(Mint) Milano Cookies - Gluten Free!

My sister emailed me a picture of some homemade (non-GF) milano cookies she made.  (Go Jenny!) I immediately wrote back saying how much I miss mint milano cookies.  Her reply, "I actually made these because I ran out of mint milano cookies."  It seemed the time had come to create a gluten-free recipe for those delicious milano cookies I enjoyed in my pre-gluten-free days.  I converted a recipe she forwarded me from Fitsugar.com. These were a hit!  They're light and delicate, and pair wonderfully with the ganache filling below.  The ganache filling can be made either plain chocolate or mint chocolate (my favorite is the mint). I like to use the DoTerra Peppermint Essential Oil in this recipe, which you can find at mydoterra.com/cstolworthy, my friend Christine's online store. Save your extra egg yolks and whip them into some yummy homemade vanilla pudding!  Enjoy!

Finished milano cookies, some with plain ganache and some with mint ganache filling. Yum!

(Mint) Milano Cookies - Gluten Free!
Makes 10 lg, 36 small, or ~25 lg

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2-3 baking sheets with silicon mat(s) or parchment paper.  (I used 3 pans for the amount of batter here).

In a mixer, beat until creamed:
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix in:
3 egg whites

Beat in:
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Add and mix in, just until combined:
3/4 cup Kristin's gluten-free flour mix

Place in a medium-sized freezer ziploc (use good quality, or the bag can rip).  Cut a corner 1/4" for small cookies and 1/2" for larger cookies.  Pipe 2" long stripes of dough onto prepared pan.  Leave 1" between smaller cookies and 2" between larger cookies to allow for spreading.

Small cookies - about 36 piped on this tray.  My daughter helped make the milano cookies - and eat them afterwards. 

Larger cookies - 21 piped on this tray

Bake at 350F ~7-8 minutes for smaller cookies and 8-10 minutes for larger cookies, until edges are browned.  Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to cooling racks to completely cool.

Small cookies after baking. Notice the light brown edges.

Larger cookies after baking.

After cooling a bit on the pan, remove to a wire rack.  I found I sometimes needed to peel the parchment or silicon mat away from the cookies, but I didn't have any break.

Once cool, fill with plain or mint ganache filling (below).  Eat right away, or allow to set before eating.  Best fresh or within 2-3 days of making.  Store in a closed container in the refridgerator.  Enjoy!

I just used a small spoon to put a bit of ganache onto the backside of one cookie before topping with another.  You could always put the ganache into a ziploc and pipe it on if you want your filling to look more even when complete.  

Delicious large cookies filled with the mint chocolate ganache. My favorite!

Chocolate or Chocolate-Mint Ganache:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil:
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp cream

Once butter/cream are nicely bubbling, remove from heat and mix in:
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

If desired, add 1 drop peppermint essential oil* for 1/3 - 1/2 of the ganache recipe.  You can also use peppermint extract ~ 1/4 tsp should work.  Peppermint flavoring is strong, so use sparingly and make sure to taste-test along the way so you don't end up with too much minty flavor.  *I prefer using the DoTerra Peppermint Essential Oil in this recipe. The taste is fabulous. You can buy the DoTerra Peppermint Essential Oil at mydoterra.com/cstolworthy, my friend Christine's online store.  The great thing I love about the DoTerra Essential oils is that they're a very high quality and taste, and are made to be ingested - they have all sorts of other flavors that can be used in cooking and baking! 

Let the ganache cool a bit before sandwiching cookies.  You can place the cookies in the refrigerator to help the ganache fully set, if desired, but we enjoyed them fresh, too!

Yum!