Vegan Milano Cookies
Well, obviously they’re vegan - I just titled it that way for google purposes. Or Ask Jeeves, if you prefer.
The PPK messages boards were clamouring for a version of these and what the PPK message board wants, the PPK message board gets. They taste pretty much as I remember them, although I can’t tell you the last time I had one since I am, like, what? A level 11 vegan by now? I didn’t bother coming up with a cutesy name for them, so if anyone can think of one, have at it!
Vegan Milanos
Makes 16 cookies
For those of us who miss suckling at the corporate teat of Pepperidge Farm, here is a veganized version of everyone’s favorite chocolate sandwich cookie. Even though there is a bit of orange zest in the batter, these aren’t orange flavored, the zest just kind of pulls everything together and gives a sunny note of somethin’ somethin’. I think bittersweet chocolate will give the most authentic flavor, but use semi-sweet if that’s what you got. And heed the directions to flour your hands before forming each cookie - otherwise the dough will stick.
1/3 cup rice milk (or soy, whatever you got)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Scant 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets.
In a large mixing bowl, use a strong fork to mix together milk, sugar, oil, vanilla and zest.
Add half of the flour, along with the cornstarch, baking powder and salt; mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix until you have a soft, pliable dough.
Make sure your hands are very clean and dry, and dust them with flour. Stuffs about to get messy. Sort of.
Grab about 1 tablespoon’s worth of dough and roll it into a ball, and then roll into a log that’s about 1 1/2 inches long. Flatten with the palms of your hand to create an oval that is 2 inches long and 1 inch across, then straighten the edges out with your fingers. Basically, if you know what a milano looks like, that’s the shape your going for. But this is homemade, so don’t try to be perfect. You aren’t a machine (or are you?)
Continue with the rest of the dough, flouring your hands before you form each cookie, until you have 16 cookies placed about 1 inch apart (they don’t spread much.) I had to do this in 2 batches because of my small oven, so while these baked I started my next batch of 16. If you’ve got a big oven then do both trays of 16 at once.
Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until tops are firm and edges are ever so slightly browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Use a thin, flexible spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Meanwhile, bake your next batch and melt your chocolate*.
Once cookies are cool enough to handle (only about 10 minutes), take a cookie and dip the bottom into the chocolate. Then take another cookie and dip it, and place the dipped sides together to form a sandwich. Don’t press them hard lest the chocolate smush out. Place them on a tray or several plates that will fit in your fridge. Continue with the remaining cookies until you have 16 sandwiches. Have a wet rag at the ready to wipe your fingers between putting the cookies together, to avoid chocolate fingerprints on the cookies. Or just lick the chocolate off. Or just decide that who cares about chocolate fingerprints.
Place cookies in the fridge to set for at least an hour. Bring back to room temperature before serving (about 1/2 an hour.) Call it a day.
*You know how to melt chocolate, right?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Oh my. All my dreams have come true (and my pant size has gone up three times just from reading this). I will definitely be making these in the next week.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:29 am
god i love you. i just keep loving you more and more.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:48 am
Damn damn damn damn damn - if only I wasn’t on a diet at the moment! When is someone nominating you for vegan sainthood?
September 10th, 2007 at 3:52 am
So very excited.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:02 am
You are my hero….
September 10th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Texture question: are they crisp like Milanos? Or, more spongy? Also, you know how I am about agave nectar, would you recommend I just cut the oil, or trim a bit from the rice milk and the oil to get the liquid/dry ratio on the mark?
Thanks for always being just about the coolest thing on two legs.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Deb, they are crisp. I wouldn’t recommend agave or you will lose the crispness, but if you were deadset on it you could omit the liquid (and the sugar obviously) and use 1/2 cup agave. And see what happens.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:37 am
:O I’m sooo excited! Thank you soo much!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Bad ass! I wonder how’d they be if they were Vegan Mint Milanos?
Thanks, Isa.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Damn those look good.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:53 am
you. are. amazing.
September 11th, 2007 at 1:16 am
I had a total *should I sneak one, no I shouldn’t, but I want one, but they’re not vegan, who cares, no way* argument with myself last week over these. I seriously almost squealed with excitement when I read your title. It’s like you knew about my craving and that it was my birthday this week. You are my hero and I love you more than anything in the whole world. Thank you for being amazing.
September 11th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Brilliant! I haven’t had cookies like this in ages. I can’t wait to try them.
September 12th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
isa, be my wifey.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Here!
www.veganzonescultural.es
www.veganzonescultural.es/foro
September 13th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
[…] Vegan Milano Cookies ? Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Dear Isa, Thank you. (tags: cookies recipe milano isaforkingrules) […]
September 15th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
all bow down to the queen of vegan yumminess - isa, my hero.
September 15th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
http://nullpointer.debashish.com/migrating-a-roller-blog-to-wordpress#comment-33634
September 16th, 2007 at 1:01 am
oh man, thanks for this! i should really spend more time at the ppk boards.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Nice. These belong in stores.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:57 am
These should be *required* to be in stores, but until then, thanks to you all of us get to look like vegan rockstars
September 24th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
That is awesome! I regularly spend like, $3/box for these cookies. And there’s only about 12-15 in each package. I never thought of making them on my own ’cause it seemed too “complicated;” thanks for demystifying the Milano process.
Love, your non-vegan cousin
PS, my favorite way to eat them is with a cup of tea, dunking each one til it reaches saturation, then popping it into my mouth! The chocolate retains a firmness that is so satisfying to bite into. Yum…
June 6th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I’m a recent vegan convert at the age of 16, and i made these cokoies last night.
all i can say is, its lunch time the day after, and there’s one left in the tin.
they come out looking flawless, they taste heavenly…thankyou for such a wonderful introduction to the PPK and my so far only succesful vegan baking attempt!
June 6th, 2008 at 8:01 am
oh, and PS! theyve been nicknamed “Strong Fork Cookies” in my house, beacuse we normally bake everything with a wooden spoon, and the command to use a strong fork seemed rather unusual to me!
July 27th, 2009 at 12:01 am
[…] way into the raw batter, giving the crisp cookies a delightful zip. Infusing the ganache of my Milano look-alikes with a healthy splash of rum was what really pulled the treat together though, creating […]