Chocolate Milan Cookies (Daring Bakers)

If you are a fan of the Pepperidge Farms chocolate milano cookies then you must give these a try. A chocolate ganache filling sandwiched between soft, delicate lemon-vanilla cookies. I enjoyed each of the elements separately and together. The cookie would be great on its own with a cup of tea and the chocolate ganache can just be eaten with a spoon! Or maybe with some vanilla ice cream.

My friend Amy & I made these together and we had so much fun! This recipe was very easy so we were able to take our time baking and spend some quality time talking. I left her with quite a few cookies to share with her daughter and husband then I put together a cute box full of these and brought them for my mom to enjoy at work. A nice Friday afternoon pick me up, right?

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 didn't have time to make the marshmallow cookies but I will definitely try those sometime!

Milan Cookies
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Makes: about 3 dozen cookies

Note: These cookies spread quite a lot so make sure to space them about 2" apart

• 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.

Making Pasta with Friends

My parents got me this pasta machine and drying rack as a lovely Christmas gift a few years ago. And for some reason I was intimidated to make fresh pasta! I'm not sure why since I make bread dough all the time and the basic principles are the same. So to motivate me I had a few friends come over and we made fresh pasta together. It was so much fun and I think we all said "that is so cute" quite a few times when the pasta was getting cut into thin noodles--only girls would refer to pasta as cute!

We made an plain, egg-less pasta and an egg pasta with fresh rosemary. We dried each pasta for a bit and then of course had to taste them! Tossed with a bit of butter for the rosemary and olive oil for the plain these were incredible. Such a different flavor & texture than dried pasta in the store. And seriously, so easy to do. I can't wait to try more flavors and shapes. Now to find out how they make the spiral pasta...

Rosemary Pasta
2 cups flour (or semolina)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup hot water
1 teaspoon minced herb (rosemary, thyme) or 1/4 cup minced basil or parsley

Mix flour and salt in bowl. Make a well in the center and add the oil/butter and water. Beat the water with a fork and gradually incorporated the flour. Mix with your hands once its too hard with the fork and add water as needed to incorporate all the flour.
Knead the dough until not sticky and stiff.
Cover with plastic and rest for 30 minutes.
Roll, cut, eat!!

Here are a few dishes I made with the pasta for dinner, had to try a bit of both kinds and I went to my garden and picked some tomatoes, zucchini, basil and rosemary. Each of these dishes took about 5 minutes to cook, including the pasta. Talk about fast food!

Rosemary pasta with sauteed zucchini, garlic and butter. Topped with parmesan cheese.

Plain pasta with slightly cooked fresh yellow pear tomatoes, shallots and basil in olive oil.

BBA Challenge: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I absolutely love cinnamon rolls. A sweet dough filled with cinnamon & sugar topped with a gooey-sugary glaze--delicious! And as with most homemade food these taste so much better than those cinnamon rolls from the can.

I'm not a fan of raisins or nuts in my rolls, I'm a purist and I love just lots and lots of cinnamon and sugar. And I start eating the roll from the outside and eat in a circle ending with the middle. The middle of the roll has the most cinnamon-sugar filling and so this is my favorite part, and I save that for last bite.

How do you eat your cinnamon roll? And do you like a lot of frosting, just a little or none at all?

If I counted correctly these cinnamon rolls are the 8th bread we are making for the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge. I'm a bit behind all the others for the BBA Challenge but I will slowly make my way through all the breads in the book. Cornbread is up next and I'm trying to think of something to serve it with, other than a chili or soup. Any suggestions?

P.S. The recipe for these cinnamon rolls and all the other breads from the BBA Challenge can be found in this wonderful book.

Cooking Fresh from the Garden

Summer in the garden is a wonderful time. Pretty soon most backyard vegetable gardens will be overflowing with delicious tomatoes, herbs and zucchini. This Tomato, Zucchini and Goat Cheese Tart is the perfect way to enjoy the bounty of fresh vegetables! Enjoy this light tart as an appetizer or light lunch with a mixed greens salad.


Tomato-Zucchini Tart with Goat Cheese
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Eat Well

Cornmeal Dough
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg

In a food processor or large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal and salt. Add the butter and pulse or rub in with your fingers or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and 1/4 cup (or more) cold water and pulse or stir until the dough begins to come together. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in in plastic, chill for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Tomato, Zucchini & Goat Cheese Filling
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb. zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
salt and pepper
5 oz. crumbled goat cheese
3/4 lb. tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme sprigs, coarsely torn

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add zucchini and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini is softened but not browned. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and allow to drain.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll dough out into 12" circle about 1/4" thick. Fit into 9" tart pan with removable sides. Fold edges of dough over and press into sides of pan, forming a double thickness around pan rim.

Arrange half of the goat cheese over the bottom of crust. Arrange tomatoes and zucchini in overlapping rows/circles on top of goat cheese. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and olive oil. Top with remaining goat cheese and thyme.

Bake until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 35-40 minutes. Remove pan rim and cool for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve warm or room temperature.

This would also look beautiful with yellow squash and different colors of heirloom tomatoes! You can also vary the herbs you use or drizzle with a little basil-lemon-tomato oil instead of regular olive oil. Eggplant would be a great addition as well. The are so many variations and I'm sure they would all be great!