Black and White Cookies
I seek balance in life. And by balance I mean, I want to have my cake and eat it all of it! I want my hair to be curly on Saturday and straight on Sunday no matter that the heat index is reading. And I’m still trying to figure out how to stuff my wide feet into my dream pair of somewhat narrow Manolos.
Cake, hair and Manolos – all the important things in life. In the meantime, I will settle for the epitome of a balanced cookie – the black and white.
And I’m not talking about some of those store-bought kinds that are wrapped in mysterious plastic with glaze that’s as hard as a rock. I mean the homemade kind – made with your blood, sweat and tears. Well, no blood, sweat and tears actually. Instead a cakey cookie and a couple of goopey glazes. When they come together, I promise you’ll do a happy dance.
Since this was only my second B&W cookie ever, I wasn’t sure how to eat it. First I had a bite of just chocolate. Then I had a bite of just vanilla.
But it wasn’t until I had a bite of both that it felt, well…perfect.
Black and White Cookies
Ingredients:
For the Cookies
1 cup (140 g) all purpose flour
1 cup (130 g) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (90 ml) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon preferably organic
1/2 cup (4 ounces/115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperatureFor the Icings
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (250 g) powdered sugar, or more if needed
2 teaspoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water, or more if needed
3 tablespoons (20 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powderDirections:
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
In a small bowl, whisk together all purpose and cake flours, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another small bowl, mix together milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and lemon zest and set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in half of the flour mixture followed by the milk mixture followed by the remaining flour mixture until the batter is just combined.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop rounds of batter onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches in between each cookie. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cookies feel just set in the center. Make sure to rotate the sheets in the oven halfway through baking. Let the cookies completely cool on the baking sheets.
While the cookies are cooling, to make the icing, whisk together 2 cups (225 g) powdered sugar with 2 teaspoons corn syrup, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and water until smooth in a medium bowl.
Transfer half of the mixture to a small bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder and remaining 2 teaspoons of corn syrup to make the "black" icing. If the icing is too thick to spread, add up to 2 more water (but it should not be too thin). Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar into the white icing. (Make sure both icings are the same consistency.)
With a small icing spatula or a butter knife, spread white icing on one half of the bottom/flat side of each cookie and the black icing on the other half. Let the icing set for a few minutes before serving.
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snooky doodle — March 4, 2011 @ 3:21 pm
these look good. perhaps with about 20 of these I ll have the right balance
Mary — March 4, 2011 @ 3:35 pm
I really like your sense of balance and style. Your cookies are gorgeous and I’m sure so good, that eating just one is impossible. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Rachel — March 4, 2011 @ 3:40 pm
Printed and will make – looks so easy!
Amy — March 4, 2011 @ 3:51 pm
Like yin & yang, ebony & ivory, the perfect black dress…and the perfect white one. I believe I could achieve perfect balance with one in each hand.
Gabriela — March 4, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Love it! So New York! (good call on the lemon zest in the recipe)
Rosa — March 4, 2011 @ 5:19 pm
So pretty and surely very delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
vanillasugarblog — March 4, 2011 @ 5:38 pm
yes mami. uh huh. indeed. let’s eat cookies for the wknd? ok?
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic — March 4, 2011 @ 6:01 pm
I can totally relate to the curly hair on Saturday and straight hair on Sunday :p
Bonnie — March 4, 2011 @ 7:11 pm
I think you ate that cookie just right–a bit of both! This is coming from the girl who did not lick the center of Oreos!! Nor do I still eat Oreos. I do, however, have a Moon Pie from time to time but not with R.C. Cola. Did I mention I am a chlld of the south (well, mid-south).
Have a great weekend, my dear!
Best,
Bonnie
Stephanie — March 4, 2011 @ 7:56 pm
These look amazing! I have never had this cookie so I wouldn’t have known how to approach it either.
Tracy — March 4, 2011 @ 8:43 pm
I used to LOVE these cookies when I was little! They were always called “half moon cookies” around these parts. I can’t wait to try your homemade version and relive my childhood!
Shandy — March 4, 2011 @ 11:38 pm
YUMMY!!! I love these cookies. Store bought cookies never come off the store shelf unless they are those pink little animal cookies we play with as we eat. I bet if we found a recipe and cookie cutters for those, then I would be complete. Now I have another cookie I am dying to try. Thank you for sharing!
