Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Homemade Milano Cookies


If I told you something personal would you promise not to judge...too harshly? I'm a bit of a Gleek.
No, not the pet blue space monkey of the Super Friends, but a fan of the television show Glee.
I've seen every episode, I own the Season 1. Vol 1 dvd and bought Vol 2 on advance order. Wait, there's more and this maybe the worst of them. I also have Glee cds which I use to sing at Mr. Incredible. Not sing to him, but I sing at him with intensity. Ever have someone who was tone deaf sing at you? Frightening.

So, I've given this a lot of thought. If these Milano cookies were to represent characters from the super awesome show Glee, then the traditional milano would play Emma Pillsbury, the lovable guidance counselor who is crazy (she's a bit germophobic), sweet, prim and proper.
Prim and proper is how I would describe the traditional milanos. Two thin butter cookies flavored with warm vanilla are glued together with rich ganache.



The double choco milano would play Puck Puckerman, the bad boy Casanova who is a bit temperamental but caring. Puck has a reputation of being a bad-ass which is exactly what these double chocolate milanos are...bad ass. The cookie outsides are dense, almost brownie like with luscious ganache filling.


The ganache filling would play the character Mr. Shuester, the caring and sweet Glee director. His smooth, creamy voice is much like ganache. He is the glue that holds Glee together. Did you feel that? This post just got deep.

Now get deep into making these cookies!


Milan / Milano Cookies Recipe
(Courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website)
Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

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


Method
  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. 

*For Double Chocolate Milanos substitute 3/4 c. of dark chocolate cocoa powder for half of the flour in recipe and omit the lemon extract.



20 comments:

  1. Ahhh! These are beautiful! Please make a mint version, too.

    I hate to admit this but I haven't seen an episode of Glee (yet.) I always get so intimidated to start a show when it's already a season or two in...but I'll catch up someday.

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  2. Funny, my nephews and nieces just educated me on what Glee is all about this past week. :-)

    Mr. Incredible is lucky to be able to enjoy these. I think the only Milano cookies I've ever had were courtesy of Pepperidge Farm. I'm sure these are exponentially better.

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  3. Hi Ali thank you! Double chocolate mint milanos sound delectable. I'm looking into a homemade thin mint but have yet to find a decent recipe :( So the search continues! It's never too late to start watching. Never. I started watching in the middle of the season and got hooked. You can go onto hulu.com and catch a few episodes.

    Hi Jean! Yes, Mr. I enjoys being my taste tester :) I had a craving for the Pepperidge milanos but was too lazy to go to the store then ended up making them from scratch...which now that I think about it doesn't make too much sense!

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  4. "His smooth, creamy voice is much like ganache."
    LOL.
    Oh, and the cookies look yummy :]

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  5. I'm a gleek myself!! I love that show ever since it first showed!! These look great!! Milano cookies are my fav!
    Would you mind checking out my blog? :D http://ajscookingsecrets.blogspot.com/

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  6. From a fellow Gleek- these look amazing!

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  7. i have been very unsuccessful with "milanos". yours look lovely!

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  8. Looks amazing!!My husband LOVES these cookies. One question, I don't know my baking tool lingo, what is a paddle attachment?

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  9. I'll take two and a cup of coffee please! Beautiful...

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  10. I've been thinking about making homemade milanos recently - these look great!

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  11. These are really amazing. I love homemade versions of everyday goodies, and these definitely meet the requirements: all the goodness and nostalgia of the store-bought cookie, without all the icky impersonality and odd ingredients of the factory. Good work!

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  12. I can see myself having a couple of those cookies with a big glass of milk. Mm mm mm!

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  13. These look devine! Great job and congrats on Top 9!

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  14. These look so good! I love milano cookies!

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  15. Great post! The chocolate version reminds me more of our diva Mercedez (chocolate decadence with a goey center) but I can see where you're going with Puck.

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  16. What a sensual picture. The kind we all hope for.

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  17. I'll never understand this whole Glee thing, but I'm totally down with these cookies. Awesome!

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