~It's cookie time at the Daring Bakers ~Milano Cookies ~ My 4th DB challenge

Milano cookies were something I have always loved...we use to get a share when my aunt visited us from Muscat. I don't remeber the brand but it used to come in white paper packets and they tasted real good. So the minute I knew this was our challenge for the month + a Mallow cookie...I was really excited. Wanted to give the mallow cookie a try BUT somehow that 'want' just din't materialise. So I gave in for the Milano cookie.

The recipe given on the DB forum had lots of egg whites and so I followed the Isa Chandra's Vegan version posted in one of the forums by

Singing Horse.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She choseChocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Vegan Milanos

Recipe by Isa Chandra

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.)

The dough was easy to work with and it shaped up really well. But , it became very soggy as soon as it came out of the oven...blame the humidity? Not sure. As far the taste is concerned, it was OK and not what I expected it to be. It did taste fine... but not as good as a milano.