Milano Cookies

This past week, TasteSpotting.com has been flooded with Daring Bakers adventures with Milan cookies. You know the ones I'm talking about; those Pepperidge Farm cookies with the crisp buttery ovals sandwiched together with rich chocolate ganache? If you don't know the bliss of which I speak, you must follow my next instructions. Get up. Grab your keys. Head to the nearest market. Walk down the cookie aisle. Grab a package of Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies and purchase them. Once you're in the parking lot, open the package and let the sweet cookie take your tastebuds on a ride to Delicioustown. Try not to wreck your car while stuffing your face as you drive home...

Okay. Moving on. Milan(o) cookies are some of my absolute favorite cookies. The crisp, crumbly, yet airy texture of the cookie combined with the rich chocolate ganache is just divine. They're a cookie I rarely treat myself to (mostly due to the price), so imagine my absolute delight at the idea that I could make them myself! The ingredients are simple; generally, I have them all in the kitchen (minus the cream). Really, this recipe and I are a pairing made in heaven.


Milan Cookies
(Gale Gand of the Food Network)

Cookie Batter

• 12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (approximately 6 eggs)
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon extract

Cookie Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 orange, zested (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Gradually mix in egg whites (I added approximately 2 egg whites at a time), then mix in the extracts. Add flour and mix just until fully incorporated.

Pipe the batter onto the prepared sheet using a 1/4 inch plain piping tip. (Don't have piping tips and bags? Just put the batter in a gallon ziplock back and snip the corner off one end). Pipe 1 inch long strips of batter, making sure they are 2 inches apart from each other and the edges of the pan. The batter WILL spread quite a deal.

Bake 10 minutes or (more importantly) the edges are a light golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely.

While the cookies cool, scald the heavy cream; in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, heat the cream until it is steaming and the edges begin to bubble. Make sure to stir frequently; you do not want a skin developing atop the cream.

Place the chocolate in a glass bowl; pour the scalded cream over top. Stir constantly until all the chocolate has melted. Let it cool and thicken a bit.

While your chocolate is cooling, it's a good idea to go through your cookies and pair them up so you have similarly sized and shaped cookies.

Of each pair, spread a thin layer of chocolate across the flat side of a cookie. Gently press the flat side of the second cookie on top.

A Few Notes:
My cookies were not perfect replicas of the P.F. ones. For starters, my cookies are very soft and chewy. Perhaps (as I didn't use a piping tip) my batter was too thick and couldn't crisp up. I'm a bit skeptical of this theory though. I might fiddle with the recipe the next time I make these.
Also, hubby and I both agree that the lemon is too heavy; next time, I'd either cut the amount by half or even just omit it completely.
Thirdly, it is hella hard to make nicely shaped ovals. So don't get discouraged. I had to sift through mine to get nice ones to photograph.
Even though these aren't exactly like the P.F. ones I love, they're still pretty tasty. You should try them out; people will be impressed by their delicate nature.