I've been participating in the Daring Bakers' Challenges for a few years now, so I had to look pretty far back into the archives to find a recipe I hadn't tried. As soon as I found this recipe for Milano cookies, I knew I had to make them. Milanos are one of my favorite types of store-bought cookies, so I loved the idea of making them at home. To make the challenge even better, the recipe originally came from Gale Gand, who is one of my pastry chef idols. After making these delicious cookies at home, I don't know if I'll ever want store-bought again! They were surprisingly simple to make, and I loved the combination of the light, citrus flavored cookies with the rich chocolate filling.
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| Make cookie dough, and pipe into 1 1/2 inch segments. |
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| Bake until golden-brown around edges. |
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| Make filling by melting chocolate with scalded cream and orange zest. |
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| Sandwich cookies with chocolate filling. |
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| Enjoy! |
Milano Cookies
Makes about 30 sandwich cookies
Cookies
12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
Zest of one orange
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream butter with electric mixer, and mix in sugar. Slowly beat in the egg whites, then add the vanilla and lemon extracts. Carefully mix in the flour until just incorporated. Do not overbeat!
3. Pipe out 1 1/2 inch segments of the batter onto a parchment-paper lined sheet pan, using a pastry bag with a 1/4" round tip. Leave at least 2 inches between each cookie, as they will spread in oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown around edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan.
4. Scald the cream over medium heat. Pour warm cream over the chocolate chips, and allow to sit for about 1 minute. Whisk the mixture until chocolate is melted. Whisk in orange zest. Allow mixture to cool slightly.
5. Spread chocolate filling on the flat side of one cookie, and press another cookie on top. Repeat with remaining cookies.
-Adapted from recipe at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/milan-cookies-recipe/index.html
-Posted by Jennifer
