Weekly Recipe: Milano Cookies By Heather Mubarak

What’s better than a freshly baked cookie? Two freshly baked cookies stuffed with a flavorful filling!

Browned Butter Blondie is a favored blog among internet foodies with a sweet tooth, and its founder Heather Mubarak just released Stuffed: The Sandwich Cookie Book.

It’s the first cookbook dedicated to that sweetest of treats, and it’s stuffed (pun intended) with 65 delightful recipes that will tickle your senses and leave everybody smiling.

See also: We Tried FarmSteady's Kombucha Making Kit And Now We Have Kombucha For Life

To celebrate the release, Mubarak is sharing with our readers her recipe for homemade Milano stuffed cookies below.

“Growing up, milk chocolate Milanos were my favorite store-bought cookie,” she says. “When I set out to write this book, I knew I had to recreate the magic of those chocolate filled, buttery-crisp cookies. I’m not going to lie, this recipe is a bit of a messy endeavor, but I promise the results are worth the chocolate stains on your new white T-shirt. If you’re a stickler for perfectly uniform cookies, come armed with a ruler.”

This recipe makes 22 to 24 cookie sandwiches, and it comes with a variation on the chocolate ganache filling, should you like to spice things up with mint or orange chocolate.

Homemade Milanos

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups [190 g] all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1⅓ cups [160 g] confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ½ cup [113 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg plus 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup Chocolate Ganache (one recipe’s worth), mint or orange variation (optional)

Chocolate Ganache

• 4 oz [115 g] chocolate, finely chopped (bittersweet, milk or white chocolate)
• ⅓ cup [80 ml] heavy cream

Directions:

Cookies

1. Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the confectioners’ sugar and butter on medium-low speed for about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and egg whites, and mix on medium-low speed until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for 30 to 60 seconds, or until the dough comes together.
3. Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a ½ in [13 mm] round tip (or cut a ½ in [13 mm] opening at the end of a piping or zip-top bag).
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Place a ruler along the edge of the baking sheet to guide you, and pipe about 2 in [5 cm] of dough in a line on a sheet. Continue piping, spacing the cookies about 2 in [5 cm] apart; they will spread as they bake. Don’t be afraid to give some pressure when piping the dough. The cookies should be ½ to ¾ in [13 mm to 2 cm] thick.
5. Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much. While the cookie dough is chilling, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C].
6. Remove the baking sheets from the refrigerator and put directly in the oven for 10 to 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are slightly golden brown.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes before using a spatula to carefully transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely before adding the filling.

To Assemble Cookie Sandwiches

1. Line up half of the baked cookies and flip them over so they’re flat-side up. Use an offset spatula to spread some of the Chocolate Ganache on top of each cookie. Top each with a second cookie, flat-side down, and gently press together until the ganache reaches the edges. Store the cookie sandwiches in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Chocolate Ganache

1. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
2. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the heavy cream until simmering. Do not let it boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth and shiny. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to thicken to a spreadable consistency.
3. Use immediately or store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Mint Chocolate Ganache

Add ⅛ teaspoon mint extract to the bowl of hot cream and chocolate before mixing smooth. Note that extracts vary in strength, so adjust to taste.

Orange Chocolate Ganache

Add the zest of one orange to the bowl of hot cream and chocolate before mixing smooth.

Buy a copy of Stuffed: The Sandwich Cookie Book and follow Heather Mubarak’s recipes on brownedbutterblondie.com for more delicious stuffed cookies and other inspiration.