Lidah Kucing Kopi (Coffee Langues de Chat)
Lidah Kucing Kopi is a quick and easy cookie recipe that is sure to be a favorite for coffee lovers because it is packed with coffee flavor. Thin, crisp, buttery, and delicious!
If you are a coffee lover, you will surely love this Lidah Kucing Kopi recipe. Thin, crisp, buttery, sweet, and packed with strong coffee flavor. They are as easy as the vanilla Lidah Kucing recipe but with the addition of instant coffee. These cookies will surely fill your home with the scent of sweet coffee.
What is Lidah Kucing?
Lidah Kucing which translates to “cat tongue” in English, are sweet crisp cookies with a small shape like a cat’s tongue (long and flat). They are pale in the center with a golden brown, the caramelized edge that runs evenly around the outside of the cookie.
These cookies actually come from the Netherlands. They are known as katte tong in Dutch. They are introduced by the Dutch and have been adopted by Indonesians as one of their specialty cookies. Lidah Kucing is one of the most popular cookies during holidays in Indonesia along with nastar (pineapple tart), kaastengels (cheese stick cookies), and putri salju (snowball cookies). People usually buy or gift these cookies, especially during Chinese New Year, Eid al-Fitr, and Christmas.
Do You Need Special Mold?
I made this recipe using the special mold for these cookies. It is basically a baking tray with shallow concaves for you to pipe the batter so that the cookies come out neat and the same size.
But, you can totally make these cookies with regular baking sheets lined with parchment paper. The only thing that can be a bit tricky is getting them all the same size. Just pipe the batter in a straight line with 1-inch/1 cm thickness with 2-inch/5 cm long. The batter will spread a lot during baking, so make sure not to put them too close to each other.
What Coffee Is the Best for This Recipe?
It is best to use instant coffee which will produce a strong coffee flavor and easily dissolve in hot liquid for this recipe. I personally used Nescafe Classic brand for making Lidah Kucing Kopi.
How to Make Lidah Kucing Kopi
- In a small bowl, mix instant coffee with hot water until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside and let the mixture cool completely before using.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale white and fluffy for a few minutes. Add egg whites and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
- Add all-purpose flour, cornstarch, milk powder, baking powder, and salt. Beat on low speed until just well combined.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag. Make a straight line with 0.5-inch/1 cm thickness on the greased molds. If you are using baking sheets. pipe into 2-inch/5 cm long and make sure to space 2.5-inch/6 cm apart as they will spread as it bakes.
- Bake in preheated oven at 300F/150°C for 13-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove the cookies from the molds when they are still warm. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container immediately after they are cooled completely.
Baking Tips
- Grease the molds – Make sure to do so to prevent the cookies from sticking to the molds. If using regular baking sheets, line them with parchment paper or baking mats.
- Watch the temperature – These thin cookies are super quick to bake so you will need to keep an eye on the first batch to make sure they do not burn. Oven temperatures vary, and when timings are this quick they can only be seen as a guide.
- Remove the cookies when still warm from the pan – Don’t wait until they are cool or these cookies will be harder to remove from the molds or pan.
Lidah Kucing Kopi (Coffee Langues de Chat)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 gr) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (86 gr) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 (60 gr) egg whites
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp (6 gr) instant coffee
- 1/2 tbsp hot water
- 13 tbsp (100 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (7 gr) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (7 gr) milk powder
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F/150°C and lightly grease the molds. If using regular baking sheets, line with parchment papers or silicone mats.
- Dissolve coffee – In a small bowl, stir instant coffee with hot water until the coffee is dissolved. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients – With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream together butter and confectioners' sugar until pale white and fluffy for 3-5 minutes. Add egg whites, vanilla extract, and coffee mixture. Beat on low speed until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients – Sift in all-purpose flour, cornstarch, milk powder, baking powder, and salt. Beat on low speed until well combined. Don't overmix.
- Pipe – Transfer the batter to a piping bag. Cut the tip off about 0.5-inch/1 cm in diameter. Pipe the batter into straight lines on the molds. If using regular baking sheets, pipe into 2-inch/5 cm straight lines, leaving about 2.5-inch/6 cm between each strip because the cookies will spread during baking.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Cool – Remove the cookies from the pan when still warm. Cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Store – Immediately store the cookies in an airtight container once they cool down or they will lose their crispness quickly.