Katrina — March 5, 2011 @ 7:17 am
These look so decadent! Great recipe. I love these.
shelly (cookies and cups) — March 5, 2011 @ 7:44 am
I have always wanted to make these! WHen I was first considering moving up here I took a trip into the city and bought one of these cookies (because I had seen it on Seinfeld and thought it was totally a NY thing to do..yes, total dork). But I have been wanting to duplicate one ever since!
Joanne — March 5, 2011 @ 8:08 am
I’m pretty sure my life isn’t balanced enough either. Which means I either have to whip up a batch of these or make the trek over to your place and steal/borrow some. If you notice some crazy girl walking out of your house with black and white cookies…just look the other way.
A Plum By Any Other Name — March 5, 2011 @ 8:56 am
Oh happy day. Black and white cookies may be my most favorite ever (that is, besides molasses, of course).
Megan — March 5, 2011 @ 9:46 am
I’ve never had black and white cookies, but I’m pretty sure I would eat all the white first and then the black. The cookies look beautiful!
Spike — March 5, 2011 @ 4:13 pm
I love black & white cookies, always reminds me of new york. I like to eat the vanilla side first, then the chocolate.
Jackie Hale — March 5, 2011 @ 7:48 pm
Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brian @ A Thought For Food — March 5, 2011 @ 8:42 pm
If there is a way to bring balance in your life through a cookie, it’d be through black and white cookies. I grew up with these… sometimes they weren’t as good as yours look, but I’m not sure I’ve ever had a really bad one. I would probably first go for a bite of the chocolate as well… but this frosting looks like it was meant to be eaten just as you describe it. Together.
Kerstin — March 5, 2011 @ 8:57 pm
So pretty! I usually go for the chocolate on my first bite too
Baking is my Zen — March 5, 2011 @ 10:15 pm
*sigh* Do you share?
Carmen
Ciao Florentina — March 6, 2011 @ 1:45 am
Looking for balance at 11 p.m and I find this, now I need to go searching or cookies in my pantry and get to baking tomorrow, Blank & White looks divine !
Hannah {Oven Hoots} — March 6, 2011 @ 8:18 am
finally something to satisfy vanilla and chocolate lovers! these look awesome (:
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum — March 6, 2011 @ 9:05 am
Yum! Looks amazing and perfectly balanced. Would it be inappropriate to eat these for breakfast, considering it’s now … 8am?
steph (whisk/spoon) — March 6, 2011 @ 10:14 am
wow–a homemade black and white looks fabulous! i know what you mean about the plastic wrapped deli ones….i always imagine they’ve been on the shelf for a couple of months at least!
Amy (Sing For Your Supper) — March 6, 2011 @ 4:57 pm
I have always wanted to make these! I will definitely try your recipe!! They look GORGEOUS!!!!
biz — March 6, 2011 @ 9:28 pm
I have actually never has a black and white cookie – they look amazing!
Esi — March 6, 2011 @ 10:57 pm
Black and white cookies are such a great treat!
5 Star Foodie — March 6, 2011 @ 11:39 pm
These black & white cookies look perfectly scrumptious!
The Duo Dishes — March 7, 2011 @ 12:26 am
Yes, it’s all about the bite of both chocolate and vanilla at the same time. Otherwise, it’s just not gonna cut it.
Pamela — March 7, 2011 @ 7:31 am
The B & W is my favorite bakery cookie. There is just something about them. They are worth every ounce of effort it takes to make them. Send left overs to me!!
Megan — March 7, 2011 @ 4:08 pm
Gorgeous cookies! The hardest part of black & white cookies is deciding which side to choose to bite into first. Although, if I had a batch of these around I would probably stuff them down whole cookie style…these look addicting!
Emily — March 8, 2011 @ 12:35 am
I really like you.
I really like these cookies, too. They’re so perfect and I want one right now.
Gloria — March 9, 2011 @ 1:01 am
Beautiful Eliana. The cookie looks so cakey and perfect. I recently acquired Ready for Dessert but I have yet to make anything from it yet. I definitely need to get baking!
Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets — March 14, 2011 @ 1:33 am
Ooooh I’ve always wanted to try these but the only ones I could find were the terrible convenience store versions wrapped in plastic and I figured I’d hold out for a better version. By the looks and sound of it, I’ve definitely found that version. They look so good!
Michelle — March 21, 2011 @ 9:37 am
I’ve never even had a black and white cookie, but I can’t see them w/o thinking of that one Seinfeld episode. : )
Elizabeth — May 4, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
I LOVE black and white cookies. There used to be an Italian food shop on Irving Place in NY that sold the best ones. I’m so sad it’s gone now.