Almond Milanos

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.

For some reason, I really wasn't in the mood for something chocolately when I decided to tackle this challenge. The chocolate covered marshmallow cookies looked EXTREMELY chocolately. Sadly, they would have given me an excuse to use some corn syrup I bought and used once and never again, but I guess it'll just stay in the cabinet unused for a little longer. In the end, I decided not to consume an entire batch of either and made the milano cookies for my boyfriend's birthday. I figured they'd be better off in the mail and they looked like they'd taste better to me too. I decided to use almond extract in cookie part because I didn't have lemon extract and it seemed like an expensive thing I might never use again. I also chose to omit the zested orange because I didn't have any oranges...an easy enough decision to make!



Here's the recipe:

Milan Cookies, adapted from Gale Gand Food Network recipe

• 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 almond 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. 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.