Skip to content
German Pastry Chef, home

Pastries and Cookies

Tender Mocha Tongue Cookies with Real Espresso, Simply Piped

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Piped mocha tongue cookies with chocolate-dipped ends on a cooling rack

5.0 (5)out of 5, 5 ratings

Go to recipePrint
Prep
10 min
Bake
20 min
Total
30 min
Makes
20

Coffee, butter and a splash of liqueur in one bowl, that is all this little classic cookie needs. Mocha tongues, known in Germany as Mokkazungen, are one of those typical pastry shop treats that look elaborately decorated but are really just piped shortbread dough. I dug this recipe out of one of my oldest handwritten baking books, because I used to absolutely love eating these little things.

Read more

The trick is in the coffee: I use real espresso plus a spoonful of coffee liqueur, which gives the cookies a much fuller flavor than cocoa powder alone. If you don't have any liqueur on hand, just leave it out; the espresso by itself brings plenty of aroma and also keeps the dough light. One tip before you start: use a plain round tip, not a star tip, because the fine ridges melt away during baking anyway. Here is my recipe for classic piped mocha tongues:

Ingredients

Makes 20

  • 1 stick plus 4 tbsp170 gunsalted butterGerman butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter (European-style unsalted butter is closest); in the UK, unsalted butter.
  • 1 ¼ cups150 gpowdered sugarVery finely ground sugar for icings and dusting. In the US use powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar); in the UK, icing sugar.
  • 1large egg
  • 1 tbspcoffee liqueurOptional.
  • 2 tbspespresso
  • 2 tbspunsweetened cocoa powderPure unsweetened cocoa powder for baking. In the US use unsweetened cocoa powder (not hot cocoa mix); in the UK, cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate).
  • 1 ½ cups180 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.

Method

  1. All-in method: stir everything together until you have a smooth, even mixture.

  2. Fill the dough into a sturdy piping bag with a round tip. Pipe the cookies in the size you like and chill them for at least 90 minutes. Otherwise they will spread completely!

  3. Put them into the preheated oven at 375°F (190°C) and bake for about 10 minutes.

  4. After baking, let them cool completely and decorate with chocolate as you like.

Questions and answers

Can I leave out the coffee liqueur?
Of course, you can leave out the coffee liqueur completely. Do keep the espresso, though, because it gives the cookies their aroma and keeps the dough light at the same time. With liqueur the flavor is rounder and fuller; without it the cookies are still really delicious.
Which piping tip do I need?
I use a plain round tip. You can skip the star tip, because the fine ridges melt away during baking and can't be seen at the end. A round tip about 8 to 10 millimeters (about ⅓ inch) across works great.
Why shouldn't the dough be whipped?
Mocha tongues are not a classic creamed batter; nothing gets beaten until fluffy here. If you work air into the dough, the piped tongues lose even more of their shape in the oven and turn out uneven. Just stir until smooth on the lowest speed, that is all it takes.
How do I best store mocha tongues?
I keep the tongues in a tightly closed cookie tin, where they easily last two weeks. If you have decorated them with chocolate, put a piece of parchment paper between the layers so nothing sticks together. Store them somewhere cool and dry, not in the fridge.
How do I decorate the tongues with chocolate?
Be sure to wait until the tongues have cooled completely, otherwise the chocolate slides off. I dip the ends in tempered couverture chocolate (chocolate with a high cocoa butter content that melts smoothly; in the US use good-quality baking chocolate bars or couverture wafers, not chocolate chips; in the UK, couverture chocolate or a good-quality cooking chocolate bar) or drizzle a few fine stripes over them with a spoon. Let them drip on a rack and let the chocolate set, and you're done.