These delicate buttery cookies are filled with a simple buttercream and either raspberry or strawberry jam. These British biscuits are perfect for an afternoon treat. Viennese Whirls literally melt in your mouth, be prepared to fall in love with this British cookie!
Every time I go back to England I spend copious amounts of time in the shop (grocery store), there are just too many good products we can't get in the States. Okay, nowadays you can find most things in the States but with a hefty price tag.
I stock up on all the things like Heinz Baked Beans, Ambrosia Rice Pudding, Chocolate Hob Nobs, a Morrisons Jam Doughnut, Warburtons Thick Slice Loaf, Roast Chicken Crisps.. the list goes on and on. It was only in recent years that I fell in love with Viennese Whirls. These biscuits are
So since I have been home for two weeks I knew I needed to make a homemade recipe so I can kill my cravings with some!
Where do Viennese whirls come from?
These delicate buttery biscuits are a traditional British biscuit, supposed to be inspired by Austrian pastries. Mr. Kipling, a packaged dessert brand, in the UK is most famous for their Viennese Whirls served with buttercream and jam.
How do I make Viennese whirls?
This recipe is really easy. You can use store-bought jam or make your own. I used store-bought strawberry jam but raspberry jam is also spectacular as a filling.
You will need a star tip to bake these cookies, these are my favorite pastry tips.
You will need softened butter for this recipe. Start by beating your butter until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Next, add the powdered sugar and beat for another 2-4 minutes until lighter in color and very soft and fluffy.
Lastly gently fold in flour and cornstarch.
How to pipe Viennese whirls
The beauty of this biscuit dough is that when you pipe one if it doesn't look right just scrape it up and place it back into the piping back.
Use a medium-size star tip and use two hands to keep good pressure on the bag. Start by piping the outside of the circle and finish in the center.
Make sure to leave plenty of space between cookies, then place the tray in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
I place the cookies in the fridge just to set a little, this helps ensure they keep their shape.
Bake Viennese Whirls for 12-15 minutes or until just lightly browned on the sides. Let biscuits cool on a wire rack for at least 5-10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack. They are very delicate cookies so be careful.
What do you fill Viennesse Whirls with?
Buttercream & Jam, traditionally raspberry or strawberry.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or large bowl with a handheld mixer beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until fully combined, 1-2 minutes. The mixture will be thick.
Line cookies up so that they have a matching partner cookie.
Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium/ small piping hole or use a knife with a very delicate hand, pipe/spread a little smear of buttercream on every other cookie. Then place ½ teaspoon-ish of jam on the other cookies.
Gently press the cookies together, making sure not to press too hard you don't want jam oozing out everywhere.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3
Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips
Can you freeze Viennese whirls?
Yes, if you want to freeze the dough make sure you wrap it in plastic wrap very tightly then wrap it again and finally place it in an airtight freezer plastic bag. When you want to bake the cookies let the dough defrost in the fridge overnight.
You can freeze baked Viennese whirls, although I prefer to always freeze the dough and bake fresh. Viennese whirls are also very fragile cookies so you have to be very careful not to ruin their delicate shape.
To freeze baked viennese whirls let them cool completely then place them on a cookie sheet/ flat surface in the freezer for about an hour or so. Then when they are frozen you can transfer them to a freezer bag.
Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook’s Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a “cup” is completely different as to what someone else scoops!
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
Make sure to join our Newsletter and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.
PrintRecipe Card
Viennese Whirls
A delicate buttery cookie is filled with a simple buttercream and either raspberry or strawberry jam. These British biscuits are perfect for an afternoon treat. Viennese Whirls literally melt in your mouth, be prepared to fall in love with this British cookie!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 18 Cookies/ 9 Sandwiches 1x
Ingredients
Viennese Whirls
- 8oz (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, softened
- 45 grams (¼ Scant Cup) Powdered Sugar/ Icing Sugar
- 188 grams (1 ½ Cups) All-Purpose Flour/Plain Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch/ Cornflour
Filling
- 2.5oz Butter (5 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter
- 150 grams (¾ Cup) Powdered Sugar/ Icing Sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- Tiny Pinch of Salt
- 2oz-3oz (¼ Cup ish) Raspberry or Strawberry Jam
Instructions
Viennese Whirls
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or large bowl with a handheld mixer beat the butter until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat for another 2-4 minutes until lighter in color and very soft and fluffy. Gently fold in flour and cornstarch.
- Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip pipe two-inch circles of dough, start with the outside of the circle and make your way into the center. If you mess up just scrape the dough up and back into the pastry bag. Make sure to give plenty of room between cookies, then place the tray in the fridge while you preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- Bake Viennese Whirls for 12-15 minutes or until just lightly browned on the sides. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 5-10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack. They are very delicate cookies so be careful. Line cookies up so that they have a matching partner cookie.
Filling
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or large bowl with a handheld mixer beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until fully combined, 1-2 minutes. The mixture will be thick.
- Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium/ small piping hole or use a knife with a very delicate hand, pipe/spread a little smear of buttercream on every other cookie. Then place ½ teaspoon-ish of jam on the other cookies then gently press them together. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, if you live in a warm environment store cookies in the fridge and let sit out for 10 minutes before enjoying.
