Monday, July 27, 2009

Daring Bakers- 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.


My first challenge with Daring Bakers, and it was quite a delicious one!
My first attempt at the cookie part of these didn't turn out so well, they baked too skinny, but I still ate them :)

Here's her recipe:

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. 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.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.


I didn't tweak any of the original recipe, I think they came out great (taste-wise), they had a nice orange-kick to them. I think you can omit the orange zest if you wanted to add peppermint to the chocolate mixture to have mint milan cookies, or even I'm sure kahlua, bailey's, etc etc.


Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and can't wait for August's challenge!

12 comments:

Lauren said...

Yum!! Your milan cookies look amazing =D. Beautiful job on your first challenge!!

Anonymous said...

Your milanos look really good. Congrats on finishing your first challenge so well!

LoveMeKnot Creations said...

thank you!! :)

Julie said...

I'm excited about August too! Yay for finishing our first challenge *high five*! Your cookies look great!

Lisa said...

Congrats on completing your first challenge. This is one year for me :) Your cookies came out fabulous! Great job!!

Jill @ Jillicious Discoveries said...

Congratulations on your first challenge & welcome to the Daring Bakers! Your milan cookies look so good! :)

goodkarma said...

ooh, these look yummy! you should totally share them with me.

Laura said...

Welcome to the Daring Bakers' group! Not sure why they were to skinny, maybe you piped them too long. Can't wait to see your next one.

Jen said...

Your cookies look a lot more like I think they are supposed to then mine did, even if you thought they were to skinny. Mine came out crispy, but were paper thin, instead of more thick. Great job on the challenge.

Jo said...

Welcome to D Bakers and congratulations on your first challenge. Beautifully done.

Jenni said...

Great job! Your cookies look perfect!

Christina said...

Welcome! Well done for your first challenge!