Milan Cookies
The July Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.
Milan(o) cookies have always been a staple at my house. Growing up, we always had one of those bags, with the five cookies in each paper cup, sitting in our pantry. Since I associate them with my family, it’s no wonder that the moment I saw this Daring Baker’s challenge I knew I had to make them for them. And since the 4th of July was coming up… well, that was a perfectly fine excuse for me.
These cookies… they’re addictive. Consider yourself forewarned. I must have eaten 20 of the cookies just by themselves, snitching one from the baking sheet every time I walked past – before I even made the filling. Oh man. They’re good. Thin, crispy, with a citrusy sweetness that won’t let you eat just one. These were definitely a success in my book.
Ingredients
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 6 egg whites
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp lemon extract
- 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c heavy cream
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
- the zest of 1 orange
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream the butter and the sugar.
- Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
- Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
- With a small (1/4-inch) plain pastry tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread. (And they WILL spread.)
- Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
- While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald the cream.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
- Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
- Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
- Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.
Lisa 07/27/2009 at 04:29pm
OK..not only are your Milans and Mallows absolute aesthetic perfection, but if there was ever a a perfect definition of ‘drool inducing’. it’s your macro shots of the ganache oozing from the Milans…BEAUTIFUL and drool inducing to the 100th degree! Great job all around!
Singing Horse 07/27/2009 at 04:30pm
Your milanos do look addictive. Beautifully done!
Julie 07/27/2009 at 05:00pm
Beautiful cookies and pictures! I love the photo that shows a close-up of the texture!
les gourmandises d'Isa 07/27/2009 at 06:35pm
tes photos sont fantastiques ! beau travail 🙂
sabillaa 07/27/2009 at 11:57pm
gorgeous cookies and photos! love the close and pleaseeee cant i have one now!! uuuff yummm!!
Allison 07/28/2009 at 03:27pm
Lisa – Thank you so much! The photos are all thanks to my wonderful boyfriend (who takes almost all the photographs on here). He’ll be happy to hear that you like them!
Singing Horse – Thanks!
Julie – Thank you! 🙂
les gourmandises d’Isa – Merci beaucoup!
sabillaa – Hehe, thanks!
Y 07/29/2009 at 02:12pm
Beautiful cookies and great photos! I didn’t grow up eating these, so didn’t feel too compelled to make them, given the choice 🙂
Lillian 07/29/2009 at 04:00pm
Wow — that last photo is great!
Heidi / Savory Tv 08/05/2009 at 03:06pm
Milano’s are addictive, they could have their own 12 step program! Your homemade version looks sinfully decadent!
Allison 09/30/2009 at 12:54am
Y – Thanks! Yeah, these were a definite must-make since they’re a life-long family favorite. 🙂
Lillian – Thanks… my boyfriend is my photographer, isn’t he fantastic? 😀
Heidi – I agree completely. They’re delicious.
A_Boleyn 03/08/2014 at 05:17pm
What a wonderful use for egg whites. I’m not a big meringue fan but these chocolate filled cookies look so tasty.