My tried and tested, easy recipe for Viennese finger biscuits – no piping bag required!
There’s a few recipes that I’ve set myself a challenge to perfect over the years and Viennese Fingers is definitely one of those. And let me tell you, it’s been a long, bumpy road!
Biscuits are one of my most favourite things to bake. I feel confident with biscuits. I know what I’m doing when it comes to biscuits. That’s why I died a little inside each time I tried to make Viennese Fingers and faced countless disasters.
Whether it was flat fingers due to a too-soft mixture, impossible to pipe mixtures resulting in too many burst piping bags, what appeared to be the perfect consistency mixture, only for them to turn to mush in the oven…
I’ve tried countless tweaks to recipes in an effort to find the perfect one and after my failed attempts over a number of years; I try, then vow to never make them again…and always do. Well, let me tell you, I’ve finally cracked it!
Now this recipe does have a bit of hack in terms of biscuit formation but hear me out….
My latest attempt left me faced with the usual dilemma of the perfect biscuit mixture being too thick to pipe and bursting a number of piping bags in the process. After a frantic, end-of-my-tether message to Granny she advised me that for Viennese Biscuits you really need to be using a cloth piping bag – plastic ones just can’t handle the pressure.
Now before you run out and buy a cloth piping bag, I have a solution. Here at Baking with Granny we’re all about baking without extra fancy equipment. If you have a cloth piping bag, by all means pipe your biscuits (although it’s still not easy and Granny remembers her hands aching from her days of doing them at the bakery!). My hack for Viennese Biscuits involves no piping…and no one will even know.
Ingredients:
Butter or Block Margarine
Viennese biscuits are known for having a beautiful butter-y taste and crumbly texture. Traditionally you would of course use butter but you can easily substitute with block margarine to make these dairy-free or vegan.
Icing Sugar
Also known as: “powdered sugar” or “confectioners sugar”.
Sweetness is a must in all the best biscuits but icing sugar is used in this recipe, as opposed to the usual caster sugar you get in biscuits. This helps the Viennese fingers have that familiar melt-in-the-mouth texture.
Plain Flour
No raising agents are required in these biscuits, so plain flour is ideal.
Corn Flour
Corn flour is finer than plain flour, so it gives the dough a finer finish than just plain flour. Again this adds to the melt-in-the-mouth texture, like the icing sugar, as well as giving them a slight crispness as they bake.
Chocolate
Purely optional, and not as common if you are using this recipe for Viennese Whirls, but something we think completes Viennese fingers nicely. Use a good quality chocolate of your choice. I use dark chocolate to omit the diary but milk chocolate is perhaps more common.
Icing Sugar and Butter or Margarine
You can of course enjoy your Viennese biscuits as are but sandwiching them together with some buttercream really does make them next level. A simple buttercream of icing sugar and butter/margarine is all that is needed.
Love this? Try this:
INGREDIENTS
- 200 g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
- 40 g Icing Sugar
- 200 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Corn Flour
To Finish and Fill
- 100 g Chocolate dark or milk
- 100 g Butter or Margarine
- 200 g Icing Sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 190°c (170°c for fan assisted ovens or Gas Mark 5) and line a couple of baking sheets with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter/margarine and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and cornflour to create a paste-like dough.
- Take a small amount of your dough (about the size of a ping-pong ball) and roll into a sausage shape. Place onto your prepared baking sheets and score with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the dough, leaving space between each.Alternatively you can pipe the biscuits using a star nozzle and a cloth piping bag, if you desire. A plastic piping bag will not work however (see notes above).
- Bake in your pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits have spread a little, look dry and have a slight golden colour. Leave to cool on the tray.
- Once your biscuits have cooled, melt your chocolate over a bain marie or in short blasts in a microwave. Dip either end of your biscuits in the chocolate, before placing back onto the grease proof paper. When all biscuits have chocolate on, pop them in the fridge to set.
