I'm sharing how to make amazing tuiles and enjoy them in many ways; basic cigarette cookies, lace cigarette cookies, almond tuiles, ice cream cones, and cookie sand.

I remember eating cigarette cookies for the first time when I was a kid and being surprised with how delicious it is: the incredibly thin layers broke delicately in my mouth. It was the texture I'd never had before... The lightest crispiness, toasty smell, sound...! I loved everything about it.
Fast forward, now I learned how to recreate the same tuiles, but even better so that my family can always enjoy it at home.
❤️ I love these tuiles because:
- The texture is so magical; flaky, buttery... and it has the lightest crispiness.
- The batter is so simple and easy to make. It'll be done within 5 minutes!
- You can enjoy it in any shape and size.
- It is quite fun to roll it. You might love it if you like crafty activities!
Even though the recipe is pretty simple, the texture can change drastically depending on how you make it: In this post, you’ll learn important tips to spread, roll, and store it, and everything you need to know to make the best homemade tuiles at home.
Tips including:
- The roles of almond flour for the cookies and what you can alternate it with
- How long you should bake and why
- Should we use parchment paper or a silicone mat?
Jump to:
📌 What's In Tuiles?
7 simple ingredients
- Whole egg
- Oftentimes, tuiles are made with only egg white. That is not a problem at all but by adding a yolk that contains natural oil, the texture gets slightly flakier and lighter. It also adds richness!
- Vanilla extract
- You can omit it or try a different flavor.
- Powdered sugar
- The texture gets slightly lighter and flakier by using powdered sugar. It also dissolves much easier than granulated sugar.
- Salt
- The cookie tastes much better with a little bit of saltiness!
- Unsalted butter (melted)
- Butter creates a flaky, fragile texture.
- Almond flour
- Almond flour helps to roll cookies a little bit easier (due to less amount of gluten, a little bit of moisture, etc.) and it also adds a nice flavor.
- Alternate it with all-purpose flour if you want to avoid using it.
- All-purpose flour
- Use regular all-purpose flour.
📍 The printable recipe is at the very end of this post.
Jump to Recipe📌 4 Simple Steps To Make Tuiles Batter
- Mix whole egg, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until it looks smooth.
- Add warm melted butter and mix well.
- Add almond flour and all-purpose flour and mix until it looks smooth.
- Clean the bowl and spatula at the end to make sure it's evenly mixed. Done!
💬 Mix the melted butter right away before it cools down.
💡 By adding melted butter before you add flour, you can avoid liquids and flour from connecting too much to create too much gluten.
📌 Basic Cigarette Tuiles
How to spread it
👩🏻🍳 Chill the batter in the fridge to spread it evenly easier. (Do not chill it for lace cigarette cookies since it gets a bit too hard to pipe.)
Today, I'm spreading to a 5 by 10-inch rectangle shape to create many layers. One batch is enough to make about 5 - 6 basic cigarette cookies with the length.
But of course, you can make it shorter like a 5 by 5 inches square to make the double pieces. (Try any size and shape you like!)
Spread very thinly.
The most important thing when you make tuiles is to spread it VERY thinly; about one millimeter or even less.
Depending on how thick it is, the texture of tuiles changes drastically. I can not stress that enough! You can enjoy the delicate, light crispiness by making it as thin as possible.
💬 You can also roll it much easier when it's thin. It cracks much easier when it's thicker.
Clean up the edges with an offset spatula or something similar.
Try to spread it as evenly as possible. You can check it visually in the video tutorial.
Bake
🔥 Bake at 330 F | 165 C for 4-7 mins until you see the light golden caramelization, especially around the edges.
Tips to roll it
Start rolling right after it's out from the oven.
The cookie is soft while it's very hot but it'll get crispy quickly as it cools down. That is why it's extremely important to start rolling it when it's just out of the oven.
👩🏻🍳 My skin is not so sensitive, so I'm touching the cookie directly BUT! This could be very hot for many people. I advise you to wear maybe gloves or something to protect your hand while you're rolling it so that you don't have to burn yourself!
Roll on top of the hot tray
This helps hugely to keep your cookies remain hot while you are rolling them.
⚠️ I do not recommend rolling it on top of a cool table as it cools down quickly and get harder before you finish rolling it.
I used a wooden dowel rod. It doesn't have to be it; You can use something similar!
💡 With parchment paper, you can peel off the cookie much easier than with a silicon mat. Depending on the mat you use, the cookie sticks to it. You can reuse the parchment paper many times. (Wipe off the excess oil before use.)
Take off the pole once the cookie cools down completely.
With chocolate
As an option, you can dip your cookies in melted chocolate. (I love it!!)
- Melt chocolate chips and add a bit of oil (about 5% of the whole chocolate) to make it looser.
- Or temper chocolate; check out my chocolate truffle tutorial for one of the easiest ways to temper chocolate.
Dip the cookie in the chocolate and toss gently to remove the excess.
Set it aside until it sets completely.
📌 Lace Cigarette Tuiles
If you want to have a little bit more fun with it, you can also make lace tuiles.
How to pipe it
Randomly pipe like in the image and make sure there are no huge gaps between them.
Bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.
Tips to roll it
Be more careful not to add too much pressure from the top because the cookies are more fragile.
📌 Almond Tuiles
You can also make classic almond tuiles using the same batter.
💬 It is very important to use toasted almonds to create a very crispy texture.
Don't be afraid to spread it really thinly because again, it's going to create a very nice crispiness.
Clean the edges.
And attach the almonds all around.
Bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.
If you want to make it curled, do so while it's hot. If you don't have a curved cake mold, use a rolling pin or something similar.
