Name: Chocolate Viennese Whirls (Vegan)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 200 g (7 oz) vegan block butter (very soft); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 180 g (1 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour; 40 g (4 Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch); 20 g (2 Tablespoons) cocoa powder; 75 g (⅔ cup) icing (powdered) sugar; 1 Tablespoon plant milk; 100 g (3 ½ oz) dark chocolate (finely chopped); 100 g (⅓ cup + 1 ½ Tablespoons) vegan double cream alternative (such as Elmlea); 15 g (1 Tablespoon) vegan block butter; 1 teaspoon orange extract or ½ teaspoon peppermint extract ((optional))

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Chocolate Viennese whirls - these easy vegan chocolate sandwich biscuits are rich, delicate, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth.

With tender, piped chocolate shortbread and a dark chocolate ganache filling these cookies aren't too sweet and can be flavoured with mint or orange for a tasty twist!

A stack of vegan chocolate Viennese whirl biscuits.

Viennese whirls are a classic British biscuit consisting of two tender, delicate shortbread biscuits sandwiched together with jam and buttercream.

The biscuits are piped rather than rolled out, giving them a pretty, swirled appearance.

This chocolate version has added cocoa powder and I swapped the buttercream and jam for chocolate ganache; and made them vegan of course.

The biscuits are rich, crumbly and not too sweet. Perfect as a snack or as part of an afternoon tea, and they are easier to make than you might think!

Chocolate Viennese whirl cookies on a white plate.

What Do I Need To Make Chocolate Viennese Whirls?:

Vegan block butter: Please, for the love of holy baking, use a block butter/margarine to make these cookies, not the spreadable kind in a tub.

Spreadable will likely make the dough too soft, and the biscuits may be more tough as it contains more water. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven't tried making these gluten-free.

Cocoa powder: I use a dark, Dutch processed one (just regular cocoa powder to those of you in the UK).

Cornflour (cornstarch): This helps to give the viennese whirls a lovely light, melt-in-the mouth texture.

Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. If you have it then vanilla bean paste would be amazing instead.

Icing (powdered) sugar: Using icing sugar rather than caster or granulated gives the biscuits a lighter texture. I don't recommend swapping it for another type.

Milk: Any kind of plant based milk will work. I use soy.

Chocolate: Don't go any darker than 70% cocoa solids as the ganche will be too bitter and more likely to split.

Cream: A vegan double cream alternative such as Elmlea is best, though coconut cream will work if that is all you have.

A plate of chocolate Viennese whirl biscuits.

How To Make Chocolate Viennese Whirls:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Whisk the softened vegan butter and the vanilla extract with an electric mixer until smooth.

Sift in the flour, cornflour, cocoa powder and icing sugar and mix until well combined then mix in the milk. The dough should be stiff but malleable and pipeable, like a stiff buttercream consistency.

Transfer half of the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.

Pipe swirls of the dough spaced apart on a couple of lined baking sheets.

Step 4, the piped cookies before baking.

Freeze for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven then bake for 15 minutes until firm.

To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and butter until just coming up to simmer then pour over the chocolate.

Stir until melted and smooth.

Allow to cool and thicken slightly then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round nozzle.

Pipe a generous blob of ganache onto the bottom side of half of the biscuits. Top each one with another biscuit, pressing it on gently.

Chocolate Viennese whirl biscuits on a wire cooling rack.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

Take the butter out of the fridge at least a couple of hours before baking. It needs to be extremely soft, otherwise your dough will be too stiff to pipe.

The dough needs to be soft enough to pipe, a thick buttercream consistency. If you are struggling to pipe it, warm the piping bag up in your hands.

These Viennese whirls are not a very sweet biscuit. If you prefer them sweeter then you can add a spoonful of sifted icing sugar to the ganache to taste.

You will need a large open star piping nozzle. I use a Wilton #2D nozzle for more of a rose shape.

Make sure that the biscuits are 100% cool before filling them.

Variations:

Instead of the ganache you can fill the cookies with buttercream and/or jam or just with melted chocolate.

The ganache can be flavoured with orange or peppermint extract, or you can use flavoured chocolate.

How Long Will They Keep?:

The unfilled biscuits will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Once filled, they will start to soften slightly after a day so I recommend filling them on the day you wish to serve them and eating them within a couple of days.

Can I Freeze Them?:

I wouldn't recommend it, I think that the biscuits are likely to absorb moisture and become soft.

More Vegan Biscuit Recipes:

Close up of a pile of chocolate Viennese whirl biscuits on a white plate.

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5 from 2 votes