Milano cookies are an amazingly rich and chocolatey dessert that is available at most stores. Milano cookies are closely related to the famous Pepperidge Farm cookies, made by putting together two of the “Naples” variety. The Naples variety was an open-faced version of the modern Milano, but the heat of the south would melt the chocolate. Delectable and highly addicting, are these chocolate filled cookies vegan?
Milano cookies are not vegan friendly. They contain multiple animal products, including milk, eggs, chocolate, refined sugar, egg whites, and some varieties include even more. However, there are many other shortbread cookie alternatives with the same strong flavors and nostalgic, crumbly texture. The best alternatives are Back to Nature’s Plant-Based Snacks in Fudge Mint and Siete Grain Free Shortbread Cookies.
In this article, we will go over the nutrition facts and ingredients of the Milano cookies, the ethical dilemmas with their ingredients, and some alternatives for sustainable vegans who are hoping to replace Milano Cookies. Let’s dig in!
Contents
Milano Cookies Nutrition
Milano cookies are a holiday staple in many households, but the nutrition information regarding them is a stark reminder to the public that companies are not making the right decisions. Milano cookies are delicious but contain harmful substances to the human body as well as the environment around us.
Nutrition Facts:
Milano cookies are a dessert, so they weren’t made for their nutritional value. Milano cookies are generally the same nutrient-wise as their other dessert counterparts. With the size of a serving being about 3 cookies and 5 servings per container, Milano Cookies contain:
- 170 Calories
- 9g Total Fat
- 4g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 5mg Cholesterol
- 60mg Sodium
- 22g Total Carbohydrates
- 1g Dietary Fiber
- 11g Total Sugars
- 10g Added Sugars
- 2g Protein
Ingredients:
- Enriched Wheat Flour
- Milk Chocolate
- Sugar
- Vegetable Oils (Palm and Soybean)
- Eggs
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Soy Lecithin
- Natural Flavor
- Nonfat Milk
What Are the Nonvegan Ingredients in Milano Cookies?
There are about 4 different non-vegan ingredients that Milano Cookies contain, including:
- Milk Chocolate
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Nonfat Milk
There are valid vegan alternatives to all of these, and you can make vegan Milano cookies easily at home by replacing these ingredients with vegan chocolate or other alternatives. A great alternative to the use of milk chocolate would be to use cocoa powder and natural sweeteners, and it can make the flavor infinitely more accessible.
Are Milano Cookies Healthy?
Milano cookies are not healthy, and that isn’t really a surprise. Milano cookies contain a lot of added sugar and oils, which can cause heart problems in the long term. It’s not the unhealthiest dessert by far, but it isn’t a good snack for between meals.
The easiest way to see that Milano cookies aren’t the healthiest is by looking at the carbohydrate, sugar, and fat content for only 3 cookies. For people who are counting calories and carbs, even 3 of these moderately small cookies are extraordinarily calorie dense and pack a lot of carbohydrates and added sugars.
Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Ingredients
A lot of Milano’s ingredients aren’t vegan, but some have even more controversy surrounding them due to the harvesting method.
Refined Sugar
The use of refined sugar has been divided between its alternatives and truly refined sugar. Sugar in its true form is brown, sticky, and generally unappetizing. To make it smoother, keep it from sticking together, and improve the color, ground cattle bones are added to create a pure white powder.
What is Bone Char?
Bone char is one of the main ingredients used to process sugar. Cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, Pakistan, and India are charred and ground into a fine white powder. This powder is then shipped to popular sugar exporters, such as Scotland, Egypt, and Brazil, which circulate back to the U.S. in the form of refined sugar.
Palm Oil
Those who are focused on ethical buying and animal rights will be disappointed at the constant use of palm oil by dessert makers. Palm oil has been a constant controversy for hair and food products due to its effect on the health of humans and animals once it is harvested. Palm oil is very common, appearing in about 50 percent of all packaged products in supermarkets. It is most often used in cosmetic, personal care, and baking products.
What is the Animal Controversy?
Unfortunately, the popularity of the palm oil industry has been extremely harmful to the animals that live in areas rich with the substance. The Rainforest Action has done multiple infographics on how the continuing use of palm oil will affect our environment in the future, and which animals have been rendered nearly extinct by its hand.
What is the Human Controversy?
A lot of the controversy surrounding palm oil for humans is that it is an extremely unhealthy product that is common in prepackaged goods. Multiple health organizations have come out against its use, including:
- The World Health Organization
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
This surprising amount of warning about the use of palm oil has resulted in little to no legislation, despite arguably being one of the unhealthiest and artery-clogging oils available in the industry.
How Can I Tell if a Product Contains Palm Oil?
Across the world, palm oil is labeled as different oil. In Australia and New Zealand, it is simply labeled vegetable oil, making it hard for consumers to make an informed choice to reject the use of palm oil. A good hack to see if palm oil is being used in your food products is to look at the saturated fat content. If it is around 50%, the oil used is likely palm oil.
