Viennese Whirls are like a fancier cousin to melting moments. Buttery shortbread dough is piped into a whirl shape and then sandwiched together with buttercream and jam.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe?
Uses basic ingredients. All the ingredients are basic pantry or fridge staples. You can whip these up at the last minute to satisfy a cookie craving!
Unbelievable texture. The minute you bite into these Viennese Whirls, they just melt away. They are so tender because of one secret ingredient I can’t wait to share with you.
Simple to make. The cookies and buttercream come together in under 20 minutes. Have fun piping those swirls. Get creative!
Delicious butter cookies slathered with raspberry jam and a light vanilla buttercream filling.
Where Are Viennese Whirls From?
Whilst you may think these Viennese Whirls cookies come from Austria, they actually originate from England. However, the inspiration for their shape comes from the pastries of Vienna, hence the name.
They’re commonly piped into round swirls and sandwiched together with buttercream and jam, popularized by Mr Kipling in the UK. (I sure enjoyed them sitting around my Grandparents’ kitchen table!)
Instead of sandwich cookies, you can leave them as a single cookie piped as a ‘finger’ or squiggle dipped in chocolate. They’re such fun to get kids involved with as they love having fun with the shapes!
These delightful buttery cookies are sandwiched together with vanilla buttercream and berry jam. They are perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!
Variations
These are such versatile cookies. There are so many options that you can play around with, from the flavour of the cookies, different buttercreams or the condiment or jam that you use. Here are some of my favourites:
Chocolate Caramel Whirls: Substitute a ¼ cup of flour for cocoa powder, add salted caramel sauce to the buttercream and fill with more caramel instead of jam. A Holiday Season favourite!
Lemon Viennese Shortbread: Add zest to the dough and the buttercream, then swap out the jam for a creamy Lemon Curd. A spring or summer delight.
Chocolate-dipped Viennese Biscuits: Yes, here in the UK, cookies are called biscuits! Dip a single biscuit in milk or dark chocolate. You can add sprinkles for some fun or sprinkle over chopped hazelnuts or almonds for crunch.
Ingredients
3/4 cup icing sugar
250 g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1½ cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
1/4 cup strawberry jam
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C/355F (standard) or 160C/340F (fan-forced/convection). Grease and line two large baking trays with baking paper. In the large bowl of an electric stand mixer, add butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat together on medium speed for 2 minutes or until very pale and fluffy.Sift over the flour and cornflour. Use the paddle attachment of your mixer to stir the mixture together until a very soft dough forms. Prepare a large piping bag with a star-tipped nozzle. Scrape approximately 1/3 of the dough into the piping bag and twist the top of the bag to secure.
On the prepared baking trays, pipe a small spiral. Tip: start from the outside of the spiral and work your way inward, then pull the piping bag upward to create the ‘tip’ of the whirl. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the whirls have been piped. Bake for 10 minutes or until no raw dough is visible and/or the whirls are very lightly golden around the edges. Allow to cool completely. In the large bowl of an electric stand mixer (or using a hand-held mixer), add butter, sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat together on medium speed for 3-5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Choose two cookie of a similar size. Spread 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam onto one cookie. Spread or pipe buttercream onto the other cookie. Sandwich together. Repeat for all cookies.
You can refrigerate the cookies to firmly set the buttercream, or else keep in an airtight container in cool, dry place. Keep the cookies in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. Refrigerate if you live in a warm environment.
Enjoy!!!
Adapted from Ecpicfoodz