I’m not sure if others have had similar experiences during childhood, but I must share this experience with you…
My brother and I were not allowed, under ANY circumstances, to eat mom’s Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies. She only bought them for two reasons: 1.) we were taking a long car trip, or 2.) they were on sale and she had a coupon. No matter the reason though, these precious little commodities were not for kids. They were kept hidden, sometimes even in her purse, and if we ever came across them in our searches for a snack, we knew she had the cookies counted so if one was missing, she would know.

Flashforward to the present…
Since moving out of my parents’ house years ago, I’m not sure if mom is still as compulsive about her Milanos as she once was but I do know that Pepperidge Farm has struck gold after releasing new flavors of their oh so simple and delicious original Milanos and they now boast 11 different flavors!! No, I certainly haven’t tried them all but I definitely have tested out the orange Milanos and was not at all let down. In fact, they are so good that I was inspired to copycat them at home.
Thanks to the help of the butter cookie recipe I was given from someone on a cooking message board, I was able to recreate the orange Milanos for Christmas this year. This is a wonderful butter cookie recipe that not only stands beautifully on it’s own, but also is the perfect base recipe to modify and it’s seriously one of the easiest cookie recipes I’ve come across in a while.

Chocolate Dipped Orange Butter Cookies

source: unknown original source

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp pure orange extract)
  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 3 tbsp course sugar
  • 2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed.  Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg, vanilla and orange extracts.  Gradually blend in flour.
  2. Divide the dough in half.  Roll each half of the dough into logs about 2 inches in diameter, wrap them in clear plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. I sliced them with a sharp knife into 1/4″ x 2″ discs.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Slice the dough into 1/4-inch disks.  Place cookies on the baking sheets.  Sprinkle the top of each cookie with coarse sugar.
  4. Bake for 8-10 minutes,  Transfer the baking sheets wire rack to cool and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes.  Move cookies to the racks to cool completely.
  5. While cookies cool, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water or in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.  After the cookies have cooled, dip them in the melted chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper to cool.