Butter oil
Butter oil is consistently used in baking products and is also called milk fat or butterfat. Its texture is extremely similar to ghee, which is used as a replacement for butter. Both ghee and butter oil is made by taking out the nonfat and water components of milk, making them a form of animal products and not safe for vegan consumption.
Vegan Alternatives to Milano Cookies
While there are no direct vegan alternatives for Milano, using a bit of food science, we can find something with a similar texture and flavors to what we are used to. Milano cookies are defined by their amazing texture and rich flavors, and this can be attributed to the shortbread-Esque flavor of the cookie. Luckily, there are plenty of vegan brands that have shortbread textures.
Back to Nature: Plant-Based Snacks in Fudge Mint
Back to Nature is a great vegan brand as a replacement for Milano because of the same crumbly texture and comforting flavor that they have. Specifically, Back to Natures Fudge Mint are the spitting image of Milanos Mint Chocolate sandwich cookies.
Nutrition Facts:
With about 6 servings per container and 4 cookies per serving, Back to Nature Contains:
- 140 Calories
- 6g Total Fat
- 4.5g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 0mg Cholesterol
- 110mg Sodium
- 22g Total Carbohydrates
- 1g Dietary Fiber
- 13g Total Sugars
- 13g Added Sugars
- 1g Protein
Ingredients:
- Fudge Coating (Cane Sugar, Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, Salt)
- Unbleached Wheat Flour
- Cane Sugar
- Palm Oil
- Cocoa Powder
- Leavening
- Baking Soda
- Sea Salt
- Ammonium Bicarbonate
- Soy Lecithin
- Peppermint Oil
Siete Grain Free: Mexican Shortbread Cookies
These Mexican Shortbread Cookies are an amazing replacement for Milano cookies and are deeply enriched in decades of culture. These cookies are grain-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan. Their chocolate flavors are amazingly complex and deep compared to most vegan desserts.
Nutrition Facts:
With 4 servings in the container, and a serving being about 5 cookies, Siete Mexican Shortbread Cookies contains:
- 150 Calories
- 9g Total Fat
- 5g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 0mg Cholesterol
- 120g Sodium
- 17g Total Carbohydrate
- 1g Dietary Fiber
- 5g Total Sugars
- 1g Protein
Ingredients:
- Grain-Free Flour Blend (Almond Flour, Tapioca Flour, Arrowroot Flour, Cassava Flour, Chickpea Flour)
- Coconut Oil
- Coconut Sugar
- Avocado Oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Orange Peel Powder
- Sea Salt
- Cinnamon
- Baking Soda
- Vanilla Extract
- Jasmine Tea Extract
Biscoff
Biscoff cookies are extremely popular in European coffee shops. and are extraordinarily rich and crumbly in their flavor. Biscoff is non-GMO and vegan, and many other Biscoff products also have extremely high ratings.
Nutrition Facts:
- 150 Calories
- 6g Total Fat
- 2.5g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 0mg Cholesterol
- 115mg Sodium
- 23g Total Carbohydrate
- 0g Dietary Fiber
- 12g Sugars
- 11g Added Sugars
- 2g Protein
Ingredients:
- Wheat Flour
- Sugar
- Vegetable Oil
- Brown Sugar Syrup
- Leavening
- Soy Flour
- Salt
- Cinnamon
Trader Joes Speculoos Cookies
Trader Joe’s is known for its tasty and healthy snack choices, so it should be no surprise that they have made a crunchy, caramelized cookie that is an absolute hit among shoppers. This vegan treat flies off the shelves due to its unique texture and bold taste.
Nutrition Facts:
With a serving size of about 4 cookies, and 6 servings per container, these cookies contain:
- 150 Calories
- 50 Calories from Fat
- 6g Total Fat
- 2.5g Saturated Fat
- 0g Trans Fat
- 0mg Cholesterol
- 110mg Sodium
- 24g Total Carb
- 10g Sugars
- 2g Protein
Ingredients:
- Unbleached Wheat Flour
- Sugar
- Vegetable Oils
- Sugar Candy Syrup
- Leavening
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Sunflower Lecithin
Related Questions
What are Vegan Alternatives to Chocolate?
There are many brands that offer vegan chocolate, made without refined sugar and dairy, sometimes using replacements such as cane sugar and plant milk in order to simulate the same texture that you get from non-vegan chocolate. Additions like mint, dried fruit, and nuts such as cashews or almonds are safe for vegans to put in their chocolate as well.
Does the Amaretto Hot Cocoa Milano contain any Alcohol?
While amaretto hot chocolate does contain Italian almond liquor, the Milano cookie bearing the same name does not contain any alcohol. The taste is apparently remarkably similar to the chocolatey liquor, however.