Copycat Pirouette Cookies (Tuile Cigars)
These Coconut Pirouette Cookies, also known as tuile cigars, are a homemade copycat of the store-bought classic with a coconut twist. With just a handful of ingredients, a no-chill batter, and my beginner-friendly tips, this bakery-style holiday cookie is surprisingly easy.
Servings: 28 cookies
Calories: 65kcal
Equipment
- Manila file folder or cardstock
- 3.5-inch round cookie cutter compass or other round traceable object
- Wooden dowel (optional) handle of a wooden spoon, knife sharpener, or other long, skinny tool for rolling the cookies
- 2 baking sheets
- Hand mixer
- Cooling rack
- Food Safe Silica packets for longer storage or storing in humid climates.
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup (57g) confectioners' sugar
- ½ cup (64g) all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2½ tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 16-ounce container white frosting or thinned royal icing
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
Prepare to bake
- Prepare a 5-inch square template using a piece of card stock (file-folder thickness). Trace a 3½-inch round onto the card stock, cut out the circle and retain the frame for the template; set aside.
- Heat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking liners. (You can use parchment, but a silicone baking liner is much easier and provides the best, smooth-cookie results.)
Make cookies
- In a bowl whisk egg whites and sugar on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and salt, then whisk in butter and cream until a smooth batter forms. You'll have about ¾ cup of batter.
- Use approximately 1 teaspoon of batter for each cookie, dropping batter into the center of the template on a lined baking sheet. Spread to an even layer using a small offset spatula. Remove template, use your spatula to clean excess batter from the template, and repeat. Place no more than 2 or 3 cookies on the baking sheet. They need to be rolled while hot and will cool too much to roll if you try to do too many at a time.
- Bake until cookies are just starting to turn golden at the edges and are firm enough to remove from the baking sheet, 5 to 6 minutes. Don’t over cook or they will crack instead of curl.
- Gently lift one cookie at a time off the baking sheet with a spatula. To form, flip over, roll into a cylinder and place on a cooling rack (or in the hands of a helper) to hold the shape until they cool, about 15 to 20 seconds. If cookies become too stiff to roll, and aren’t overcooked, return them to the oven for 30 to 40 seconds to soften.
- Undecorated baked, rolled, and cooled cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature for up to two days and stay crisp. Decorate the day of serving or gifting.
Decorate cookies
- Microwave the tub of frosting for about 15 seconds to soften to a consistency just thicker than honey. Dip the ends of the pirouettes into glaze, then sprinkle generously with coconut. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet to set, 1 to 2 hours.
- Best served the same day. Decorated cookies can be stored in a container, but may lose their crisp bite.
Notes
Why a silicone baking mat is better than parchment for this recipe: Parchment paper interacts with the moisture in the cookie dough and will cause the cookies to have ripples in them. You'll get much smoother results with a silicone baking mat.
Thickness: Spread the batter thin enough that you can nearly see the silicone mat underneath. Spreading the batter evenly takes practice but ultimately prevents uneven baking!
Work quickly: The cookies will be hot. Use food safe kitchen gloves to protect your fingers. It’s also nice to have a baking partner to help curl the cookies while they are hot. To form the pirouette shape, cookies can be rolled around a wooden dowel (like the end of a wooden spoon) or rolled by hand.
Use cool baking sheets and mats: You cannot spread new cookie batter onto a hot cookie sheet or silicone baking mat as they will cook very unevenly. If you don’t have unlimited cooled baking sheets, cool your cookie sheets down with a clean, wet kitchen towel. Run it under cold water, wring it out, and lay it on the warm cookie sheet. Repeat a couple of times until the cookie sheet is cool enough to use again.
Nutrition
Calories: 65kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 35IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.3mg
