Viennese cookies are sweet treats made with a whipped shortbread prepared with only egg whites.
They are light and crumbly cookies that melt in your mouth. They are perfect with tea, but for Christmas, you can also use them as handmade gifts, perhaps packaged in tin boxes with themed decorations.
If you’re looking for more ideas for cookies to gift at Christmas, here are my recipes
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: about 20 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 79.56 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 7.71 (g) of which sugars 2.57 (g)
- Proteins 0.95 (g)
- Fat 5.11 (g) of which saturated 3.29 (g)of which unsaturated 1.79 (g)
- Fibers 0.16 (g)
- Sodium 21.26 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 1 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Viennese Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (soft)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp egg white (1 medium egg)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pod vanilla
Tools
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Piping Bag
Preparation of Viennese Cookies
To prepare the Viennese cookies, first take the butter out of the fridge well in advance to let it soften properly: the consistency should be that of softened butter.
Then place the softened butter, the seeds from the vanilla pod, and the powdered sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer. Start whisking at medium speed with the paddle attachment, and when everything is well combined, add the egg white.
Allow the egg white to incorporate (occasionally you might need to scrape the mixture off the sides of the bowl with a spatula or spoon), then add the sifted flour and a pinch of salt. At this point, let the stand mixer work the mixture at medium speed until you notice it changing color to almost white.
When the dough is ready, transfer it to the piping bag with a ridged nozzle and pipe the cookies in a W shape on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake the Viennese cookies at 375°F and cook them for about 14-15 minutes; they should be slightly golden at the edges but still pale in the center.
Remove the Viennese cookies from the oven and let them cool before enjoying them dusted with a bit of powdered sugar.
