Viennese Whirls Recipe

Viennese whirls are delicate, buttery cookies made with soft butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour and starch. Enjoy them plain or sandwiched together with a creamy filling and jam.

HOW TO MAKE VIENNESE WHIRLS

Rich buttery flavor, delicate texture and elegant appearance is what makes Viennese Whirls a popular choice for parties, special occasions, holidays and they make for the cutest edible gifts.

WHERE DO VIENNESE WHIRLS FROM?

Despite the name, these delicately attractive cookies were created in England, inspired by famous Austrian pastries: Spritzgebäck. Growing up, my mom and I made cookies every Christmas using a simple cookie press attached to a meat grinder. And these cookies largely remind me of Linzer Stangerl Cookies – cookie fingers filled with jam, end dipped in chocolate.

THING YOU NEED

• Mixing Bowl
• Handheld Mixer
• Large Star Piping Tip
• Piping Bag
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper

INGREDIENTS

• Unsalted Soft Butter – use soft not melted butter, butter that is partly melted and greasy will cause cookies to spread too much
• Powdered Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Room Temperature Egg White
• Flour
• Corn Starch
• Sal

PREPARE THE PIPING TEMPLATE

First, trace the circle template (1.5-inch circles) onto parchment. Turn the paper over so you don’t transfer pencil marks onto cookies. Place it onto the baking sheet.

MAKE COOKIE DOUGH

Add flour, corn starch, and salt into a small bowl. Whisk until combined (steps 1-3).

The butter must be very soft but not melted. Cream butter for 30 seconds (steps 1-2). Add sifted powdered sugar and cream until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Then add Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean Paste. Beat until well combined (steps 5-6). Now you can beat in room temperature egg white (steps 7-8).

And lastly, on low speed or by hand, fold in the sifted flour mixture. Mix just until flour is mixed in and the dough is homogeneous. Don’t overmix your cookie dough. Overmixing can cause excessively crumbly cookies (steps 7-8).

HOW TO PIPE VIENNESE WHIRLS

To pipe the Viennese whirls use a large star piping tip. I used an open star piping tip #1M. Fit the piping bag with a piping tip. Fill the piping bag with the cookie dough. (steps 1-5).

Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the surface you’re piping on. Lightly touch the surface with the tip of the piping tip. Squeeze the piping bag and pipe a swirl. Release the pressure as you pull away (steps 1-4).

Don’t be limited by swirls, you can pipe other shapes. This dough is wonderful to work with.

BAKE COOKIES

Bake cookies at 320F/160C for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges.

HOW TO MAKE WREATH COOKIES

To make wreath cookies, trace circle template onto the parchment. Turn the parchment over so the pencil marks don’t bake into the cookies. Pipe the circles. Sprinkle with festive sprinkles and bake (steps 1-6).

CHOCOLATE VIENNESE WHIRLS

If you are looking for a delicious chocolate variation of this simple vanilla cookie recipe, look no further. You can find all the details on how to make the chocolate cookie dough for Viennese whirls in the recipe card notes.

• These are the measurements for the chocolate version:
• 14 tablespoons soft butter
• 3/4 cup to 1 cup (95 grams to 120 grams) Powdered sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup and 1/8 cup (160 grams) Flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (38 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons Corn Starch
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
• Whisk together flour, starch and cocoa powder.
• Follow the instructions in the recipe card.

But what cocoa powder to use? For the best results, I highly suggest you use Dutch-processed cocoa powder in this recipe.

I used a large star piping tip #1M to pipe swirls onto the baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake cookies at 320F for 13-15 minutes.

VANILLA CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Are you craving both flavors? Use a simple technique to make marbled vanilla chocolate cookies.

I used a piping tip #1M to pipe these gorgeous swirls onto a baking sheet. Bake as stated in the instructions in the recipe card.

VIENNESE WHIRLS BAKING SUCCESS TIPS

• Why are my cookies flat? Cookies tend to spread if the butter is too soft, almost runny. Butter needs to be very soft but not melted.
• Why are my cookies too crumbly? Excess flour will cause the cookies become dry and they will be too crumbly. Overmixing can cause cookies to be overly crumbly, too. When adding flour, mix on low speed or fold the flour in by hand, just until combined.
• Overbrowning– bake cookie just until pale in color and very lightly golden around the edges.
• What kind of filling do you use to sandwich cookies together? I like whipped ganache and raspberry jam. You can also use American Buttercream and jam (strawberry or raspberry). Use the nicest looking cookies for the tops and don’t overfill cookies with jam.
• Cookie dough is too stiff to pipe, what can I do? Add 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of room temperature of milk.
• Can you freeze Viennese Whirls? Yes, certainly. Freeze cookies up to 3 months.
• For how long do cookie keep? Unfilled cookies keep for up to 2 weeks.

BEST COOKIE RECIPES

• Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies
• Crunchy Egg White Cookies
• Fresh Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
• Checkerboard Cookies via Fifteen Spatulas
• Snowball Cookies
• Soft Lofthouse Cookies