Lagk-Te-Sa (Cat's Tongues)

Langues de chat, or “cat’s tongues," are among the most elegant cookies in French baking. Thin, crisp, and buttery, they shatter with the lightest bite. The dough is deceptively simple: butter, sugar, vanilla, egg whites, and flour. No leavening. The egg whites provide all the lift these delicate strips need.

The dough gets piped through a cookie press with a wide round opening into pencil-shaped strips. They spread during baking, so spacing them far apart on the sheet is critical. Crowded cookies merge into one flat, crispy sheet.

Seven to eight minutes at high heat is all they need. The edges should be barely golden while the centers stay pale. That narrow window between done and burnt is the reason these require your full attention in front of the oven.

A cold, buttered cookie sheet helps the dough hold its shape before the oven’s heat takes over.

Chef Tips

• Cream the butter and sugar thoroughly until light and fluffy. This incorporates air that keeps the cookies delicate.
• Sift the flour before measuring. Lumps in the dough show up as bumps in these thin cookies.
• Use a cold baking sheet. Warm sheets start melting the butter before the cookies hit the oven, causing them to spread too thin.
• Remove from the sheet immediately after baking while still warm. They crisp up fast and will stick if left too long.

Variations

• Chocolate dipped: Dip one end of each cooled cookie in melted dark chocolate for an elegant finish.
• Almond cat’s tongues: Replace vanilla with almond extract and press a sliced almond onto each cookie before baking.