Homemade Ladyfingers

flat lay of ladyfingers on platter on top of white cheese cloth with small plates stacked of ladyfingers beside, a cup of coffee, flowers around, and a small sieve

These Homemade Ladyfingers are simple, delicious, and the perfect addition to so many different desserts or just on their own with a cup of coffee! So. GOOD.

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 35

Cook Time: 10

Servings:

Calories: 52kcal

Ingredients

2 cups pastry flour
6 large egg whites room temperature
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup granulated sugar divided
9 large egg yolks room temperature
powdered sugar for topping

Instructions

Heat oven to 375℉.
Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper.
Flip each piece of parchment over and use a permanent marker to mark 3½ inch rectangles.
Flip back over. Set aside.
Sift flour. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat egg yolks and ¼ cup of the sugar to ribbon stage, about 5 minutes.
With a stand mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.
Add in remaining ½ cup sugar, a little at a time, until incorporated.
Beat to medium stiff peaks.
Fold meringue into egg yolks one third at a time.
Fold flour into egg mixture one fourth at a time.
Spoon into piping bag.
Snip end to about a ½" opening.
Pipe onto marked parchment.
Sift powdered sugar over tops of cookies.
Immediately place in oven.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until just starting to color.
Use a thin spatula to remove from pan immediately.
Cool on wire racks.

Notes

If you don't have pastry flour, use 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 cup cake flour!
Do not skip sifting the flour.
Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Otherwise, you won't get the volume you need!
The meringue needs to be a medium stiff peak. When you lift the beater, you should still see a slight curve at the end of the peak.
Be sure to fold the meringue in three additions and the flour needs to be folded in four additions.
Do not overfold the batter!
When piping the ladyfingers, hold the piping bag up about ½ - 1 inch away from the parchment paper.
Once you've coated the ladyfingers with powdered sugar, get them into the oven quickly! You don't want the powdered sugar to soak into the batter.
When the ladyfingers are in the oven, be sure to watch them! They need to be taken out once the cookies just start to brown around the edges.
After baking, use a cookie spatula to quickly get the cookies off the pan. The more the cookies cool, the more likely they are to stick to the parchment paper.

Nutrition