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 15 Minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: English
Keywords: Viennese Whirls recipe, how to make Viennese Whirls, the best Viennese Whirls
Recipe adapted from PBS
These cookies are part of a fabulous Cookie Party!! Check them all out here:
- Cosette’s Kitchen Tahini Pinwheel Cookies
- Kathryn Pauline’s Sesame Blossom Cookies
- Candice Walker’s Dark Chocolate Gelt with Matcha Mousse
- Tawnie Graham’s (Krolls_Korner) White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
- ¡Hola! Jalapeño Peppermint Mocha Milk Fudge
- Rylee Foer (About to Sprout) Spiced Honey Cardamom Cookies with Orange Glaze
- Gina Fontana (Healthy Little Vittles) Cookie Dough Stuffed Dates
- Christine Ma (Cherry on My Sundae) Southern Butter Pecan Skillet Cookie
- Alexa Blay’s (Key To My Lime) Gluten Free Vegan Sugar Cookies for Cutouts
- Tamara Giebel (The Herbalist & The Carnivore) Chocolate Espresso Dipped Hazelnut Lace Cookies
- Ashley Cuoco’s (ashcuoco) Stamped Citrus Shortbread
- Mike Johnson’s (MikeBakesNYC) Chocolate Peppermint Macarons
- Erin Kowal's (Down to a Simmer) Date Drop Cookies
- Kathleen Culver, The Floured Table Triple Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Taylor Carson (Crust and Confections PNW) Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Kimberlee Ho (kickassbaker) White Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Cindy Feingold (saltandserenity) Chocolate Dipped Mint sandwich Cookies
- Tamara, Tina, Tara (ThreeTeasKitchen) https://threeteaskitchen.com/lawzena/
- Jean Choi’s (whatgreatgrandmaate) Cranberry Pistachio Paleo Chocolate Cookies
- Tristin Rieken’s (onearmedmama) Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
- Kathryn (wornslapout) Rocky Road Chocolate Bark
- Taylor (allpurposeflourchild) Mulling Spice and Orange Marmalade Thumbprint Cookies
- Dana (olivemeetscoconut) Cranberry Orange Halaweh Cookies
- KendellKreations Pecan Butter Balls
- Kristine Hinterkopf (TheEarnestBaker) Smoked Sea Salt and Bourbon Cowboy Cookies
- Casey Colodny (TheMindfulHapa) Paleo Soft Ginger Cookies
- Emma Duckworth (Emma Duckworth Bakes Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Kat Higashiyama (Pasta Ragazza) Chocolate and Coffee Biscotti
Georgia says
WOW. I made these a couple days ago and just WOW. I did half with the jam and cream filling and the other half chocolate.... I had zero complaints from my family and coworkers. These are so buttery and soft, by far my favorite recipe on your blog!
★★★★★
Elizabeth says
Thank you for the lovely review Georgia, I need to post a chocolate version! They really are so buttery soft!!
annabell says
horrible, must be truly English. ~English are so bad at cooking. Just the list of 'goodies' like baked beens in a can (LOL) should have been an indicator of the quality.
don't bother - waste of time and ingredients
find a French recipe, don't cook anything british
★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Annabell, I am sorry you did not enjoy the recipe. There is a saying "don't yuck my yum" feel free to Google it, it means that you shouldn't say something is gross about what someone else enjoys to eat "their yum". It's basic kindness just like the Golden Rule, you might want to look that one up too.
Farida says
Tried the recipe taste v nice yet not whirly looking . Any advice
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Farida, sorry they were not to whirly. Depending on the warmth of your kitchen I would recommend chilling the piped cookies in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking to help them keep their swirly shape. Please let me know if that helps! Thank you so much for coming back and asking here, I appreciate it! Happy Weekend! 🙂
Anna says
I made these yesterday, SOOO good! Mine did not come out picture perfect though, I need to work on my technique lol!
★★★★★
Angela says
Hi! I haven’t baked these yet, but am anxious to try them. I was just wondering though because I really dislike American style buttercream since it’s just so shockingly sweat - is there any reason I couldn’t or shouldn’t make them using an Italian or Swiss merengue buttercream? Also, it’s so hot on the east Coast of the states, I was thinking it would hold up a little better at room temp when I share them at the office. Thanks in advance!
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Angela, you could, of course, try it with SMB, I think that the frosting recipe here is quite sturdy so good for sandwiching between biscuits my only concern would be that SMB is so soft, although stable, that it might ooze out more. I just have never done it myself so not totally sure, Viennese Whirls have always had just plain American Style Buttercream in my findings. I feel you on the heat I am in Southern California and its been triple digits a lot lately!!! If it were me I would refrigerate the cookies for a few hours or overnight then take them to the office and leave them out, assuming your office has some AC it won't be scorching the cookies should be fine. Let me know if I can help with anything else, thanks for reaching out. XX Liz
Celeste says
This cookie recipe is divine. Not sure what I did wrong the first time as the buttercream didn’t set for me, but I used an alternate recipe for that. The cookie came out absolutely PERFECT. It’s great in its own without the buttercream and jam!
★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
I am so sorry the buttercream didn't set properly for you. But I am so happy that you enjoyed the cookies. Thank you for the review, Celeste!! XX Liz
Bridger says
Recipe was perfect, I ended up using lingonberry jam, which everyone loved as its tartness paired so well with the sweetness of the buttercream. I also used a full tsp of vanilla in the buttercream for added flavor. My only issue came with piping the cookies - I couldn’t get them to pipe for the life of me! Maybe my butter was too cold? They’ve been requested for Christmas next year, so I’ll definitely be making them again!
★★★★
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe Bridger, I truly appreciate it!! I would think your butter might have been a little too cold, the batter is a stiffer one so it does take some pressure to pipe them. The lingonberry jam sounds delicious on these, need to try that myself!! XX Liz