Milano Copycat Cookies | Gluten Free & Dairy Free

Buttery soft cookies sandwiched with semi-sweet chocolate. Simply made with a gluten free flour blend and no dairy, everyone will be able to enjoy these delicious Milano Copycat Cookies. Have 2 or 3 (or 4) cookies with an afternoon cup of coffee, tea or cocoa and make your day a little sweeter.

How to make copycat milano cookies

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. Set aside.
  
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend slightly softened butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

• Add vanilla extract. Mix until blended.
  
• Add room temperature egg. Mix until blended.
  
• Add gluten free flour blend and salt, mix until just blended.
  
• Scoop dough into quart sized zip-top bag. Snip ½" from one bottom corner for piping.

• Pipe dough in 2" lines onto parchment paper about 2" apart (they don't spread much). I can usually get all the dough onto 2 large baking sheets. It should make about 50-60 individual cookies.
  
• Once piped, wet your finger and gently press the tops of the dough down until the shape more closely resembles a classic Milano cookie. This step keeps the cookies thin and crispy. Rewet finger as needed.

• Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes, rotating trays half way through to ensure an even bake.
  
• While cookies are baking, place chocolate chips and oil into a microwave safe dish. Heat at 30 second intervals until fully melted, stirring after each interval.

• Remove cookies from oven and place on cooling rack. Once cooled, use a spoon to spread about 2 teaspoon of chocolate onto the flat side of a cookie, top it with another cookie and set aside to let the chocolate set.
  
• Repeat until you've used all the cookies. Allow chocolate to set and enjoy! This recipe yields 24-30 sandwiched cookies.

Baking Supplies for Cookie Success

Here is a linked list of my favorite cookie baking supplies. I've used these for years, so they've been tried and tested and been found ... perfect!

• Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer - the best hands-off baking buddy ever
  
• All Clad Measuring Cups and Spoons - these will last you FOREVER
  
• Nordic Ware Cookie Sheets - I use these along with the Gold Touch baking sheet from Williams Sonoma.
  
• Reynolds Pre-Cut Parchment Paper - These are my go-to for quick clean-up.
  
• OXO Cookie Scoop - This is VITAL to getting that gooey center and crisp edge.

Simple Ingredients

• Plant butter — use your favorite butter substitute, mine is country crock plant butter sticks (or real butter if you don't mind the dairy)
• Powdered Sugar — also called confectioners' sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Large Egg — room temperature. Read below for getting ingredients to room temperature quick.
• Gluten Free Flour Blend — I like King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure
• Salt — only use if your butter is UNSALTED
• Dark (or semi-sweet) Chocolate Chips — Guittard is naturally dairy free, but feel free to use your favorite dairy free chocolate chips or bar
• Coconut Oil — or shortening, helps the chocolate to harden just like in the real Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies.

how to get room temperature ingredients — fast!

Eggs — speed up the process of getting eggs to room temperature by dropping them gently into a bowl or cup full of hot water (not boiling) and let sit 5 minutes. Done!

Yogurt or Milk — To get yogurt to room temperature quickly, simple place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 50% power in 15 second intervals, stirring each time.

Butter — the best way to soften butter to room temperature is to get a tall glass and fill with hot water. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the glass is hot. Empty the water and turn the glass upside down over the wrapped butter. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. this will gently warm the butter through to the center.

Tell me all about these Copycat Milano Cookies

• Texture - These cookies are tender, soft and lightly crisp, just like a classic Milano cookie. The dark chocolate hardens to create a perfect layer of structure.
  
• Flavor - These lightly sweetened cookies get most of their amazing flavor from the layer of dark chocolate in the center. If you're wanting to make these into mint Milanos, simply add ¼ teaspoon mint extract to the chocolate. But my personal favorite is the double chocolate Milanos, and these are the closest I can get to that while making them gluten and dairy free!
  
• Difficulty Level - I'd categorize this recipe between simple and moderate difficulty. This is only because there is the additional step of piping and pressing down the dough. So it's more involved than your typical drop cookies, but still fail-proof.
  
• Time - Be sure your egg is room temperature and your plant butter has softened for about 15 minutes before starting. Other than that, these cookies do not require any chilling and are baked and ready for topping in less than 25 minutes start to finish. The chocolate takes about minutes 15 to set until they're travel-ready.
  
• Storage - These cookies keep for a loooong time. Like, I've had some for 2 weeks and they're still pretty good. For maximum freshness, store in an airtight container at room temperature and consume within one week.

Making simple swaps

• Gluten Free - The cookies in these pictures were made with King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour Blend, and they're amazing. You seriously cannot even tell they're gluten free (just ask my father). Want to know why I use King Arthur's Flour? Check out this post.
  
• Dairy Free - The butter in this recipe is a dairy free butter substitute, called Country Crock Plant Butter (my personal go-to). My only trick is to keep that butter more chilled than normal, because it tends to soften and melt faster than regular butter. So let it sit out for only about 15 minutes before using.
  
• Vegan - To replace the egg, check out this handy chart on Vegan Vanilla Donut Recipe. My favorite swap is the flax egg, although I haven't tried it yet for this recipe.

More Gluten Free Cookie Recipes

• Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Almond Lemon Iced Cookies
• Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips (perfect for holidays)
• Simple Chocolate Marble Cookies
• Chewy Chocolate Cookies (3 ways)
• Perfect Texture Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies