How To Make Tuiles | Cigarette Cookies

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?
• 📌 4 Simple Steps To Make Tuiles Batter
• 📌 Basic Cigarette Tuiles
• 📌 Lace Cigarette Tuiles
• 📌 Almond Tuiles
• 📌 Tuile Cookie Sand
• 📌 Uses For Tuiles
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Tuiles
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• How To Make Tuiles

📌 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

1. Mix whole egg, vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar until it looks smooth.
2. Add warm melted butter and mix well.
3. Add almond flour and all-purpose flour and mix until it looks smooth.
4. 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

📌 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😉

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💬 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

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Cookie recipes

Basic recipes

Classic dessert recipes

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