Cat Got Your Tongue? Cats' Tongue Cookies. Make 'em Fast!

   Ever heard the expression "cat got your tongue??" Well, now the cat can have your tongue and you can get his. Cats' tongue cookies that is. They're called that because when they're baked they resemble a cats' tongue. Sort of.

 Let me get one thing straight. The cat over there on the left. The guy who looks like a left-over from those Calvin Klein wacka wacka shag rug 70's vintage jeans ads from a few years back, is not mine. I don't know this cat. I don't have a cat since Princess Patsy would never allow it. This is not my house, and I think after careful study, there is not a cat in a microwave in the background. I think that someone has rigged up a video camera and is making an infinite loop of the orange tabby, Mr. Infinity himself.
   He just looked so"relaxed" I couldn't help myself.  Anyway, back to the cats' tongue cookies, more fancifully known as  Lenguas de Gato. These are the little wafer-like cookies that are served with dishes of ice cream. I always love them when I go out to dinner, and I thought while I was cooking the other day, why not make some myself? So I did some research, read a bunch of recipes and baked some.
   These cookies make up pretty quickly, and then the batter rests for about 45 minutes. After that, they only take about 10 minutes in the oven. It's a very straightforward recipe and the bonus is they can either be flavored with lemon or orange. Whatever you choose.

Cat's Tongue Cookies

  Here's how to make them.

   In a large bowl cream together:
 1/2 stick of butter
 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
 1/8 tsp of salt
 2 tsp of fresh orange zest
 Beat it all together on medium high speed until it's nice and fluffy. It should take about 5 minutes or so.
 Next add in:
 2 egg whites, one at a time into the butter sugar mixture.
Mix it in well.

Now fold 1/2 cup of flour into this mixture. Fold it in gently, as though you were making a souffle.
 Once the flour is all folded in nicely and you have a nice mixture as in the picture on the left, place the bowl in the fridge for 45 minutes to rest.
   Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  When all this is ready, take a pastry bag  or an amazing plastic pastry hypodermic thingy  like I have here with snap-on pastry tips, and fill it with the cookie dough.

When the cookie dough is in the pastry bag, pipe it onto the cookie sheets into 2 and 1/2 long inch cookies.

These will turn into cats tongues magically in the oven.

 Bake them for about 10 minutes until the cookies grow light brown around the edges.

 Take them out of the oven, cool them on the cookie sheet for a few seconds and then move them onto a wire rack to cool.

  When your cookies are cooled, enjoy! Here's how to do that.

  Vanilla ice cream drizzled with home-made brandied cherries and studded with orange cats' tongue cookies. Served with hot Indian spiced tea. Yum! The candies in the pink wrapper are called Geishas and were brought to the dinner party by our Finnish friends. They are in a word... divine.
  So here are the cats' tongue cookies, perfect for any Thanksgiving or holiday party. No matter what you're celebrating, these will fit right in. Meee-ow!