Made with only 6 ingredients, these Vegan Viennese Whirls are unbelievably moreish! Melt-in-your-mouth sandwich cookies are filled with raspberry jam and a vanilla buttercream swirl. They’re simple, easy and delicious. You won’t stop at just one!
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What is a Viennese Whirl?
If you haven’t heard of Viennese whirls before, you’ve been missing out! Viennese whirls are a British biscuit consisting of a soft and buttery shortbread biscuit sandwiched with different fillings and decorations. The biscuit is piped into a swirl shape, said to be inspired by Austrian pastries. They look technical but they’re actually surprisingly easy to make.
A fun alternative to the classic ‘sandwich biscuit’, you can also enjoy them as a single cookie piped as a ‘squiggle’ or ‘ finger shape’ dipped in chocolate or spread such as Nutella or Biscoff. They’re super fun to get the kids or family involved with making, creating and decorating!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Basic ingredients : All the ingredients are basic pantry or fridge staples. You can whip these up at the last minute to satisfy a cookie craving!
- Only 6 ingredients: Not only are the ingredients basic, but you only need a few to make these delicious biscuits!
- Vegan friendly : This recipe is completely vegan friendly and free from any animal derived ingredients such as milk or eggs. It uses dairy-free alternatives such as dairy-free block butter and plant based milk.
- Unbelievably soft and buttery : The minute you bite into these Viennese Whirls, they melt in your mouth. They are light, soft and buttery.
- Easy to make : The cookies and buttercream come together in under 20 minutes.
- Fun to make: You’ll have so much fun piping the swirls, get creative with them!
- Great for parties / celebrations: They are great for sharing at parties and special celebrations like birthdays, baby showers and the Kings Coronation coming up this May.
Ingredients needed:
With only 6 ingredients, store bought jam and a easy vanilla buttercream, these Viennese whirls couldn’t be simpler to make and prepare.
- Dairy-free butter – You want to use a vegan block butter. My favourites are Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter. Leave it out at room temperature to soften before use. This will make it much easier to use / pipe the swirls.
- Plain flour – As we don’t need the biscuits to rise unlike cake or cupcakes, simply use plain / all purpose flour.
- Icing sugar – To keep the biscuits as light as possible, use icing sugar / powdered sugar as opposed to caster sugar! It works a dream!
- Vanilla – Use a good quality vanilla extract. Alternatively you can use the seeds from a vanilla pod.
- Dairy-free milk – You can use any dairy-free milk for this recipe, including almond, oat, soya and cashew milk.
- Jam – Classic viennese whirls use raspberry jam, use seeded or seedless depending on your preference.
How to make Vegan Viennese Whirls
While these tasty biscuits may look daunting, they are simple to make! The swirl / whirl shape is created using a star tip piping nozzle. Assembling the cookies is a very easy process:
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Place all biscuit ingredients into a bowl, beat until soft. Transfer into a piping bag with a star tip nozzle, pipe rosette shapes on grease proof paper. Bake until golden in colour then allow to cool.
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Beat the buttercream ingredients together until light, and creamy. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle.
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Pipe or spread raspberry jam onto one biscuit, then pipe a swirl onto another biscuit. Sandwich together. Repeat.
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Serve with a dusting of icing sugar over the tops of the biscuits.
How to shape a viennese whirl?
The biscuits are really the start of the show with this bake! They are gorgeous little swirl / rosette shapes which create elegant sandwich cookies. They are super easy to make, you just need a few tools and some helpful tips.
- Once you have mixed the biscuit mixture together and it’s soft, transfer into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle. Make sure the biscuit mixture is soft enough to pipie. Sometimes, you might need some add a splash of dairy-free milk into the mixture to loosen it.
- Line some baking trays with grease proof paper.
- Start from the middle squeezing the piping bag, and work your way outward, creating a rosette shape. Repeat.
- Bake until golden then fill and sandwich together with vanilla buttercream and raspberry jam.
Viennese whirl tips and tricks
- The butter must be soft : Make sure to allow the butter to soften at room temperature for at least an hour before making the biscuits. This will make piping the whirls so much easier!
- Use a open star tip piping nozzle : In order to get those classic and iconic rosette swirls, use a medium sized star tip nozzle. I personal favourite is a Wilton 2D tip.
- Make sure the biscuits are cold before filling : To prevent the buttercream from melting when piped into the biscuits, make sure the biscuits are 100% cool before filling and assembling.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Vegan Viennese Whirls
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Approx 10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan Viennese Whirls – delicious, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits with raspberry jam and a light vanilla buttercream filling.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the biscuits
- 200g of dairy-free butter (softened)
- 40g of icing sugar
- 240g of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract / seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- Dairy-free milk (if needed)
Ingredients for the vanilla buttercream
- 130g vegan butter, softened
- 250g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract / seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- Dairy-free milk (if needed)
- 1 jar of seeded / seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
Method (biscuits)
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan and line two baking trays with grease proof paper. Set aside.
- Add the softened dairy-free butter into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the icing sugar, flour and vanilla and mix using the paddle attachment. If the mixture is too thick, add in a teaspoon of dairy-free milk at a time until the mixture is soft but firm.
- Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a medium / large open star tip nozzle.
- Pipe the dough in a rosette shape, starting from the middle, squeezing the piping bag and working your way out (Watch the video tutorial here). The biscuits will spread out slightly when baking and don’t pipe them too closely. Repeat until you’ve used up all of the dough.
- Place into the middle of the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden in colour.
- Once golden, remove from the oven. Allow the biscuits to cool on the tray before lifting up and placing onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool at room temperature fully before filling. They can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature overnight before filling.
Method (Filling buttercream)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla. Whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it. Add a splash of dairy-free milk to get it to a smooth and creamy consistency. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle.
Assemble
- Pipe a swirl of buttercream onto the base (flat side) of half of the biscuits.
- Pipe, spoon on or spread jam onto the other half of the biscuits.
- Sandwich both biscuits together and gently press together to stick.
- Finish with a light dusting of some icing sugar. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Store un filled biscuits in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Store filled sandwich cookies in a sealed / air tight container in the fridge. Best enjoyed within 3 days of making.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: cookies and biscuits
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Very excited to make this! When using butter, should I opt for salted or unsalted?