Milano Cookies... Simply Delicious!

Yes, that's right... those delicious crispy wafers with chocolate fudge in the middle. Best part is, you can make them yourself! I will admit that they are quick to bake, but take a little longer to put together. Don't worry they're totally worth it :-)

You will need:


3/4 c. butter, softened
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
~6 egg whites
3 Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour

* adapted from Gale Gand


Preheat oven to 350F (177C)

Cream the butter and sugar. Slowly add the egg whites and vanilla, mix well. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe the dough in 1-inch segments about 2-inches apart, they spread a little during baking. Piping is easiest using a pastry bag,... but one can be easily made by filling a ziplock type bag and cutting off the tip of one of the bag's corners after you've filled it.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges have browned. I generally leave them in the oven until they 'look right'. Take them out of the oven and leave on the pan to cool. The cookies will be slightly soft when pulled out of the oven, but they crisp up once they cool.

For the filling:
I used my chocolate ganache-frosting recipe because it didn't require me to go buy cream, but you can use the original recipe as follows:

1/2 c. heavy cream
8oz. semi sweet chocolate
zest of one orange


*Tips/Hints/Suggestions:


One of the greatest things about this recipe (for me at least) was that it finds a use for those pesky egg whites when only the yolks are used in other recipes. Example: pudding and some yellow cakes only uses egg yolks... milano cookies are one of many ways to use just the egg whites, but most egg-white-only recipes aren't nearly as awesome.


The original recipe called for lemon extract along with vanilla in the cookie... I omitted the lemon in favor of just vanilla, but you could try lemon, mint, almond, anise or any other flavoring you love.


Similar concept for the filling, the recipe called for orange zest, but I used my own chocolate frosting recipe and used half vanilla and half mint for a slightly mint flavor, delish! I would recommend trying with and without mint, try the orange zest or even an orange extract... think chocolate oranges, yum! Maybe even try some raspberry or strawberry flavoring.

If you're not allergic to nuts using nutella would be delicious and make preparing the cookies even easier!


ENJOY!

Whipped cream... yes, you can make it yourself

Whipped Cream:
1 c. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. sugar

*adapted from Joy of Baking

Combine ingredients and refrigerate for 30 min. to ensure the mixture is chilled. Remove from refrigerator and whip until stiff peaks form.

That's pretty dang easy... just saying.

*Tips/Hints/Suggestions:

Use to top your favorite dessert... or if you're my dad, use it to top everything (equivalent to bacon... it makes everything better)

Flavor it by adding coco powder, fruit preserves (a little raspberry or strawberry?)

ENJOY!

Home made pudding... surprisingly EASY!

Custard/Pudding:
2 c. milk
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks

*from Recipehut

In a medium saucepan simmer milk over medium heat. Meanwhile combine dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the milk once warmed and whisk thoroughly. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in the vanilla and egg yolks one at a time. Continue to whisk in order to keep mixture from burning to the bottom of your pan.

Your custard is done when the mixture coats the whisk when it is removed, should be close to a pudding consistency. Remove from heat. Stir every 5 minutes or so as your custard is cooling, this helps reduce any thick film from forming over your custard. Keep refrigerated.

*Tips/Hints/Suggestions:

Eat by itself, use it to fill pastries, make boston cream pie?

Add some coco powder to make a chocolate version or some finely cut bananas to make a banana version.

Enjoy!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies... EVER!

I spent a good portion of my undergrad in pursuit of truely the best chocolate chip cookie recipe... mostly my searches resulted in a crispy, cakey, or flat gooey messes. Where were those giant thick chewy chocolate-y cookies that would remain soft for more than a few hours? I was determined to find what I was in search of... even if that meant making my own recipe. Ok, so... I didn't make it up out of the blue, but the final recipe was a combination of a few recipes I no longer have and the resulting recipe omitted odd, random, or rare ingredients from the pantry... I'm not a fan of having to go buy 'special' ingredients for basic baking. So... here goes!

REAL Thick, Soft, and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:


You will need:
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 Tbsp. honey
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C).

Heat butter until just melted (do not boil). Cream together melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add vanilla, egg, and honey and beat well. Mix in the dry ingredients, the mixture will be stiff. Finally add the chocolate chips.

Ball into ~1/4 c. portions and place on un-greased baking sheet about 1-2 in. apart. Bake for 15-17 minutes (they will continue to cook a little once removed).

*Tips/Hints/Suggestions:

Try these with white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips (my favorite) or a combination of the above.

I've seen raspberry chocolate chips and chocolate chunks both would be good too!

I mix up a double batch and roll half of the dough into a log, wrap it in waxed paper, and freeze it for later. That way you can make single servings later on whenever you crave a cookie or two!

ENJOY!

Candied Peels... Lime, Lemon, Orange?

You will need:

Lime peel:
Peel from 1 citrus fruit
1 1/2 c. sugar
Sugar for coating peel

*adapted from Martha Stewart

Syrup:
Saved simple syrup (sugar + water) from candied lime peel
Juice from peeled citrus fruit (above)
Food coloring

Peel the fruit carefully, making sure to remove all or at least as much of the white colored rind as you can (the white part can be very bitter). Bring a medium sauce pan full of water to a boil. While the water is heating up, prepare another bowl with cold water and ice cubes and set aside.

Once the water boils you'll need to boil the peels for one minute intervals alternating with a one minute ice bath in the prepared bowl. Do this alternation 3-4 times.

On the last ice bath, dump out the boiling water. Mix the 1 c. of fresh water with the sugar and bring to a boil. Once boiling throw in the cold peels and boil for 5 min. stirring occasionally. Remove with slotted spoon and place on a wire rack set on top of parchment paper (or similar)... this makes clean up easier. Sprinkle with sugar before completely cooled. Store in air-tight container.

Retain the sugar water mixture to make the citrus syrup. Add the juice from the peeled fruit to taste and continue to boil until the mixture slightly thickens. To get the appropriate color add food coloring to get your preferred shade.


*Tips/Hints/Suggestions:

Great for garnishing pies and cakes!

Try using as a garnish in your favorite cocktail... yum

The simple syrup can be used as a decoration for pies and cakes as well and, like the peels, can be used in your favorite cocktail.

ENJOY!