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.
I was SO pressed for time this month, and I am a Procrastinator with a capital “P,” so I was pretty relieved when I read that I had the option to choose just one of the cookies for the challenge, if need be:) I really wanted to do both, but since I waited until the last minute and am readying for a vacation, I opted to do the Milan cookies, which didn’t involve making marshmallows! 🙂 I made marshmallows for the first time last Christmas and would like to do it again, so I will be trying the other recipe in the future:) I will include BOTH recipes on this post.
My son’s favorite “store-bought” cookies are Pepperidge Farm’s Milano cookies so I wanted to try my hand at this recipe… the copycat orange version, which I have never tried.It involved filling a pastry bag and piping the cookie onto a cookie sheet and I have only done that with one other cookie recipe in my life! It was actually not as daunting as I thought it would be:) I wanted them to turn out the same shape as the original Milano cookies and I was happy when they came out of the oven and looked pretty close to the original:)These tasted quite good, but my husband thought they were “over the top!” He was full of exclamations: “This is your best challenge so far!” “These are better than the real ones!” “Beyond good!” and “Super killer!” WOW, I am lucky to have such an appreciative taster 🙂 Now…I just need to take a sample to my son and see what he thinks?! 🙂
Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies) I didn’t do this one:(Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 10 minInactive Prep Time: 5 minCook Time: 10 min
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies
• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar• 1/2 teaspoon salt• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter• 3 eggs, whisked together• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows
1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.
Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.
Homemade marshmallows:• 1/4 cup water• 1/4 cup light corn syrup• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin• 2 tablespoons cold water• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.
Chocolate glaze:• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil
1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.
Milan Cookies (This is the recipe I did!)Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 20 minInactive Prep Time: 0 minCook 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.
* You can either do both recipes or just choose one.
By the way…..Can you guess where I’m going on vacation? 🙂 
ALOHA! 🙂
