Another Use for Leftover Egg Whites ...

After I've had my little bit of fun making the vanilla ice cream, I was leftover with about 6 egg whites. I was thinking meringues.. but.. again ?!... (I could already hear the moans & groans coming from my household if I produced another meringue related dish again). And then I saw this post from Not Quite Nigella... ~ The perfect saviour for my 6 egg whites !

Now I just have to get my hands on some lemon extract... :)

Milan Cookies
Recipe from Not Quite Nigella with reference to Gale Gand, from the Food Network website

• 170g unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cookie filling:

• 1/2 cup thickening cream
• 200g semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

Method:

1. In a mixer, cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Sift in 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 -- I used a sandwich bag with the tip of one corner cut off as a 'piping bag'.
5. Bake in a preheated 350F/160C 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.

Notes:

• I think the next time I bake these, I will try putting the temperature a bit higher. The edges of the cookie were really yummy and crisp, but the middle was a bit more chewy then I would have liked. I noticed the ones where the bottom had completely gone a golden brown colour were a lot less chewy.

I wonder how long its going to take for us to devour 3 dozen cookies ?! :)