingridients nya wala nmn pong milk na nkahalo .. may idea po b kau??? thank you so much in advance .. ^_^ God bless po sa inyo .. ittry ko din po itong recipe nyo .. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hindi ko pa natikman yang tartland baguio lenguas, sorry. Try mo nalang itong recipe, baka magustuhan mo rin.

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  3. Hi. Can i use all purpose flour instead? Coz i wanna make it tonight and i don't wanna go out just to buy cake flour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your cookies will end up tougher if you use all purpose flour. If you have cornstarch on hand, substitute every cup of cake flour with 7/8 cup all purpose plus 1/8 cup cornstarch. Sift your substitute several times before using.

      If you also don't have cornstarch then just delay making the cookies! Or try finding a different recipe.

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  4. what paper mauy i use instead of parchment paper. i got tond of kraft paper here

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kraft paper is not for baking. Baking or parchment paper is available in all supermarkets so I recommend that you get one.

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  5. Hi corinne, i tried your uraro recipe no uraro flour here kung meron man diko din alam,anyway got ur recipe right and delicious,and also i tried din yung mango bravo copy cat fr. contis,it turns out good and delicious also, ask ko lng din may prob. Ako sa oven ko gusto ko gumawa ng lengua de gato same as gusto ko din mag bake ng sansrival same sa recipe mo, ang kaso nga yung oven ko nasusunog sya kce high and low lng at walang temperature sya,ang ask ko lng po pwede bang mag hot water sa ilalim ng binebake ko para lng wag masunog ang lengua de gato same sa sansrival kung gusto ko din magbake pls.help again simple lng po oven ko high and low and no temperature thanks and godbless ms.corinne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really don't know how you can bake successfully without an accurate temperature setting in your oven. The only thing I can suggest is for you to buy an oven thermometer. Determine what is the temperature in the LOW setting and then in the HIGH setting. Do you mean you cannot go anywhere in between the two?

      You should invest in a better oven if you really want to bake successfully! :)

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    2. If you put water in the bottom of the oven, you will create moisture inside the oven. That will not work for meringue!

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  6. hi... i followed your recipe, baked it and it's good... but soft cya, inde sya crispy. so i was wondering paano pa crispy yung lengua de gato

    thanks. hope u reply agad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe you should just need to bake them a little longer. If the cookies are browning quickly but not yet baked, check also your oven temperature, it may be too hot.

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  7. I bake lengua De gato 2x already and the end is still the same it stick in parchment paper what should I do...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really understand why your cookies are sticking. Parchment paper is meant to be non stick! Did you remove your cookies while they were still warm?

      I don't advice you to grease your baking tray because this will make your cookies spread and also brown fast. Maybe purchase a silicone mat?

      Delete