Vegan Mint Milano Cookies
There was fancy and there was F-a-n-c-y in the 70s. Super freaking fancy was taking a Calgon bubble bath. You know: Calgon Take Me Away.
We had no bathtub so that was out.
Frustrated Woman: The Traffic! The Boss! The Baby! The Dog! That does it! Calgon, take me away!
-1979 Calgon commercial
Then there were those flavored tins of powdered coffee with the catchy name: General Foods International Coffees. We tried them but somehow they never transported us to a quaint cafe in Paris as they claimed they would.
Husband: I wish we were still in Vienna.
Wife: Me too. (Hands him coffee) This’ll take you back.
Husband: Mmm…Chocolate. This reminds me of the coffee we had…
Wife: (Interrupts) That night. That was my favorite night in Vienna.
Husband: But we never went out. (sexy giggle)
-1970s General Foods International Coffee commercial
Finally there were Mint Milano, mint chocolate ganache sandwiched between two delicate cookies. Expensive but available at our neighborhood Sunny brook Farms Market. One night I awoke with a nightmare and went to my mother’s bedroom. I peaked in and there she sat in bed with a bag of Mint Milanos all to herself reading an Agatha Christie. Even I knew not to disturb that perfect Pepperidge Farms moment.
Karen (a rich bitch): Where is my Mint Milano?
Rosario (her surly maid): I don’t know, lady. Maybe you ate it.
Karen: No! I would remember. You know that I allow myself one Mint Milano per day. And now, I cannot have another Mint Milano until tomorrow. And yes, I’m sure that my doctor would be very happy if I could go a day without a Mint Milano. But I say a person’s got to enjoy life! I want my Mint Milano!
Rosario: What are those crumbs on your jacket?
(Karen looks down at the front of her jacket)
Karen:(sheepishly) Mint Milano. Maybe I did eat it. (Giggles)
Rosario: Whenever I get together with my friends and we talk about who works for the craziest bitch, I always win.
-Will and Grace
Jack: Oh my God, you caught the bird.
Karen: Honey it was easy. I just gave him some Mint Milanos…
(bird falls over dead)… and some brandy to wash it down with.
I call these cookies peace keepers. Kids fighting? Pull out a tin of Vegan Mint Milano Cookies. I guarantee peace will reign.
If you are in a holiday baking frenzy may I humbly recommend my dark chocolate drizzled Crystalized Ginger Biscotti and Vegan Thin Mints as well.
Check out my new Aquafaba page! For tips, tricks and to see all of my Aquafabulous recipes.
Vegan Mint Milano Cookies
Super fancy. Super easy. Unbelievably delicious. You can make them two ways. One is standard Mint Milano buttery texture, the other way is to substitute 1/4 cup of flour with ground toasted almonds (i.e. homemade almond flour). The second way your cookies will be a little more delicate but oh my, the heightened flavor and sandy texture are worth it. Either way you will have a cookie that will blow your family’s socks off.
Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup vegan butter (room temperature)
- 3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp aquafaba* (thick, see note at bottom of recipe.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup almond meal if using, if not add another 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
Mint Glaze
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 tsp non-dairy milk
- 1/4-1/2 tsp peppermint extract (to taste)
Chocolate Glaze
- 4 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate (chopped)
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Cookie Dough
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If you aren’t using store bought almond meal, then now is a good time to place 1/2 cup roughly chopped whole almonds in a pan and toast it in the oven till lightly golden and fragrant. Remove from oven. Cool. Grind to a coarse flour like texture in a spice or coffee grinder. You’ll have too much almond meal. Lucky you! Sprinkle it on oatmeal, salad, ice-cream, almost anything.
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Heat your oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. If you toasted your almonds be sure to turn the oven down to 325.
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Whip your butter and confectioner’s sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for a good 6-7 minutes. It will turn light colored and have a dreamy almost buttercream frosting like texture.
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Now you add your aquafaba and vanilla and whip another minute, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once.
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Add the flour (sifted), almond meal and a pinch of salt to the butter mixture. Mix until a soft dough forms. Don’t over mix or the cookies will loose their tenderness.
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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Scoop out 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls. Form each ball into an oblong log roughly the length of a mint Milano cookie. Place all your logs on the cookie sheets with a a couple of inches space around them. Now gently press the logs flatter, keeping the shape of the Milano cookie in mind. I used a small offset spatula to straighten the long sides. Bake the cookies 15 minutes on 325 fahrenheit and allow to cool completely before filling.
Mint Glaze
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Stir together the glaze ingredients until you have a spreadable consistence. Taste and make sure it is correctly minty to your liking.
Chocolate Glaze
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Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave on low or over a double boiler. Once melted stir to combine.
Assemble the cookies
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Smear the flat side of one cookie with peppermint glaze, smear the flat side of another cookie with melted chocolate, press together. Eat the cookie. Repeat with rest of cookies.
Tell the family that you are sorry but the cookies burnt and they are having celery surprise for dessert instead.
Vegan Mint Milano Cookies
Pins
Celery surprise for dessert?! LOL!
Alison! Hee hee.
Those cookies are crispy, NOT too sweet and perfect for birthday coffee, served with smoothies. I replaced the mint with ginger.I used too much vegan butter, so I had to make a larger portion than først expected.For this I do NOT feel sorry
Mette
Wow Mette you have upped the cookie game by switching out ginger for mint. What a fabulous idea!!! Birthday? Yours? Creamy smoothies and crisp cookies what a great combination. I suppose they are almost a health food this way.
I remember having those Pepperidge Farm mint Milanos in the house – for about 5 minutes! Super-impressed with Mette’s confidence in switching out mint for ginger.
Three PMS-ing women and one bag of Mint Milanos. Lucky we didn’t kill each other.
love that you use Aquafaba in this recipe. It’s amazing
Aquafaba is so versatile. Thank you, you are a sweetie!
How many cookies does this yield?
Hi Jenicaa it yields about a dozen cookies total.
Hello, do these freeze well?
I think they would freeze well. Maybe freeze the cookie and then when you want to serve then, defrost and do the chocolate part?! Let me know.