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.
The Daring Bakers have made all sorts of challenging desserts, some before my time and some since I joined two years ago. I’ll never forget my first, the Strawberry Mirror Cake, which challenged both my skills and patience; or last year’s Filbert Gateau, which tasted fabulous but took me 15 hours to make; or the Opera Cake and the weeks I spent planning and practicing for it. Yes, we have done our share of difficult challenges. This month the challenge was easier though no less enjoyable, and actually it couldn’t have come at a better time as I need a little breathing room until summer vacation time is over and the kids are back in school.
We were challenged to make versions of two popular cookies, Milanos and Mallomars, and we could choose to do either or both. Since I’ve been working very hard to loose some extra pounds this summer doing a boot camp and now also spinning, I thought one of the cookies would be enough, and I chose the Milan cookies just because I think they are elegant enough to serve at a party. Because one of my boys doesn’t care for chocolate, I set aside some of the cookies without any chocolate and the boys even enjoyed them plain. We thought the flavors worked well, though next time I might use lemon zest in the cookies for more lemon flavor or switch to orange liqueur and orange zest.
Piping the cookies just right took a bit of practice. My first sheet of cookies looked so tiny. I piped them 1 inch long as the instructions said, but when they baked they were no larger than my thumb, so for the rest I made them wider and longer. I piped slowly, making sure to push some extra batter out for more width and doubled the length. This made the baked cookies closer to the size we all know and love.
Thanks to Nicole at Sweet Tooth for hosting this month, it was a fun and delicious challenge. To see all of the Milan and Chocolate Covered Marshmallow cookies, visit The Daring Kitchen Blogroll and the Daring Bakers Gallery at Foodgawker.
MILAN COOKIES
Adapted from Gale Gand on Food Network.
Makes about 36 cookies.
Equipment
stand mixer with paddle attachment
#12 piping tip (1/4-inch plain tip) + coupler
plastic bag
baking sheets lined with parchment
small saucepan
medium mixing bowl
Ingredients
COOKIES
12 tablespoons (6 ounces/170 g) unsalted butter, softened
2-1/2 cups (325 g) powdered sugar
7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1-1/2 cups (180 g) unbleached all purpose flour
CHOCOLATE FILLING
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
8 ounces (227 g) semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
zest of 1 orange
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350° F/175° C.
2. COOKIES: In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
3. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
4. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed. Don’t over mix.
5. Fit the decorating tip onto a corner of the plastic bag, snip the corner, and attach the coupler. Fill the bag with the cookie batter. Pipe 1-inch (2.5 cm) sections (I made mine longer, about 2 inches/5 cm) of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches/5 cm apart as they spread.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan. Continue with the remaining cookie batter.
7. CHOCOLATE FILLING: While waiting for the cookies to cool, in the small saucepan over medium flame, scald the cream.
8. Put the chopped chocolate into the medium mixing bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk to melt chocolate, then add the orange zest and blend well.
9. Set aside to cool. The mixture will thicken as it cools.
10. ASSEMBLE: 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. Continue with remaining cookies and filling.
Previous Daring Bakers Challenges
You can see all of my previous Daring Challenges in the the Daring Challenges tag list.
Oh Andrea! They turned out beautiful. I wanted to make the Milan’s as well but you know about the too much cookie thing! I love the picture with the chocolate oozing out. It looks so rich and creamy!
Andrea ~ this look amazing! Love your pics ~ you captured all the texture nuances in this cookie so well. Mmmm!
Super! The first time I piped them they came out tiny too – but they were also a disaster! Second time turned out well. Your Milano’s look just great!!
Wow, yours came out wonderfully. I had the problem of piping them too small too, at first. Too bad that wasn’t my only problem…
Well done! I didn’t make the milans, but yours look terrific. I’m sorta glad I’m not hanging around your place or I might have swiped a cookie or two… not that I *need* them on my hips or anything 😉
Andrea,
They look picture perfect!
These look fantastic! Mine were all sorts of shapes and sizes, i had a little trouble with the piping 🙂
Your Milan cookies are so pretty! a delicious treat! Great job!
Cheers,
Rosa
Lovely work! I chose those ones too – and tried them with white chocolate (I’m not a huge chocolate eater myself). I was pretty happy with them, in the end – and I foisted off most of them on visiting friends, so I wouldn’t scarf them all down myself.
They look lovely. I’d imagine why you’re thankful for Yogurt and granola after this 😉
Yes, it was a very chocolatey weekend with birthday cake AND these cookies!
My hat is off to you. I couldn’t come close to what you did with those. I might be able to slow cook bbq to perfection over 6 to 18 hours depending on the cut, but I sure can burn a toll house cookie in 20 minutes!!!!! 😉
Your cookies turned out great!! I didn’t have enough time to make the Milanos, but made the Mallows. Loved ’em. And thank goodness this was an easy challenge, we need the break once in a while don’t we? 🙂
oh, i didnt realize you have to pipe them this thin..I guess they spread considerably while baking. this looks mouthwateringly good!
Great job! I had my friend help me with the piping and she did a great job (much better than I did)! I also was glad for a simple, yet delicious challenge for this month.
andrea, ha i guess we both like our cookies with more zing! these look grand!
I also found that piping them 1 inch left me with minis and had to make them bigger. These look really great!
Yumm..
Your cookies look delicious=.
As much as I love baking I couldn’t keep up with all these baking events, I really admire you baking for the DBs and BBA… just WOW :-p Your pictures are delicious like always. I bet the cookies were delicious!
Wow! Your site is looking really fabulous, Andrea! And congrats on your work with the bootcamp and now spinning. My friend and I are completely off our routine and struggling to find a new schedule. I may have to give her up and go at it alone like you ; ) Lovely cookies — they look tasty, too. Definitely something you don’t want around when you’re working so hard, right ; )
I love the photograph of the chocolate oozing out of the cookie. Delish!!!
They look fantastic! I think ‘plain’ is a great way to enjoy them too, maybe with some of that chocolate gelato 😉
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane…especially the strawberry mirror cake! This one was much simpler, but delightful. Love the simplicity of your cookies 🙂
They are absolutely delicate and beautiful!
Love your site!