I highly recommend trying it if you love almonds. It is so delicious!
📌 Tuile Cookie Sand
And lastly, I made a cookie sand.
I attached cacao nibs on top to the half which is totally optional!
Again, bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.
I used my chocolate buttercream recipe with cocoa powder this time. Check out this video tutorial to see how you can make it.
📌 Uses For Tuiles
Enjoy the treat in so many ways!:
- As a snack for your tea/coffee break
- Decorations for plated desserts
- With ice cream
- As ice cream cones
- As a cookie gift box ... and so on.
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
Store them in an airtight container either in the fridge or at room temperature.
I highly recommend storing them with a silica gel or adding one in a box when you are gifting them to someone. Silica gel is soaking up all the moisture and it'll keep the cookies nice and crispy.
The cookie is going to last for at least one week (especially with a silica gel) but consumes it sooner for the best taste. I recommend eating it right after it's made when you don't use silica gel to enjoy the most crispy texture.
Yes! Just be careful not to add too much so that the cookies do not lose the amazing crispiness.
They are 2 most common causes for this issue:
1. It was not baked long enough: Bake the cookies until you see the light golden caramelization. The cookie does not get crispy when it is not baked enough.
2. The batter was too thick: Related to cause 1, it'll be harder to bake evenly when the batter is too thick.
To conclude, spread very thinly and bake until you see the caramelization. It should fix the issue!
Yes. Almond flour helps to roll cookies a little bit easier and it also adds a nice flavor. But alternate it with all-purpose flour if you want to avoid using it.
Yes! Cover the surface with plastic wrap directly so that it does not get dried and store it in the fridge. I recommend using it within 5 days since it contains eggs.
📌 VIDEO: Tuiles
To learn how to make tuiles visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch this video.
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉
💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it at home with your friends and family.
📌 Printable Recipe
How To Make Tuiles
Equipment
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Small offset spatula
- Parchment paper
- Wooden dowel rods or something to roll cookies on
- Silica gel optional - to store it
Ingredients
Tuile batter
- 1.75 oz Egg about 1 medium-large egg
- ⅛ tsp or more Vanilla extract
- 1.75 oz Powdered sugar
- A few pinches Salt
- 1.75 oz Unsalted butter (melted)
- 0.17 oz Almond flour Almond flour helps to roll cookies a little bit easier and it also adds a nice flavor. But if you want to avoid using it, alternate it with all-purpose flour.
- 1.6 oz All-purpose flour
Decoration (optional)
- Some Toasted sliced almond
- Some Dark chocolate
- Some Cacao nibs
Instructions
Tuiles Batter
- Mix whole egg, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until it looks smooth.1.75 oz Egg, ⅛ teaspoon or more Vanilla extract, 1.75 oz Powdered sugar, A few pinches Salt
- Add warm melted butter and mix well.1.75 oz Unsalted butter (melted)
- Add almond flour and all-purpose flour and mix until it looks smooth.0.17 oz Almond flour, 1.6 oz All-purpose flour
- Clean the bowl and spatula at the end to make sure it's evenly mixed.
Basic Cigarette Cookies
- [Spread] Chill the batter in the fridge to spread it evenly easier. (Do not chill it for lace cigarette cookies since it gets a bit too hard to pipe.)Today, I'm spreading to a 5 by 10-inch rectangle shape to create many layers. Try any size you like!Spread very thinly:The most important thing when you make tuiles is to spread it very thinly; about one millimeter or even less.You can enjoy the delicate, light crispiness by making it as thin as possible. It'll also get a lot easier to roll when it's thin. (It cracks much easier when it's thicker.)Clean up the edges with an offset spatula or something similar.
- [Bake] Bake at 330 F | 165 C for 4-7 mins until you see the light golden caramelization, especially around the edges.
- [Roll] Start rolling right after it's out from the oven: The cookie is soft while it's very hot but it'll get crispy quickly as it cools down. That is why it's extremely important to start rolling it when it's just out of the oven.Roll it on top of the hot tray:This helps hugely to keep your cookies remain hot while you are rolling itTake off the pole once the cookie cools down completely.
- [With Chocolate] As an option, dip your cookies in melted chocolate.* Melt chocolate chips and add a bit of oil (about 5% of the whole chocolate) to make it looser.* Or temper chocolate; check out my chocolate truffle tutorial for one of the easiest ways to temper chocolate.Set it aside until it sets completely.Some Dark chocolate
Lace Cigarette Cookies
- Randomly pipe and make sure there are no huge gaps between them.Bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.When you roll it, be more careful not to add too much pressure from the top since the cookie is fragile.
Almond Tuiles
- Use toasted almonds to create a very crispy texture.Spread it really thinly,Clean the edges,And attach the almonds all around.Bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.If you want to make it curled, do so while it's hot. It doesn't have to be that cake mold, you can use a rolling pin or something similar.Some Toasted sliced almond
Tuile Cookie Sand
- I attached cacao nibs on top to the half which is totally optional.Bake the same way as the basic cigarette cookies.I used my chocolate buttercream recipe with cocoa powder. Check out this video tutorial to see how you can make it. Or use any of your favorite buttercream as the filling.Some Cacao nibs
Video
Notes
How to store it
Store them in an airtight container either in the fridge or at room temperature.I highly recommend storing them with a silica gel or adding one in a box when you are gifting them to someone. Silica gel is soaking up all the moisture and it'll keep the cookies nice and crispy
Nutrition
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Kara says
These cookies turned out fabulously. I even made them gluten free using King Arthur Flour’s measure for measure flour.
ayacaliva says
Thank you!! I haven't tried with gluten flour, so it is really good to know! Thank you for sharing your experience.