- While the chocolate is setting, in a large bowl mix the butter/margarine and icing sugar, until light and fluffy to create your butter cream filling. Pipe or spread a small amount of buttercream onto a biscuit, before sandwiching another biscuit on top. Repeat with the remaining biscuits and buttercream.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won't always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
Free-from & Vegan
Dairy-free: To make these a dairy-free Viennese biscuit, simply use a dairy-free margarine as opposed to butter, and a dairy-free chocolate. Most dark chocolates are dairy-free but always double check when serving to those with allergies.
Nut-free: No nuts are used in this recipe, meaning they can make nut-free Viennese biscuits, but double check your ingredients when baking for those with allergies.
Egg-free: This recipe for Viennese fingers is egg-free. As always, be sure to double check your other ingredients for hidden allergens.
Vegan: To make these vegan Viennese biscuits, simply fswap the butter for a dairy-free margarine and use a vegan dark chocolate.
33 responses
Hi please could you let me know how many this recipe makes, once sandwiched together.
Many thanks
Emma
Hi Emma. My apologies, I seem to have missed this from the recipe but have now added. Recipe makes 12 biscuits, once sandwiched together.
Lovely thank you very much
Hi Amy are you better hand mixing g these or is it ok to use an electric mixer?
Looks tempting, will definitely try these!
Brilliant and they look so good.
I haven’t tried the recipe yet but what a brilliant idea of not using a piping bag as I, too remember the hard work of piping them. So much appreciate your hard work to make it easier for others. Thank you.
Like you I had tried and failed many times and gave up.I will give it a go without the bag.Thanks
Are you better to hand mix these or can I use my food mixer?
I have just turned out a trayful of the Viennese biscuits and I am delighted with the results.
What a joy it is to make these biscuits by rolling them into a sausage shape and then scoring them with a fork. I just wish that I had known about this way of doing it years ago.
This way is so quick and easy. Thank you Granny!!
Very pleased with the outcome of these biscuits & so easy to make using an electric mixer & using a fork instead of piping Amazingly light & tasty. Can’t just eat one!! Will definitely be making more
I MADE THEM AND THEY WERE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!
Hi how long do these keep for please?
Hi how long do these keep for please?
Hi how long do these keep for please?
Hi how long do these keep for please ?
Hi how long do these keep for please ?
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made these this afternoon and they were amazing. I am vegan so used Flora Plant Base Unsalted Butter. I also just filled with buttercream and jam. The hack for rolling into a sausage shape and using a fork is inspired and worked brilliantly. I will absolutely be making theses again.
Hi Louise
Just looking to find out how the Viennese fingers turned out when filled with buttercream and jam ? I am about to attempt this recipe and saw your quick ‘hack’ comment in regards to the filling.
Hello. Would you suggest folding the sifted flour in or mixing it in?
Thank you
Hi,
when you are rolling the dough into a sausage do you weigh each piece – I am just aware of some baking slightly quicker if i don’t weigh the dough beforehand.
Many Thanks,
Hi, I live in UK and I have found that Corn Flour is usually American. Is this correct; if so what is UK equivalent ?
Thanks – your ginger biscuits are fantastic!! Favourite in our house.
Hi Kate, I live in the UK . corn flour is available at most of your supermarkets, normally in the baking area.
If you can’t find is ask someone who works there.
Hope that helped
You can 100% buy corn flour from most uk supermarkets I also like in the uk and use it all the time, even my local corner shop stocks it
Cornstarch is American, corn flour is British. I am British living in USA hope this helps you!
hi Kate….I live in Canada and I would use corn starch…i believe its the same?
Please can you send a link for a star nozzle
I come across open nozzle medium and large
I have just made these for the first time. Such an easy recipe and no faffing about with a piping bag! I’ve decided not to sandwich them together, just keep them as finger style! Thank you for sharing this recipe
I made these for Christmas yesterday and they’re fantastic. The recipe was easy to follow and there’s no stressful piping involved. The fingers were light & melt in your mouth and definitely moreish.
Simply delicious melt in your mouth recipe. Love it.
its probably delishous but we accidently mixed the sugar and butter contites and wondered why it was dry. i would advise not doing it but it is good. definitley will do again. orange zest in butter cream.
How long do they last for, can you cook a day or two in advance?
Could you please address the many people who have asked how long these keep and whether or not they have to be refrigerated?