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.
Sign up for our FREE 7 Day Simple Meal Plan!
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.
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 1/4 tsp 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.
Got any other great cookie recipes? I’m so glad you asked!
- 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
Love these Copycat Milano Cookies? Try these other amazing gluten free cookie recipes!
Cranberry Orange Holiday Cookies 
Soft Ginger Molasses Cookies
Copycat Milano Cookies | Gluten Free & Dairy Free
Deliciously crisp cookies sandwiched with smooth dark chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C plant butter use your favorite butter substitute (or real butter if you don't mind the dairy)
- 1 1/4 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 1/4 C gluten free flour blend I like King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure
- 1/2 tsp salt only use if your butter is UNSALTED
- 1 1/2 C dark chocolate chips Guittard is naturally dairy free, but feel free to use your favorite dairy free chocolate
- 1 tsp coconut oil or shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes)
- Add vanilla. Mix until blended.
- Add egg. Mix until blended.
- Add flour and salt, mix until just blended.
- Scoop dough into quart sized zip-top bag. Snip 1/2" 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 tsp 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. It should yield between 24-30 sandwiched cookies.
Nutrition
Calories: 124kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 2gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 92mgPotassium: 65mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 154IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Love that these are gluten and dairy free. These were my favorite when I was pregnant. Excited to see I can make these so I can have them again.
Do you cut the cookie dough into individual cookies before or after they are baked?
The cookie dough is actually not cut, it is piped onto a cookie sheet in the shape of a typical Milano cookie. Then after they’re baked, no cutting necessary, they’re ready to go!
These are delicious! Crispy on the outside, delicious chocolate (right now still gooey) in the inside.
I do wish there was instructions on how big to make them before baking… I ended up with 10 large (2×4) sandwich cookies. Turns out they do spread quite a bit; at least mine did.
Thanks for the recipe!