Homemade Ladyfingers

▢
Preheat the oven to 390° F | 200° C.
▢
Line two cookie trays or baking sheets with parchment paper.
▢
Separate the eggs (which should be at room temperature), putting whites in a large bowl and yolks in a separate bowl.
▢
Add granulated sugar and a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat it with an electric hand mixer or the wire whisk attachment on a stand mixer. Whisk on medium speed until the whites form a firm and shiny meringue, which is a step beyond just stiff peaks so keep whipping until it is very hard. (This step is the basis for obtaining a mixture that can hold its shape for baking).
▢
Next, in a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork until smooth and free of lumps or chunks and fairly light and fluffy. Pour the beaten yolks into the hardened egg whites mixture.
▢
With the help of a spatula or wooden spoon (do not use the hand mixer!) gently fold the yolks and whites together very slowly for just a few moments, folding in the yolks without deflating the whites. The mixture should still be stiff.
▢
Now add the sifted flour mixture into the whites as well, in two or three separate batches, and mix in very gently using the spatula, still being careful to not deflate the mixture. The result should be frothy, light and fairly uniform.
▢
Immediately put the mixture into a pastry or piping bag with a large piping tip (approximately 13 mm diameter opening).
▢
Squeeze the pastry bag from the back, keeping the bag straight over the sheet pan, to form long, straight, thick lines on the lined baking sheets. Each cookie should be a little over 1 cm high and 8 cm long. Form each raw lady finger apart from each other so they don't stick together when cooking, fill the two baking sheets with ladyfingers.
▢
Now sprinkle the raw lady finger cookies with a handful of granulated sugar, lightly dusting the top of each cookie. Next dust them very lightly with powdered sugar using a sifter and gently tapping the side over each cookie.
▢
Bake on the middle rack in an oven at 390° F | 200° C for 5 minutes. Then open the oven slightly to let some air in to dry the lady fingers, and check that they are not browning too quickly. Bake for another 2 minutes or until golden.
▢
Lift the baking paper with the lady fingers still on it and carefully set it on a cool, flat surface or on racks and let the lady fingers cool.
▢
If desired, you can dust the lady fingers again with powdered sugar, especially if they will be eaten alone and not used in a recipe.

Ingredients

Equipment

Instructions