Black and White Cookies

I remember the first time I tried a black and white cookie. It was at Starbucks, and I really had no idea what this cookie would taste like, but I knew it had chocolate and I was craving chocolate at the time! It was a pretty decent cookie, for a Starbucks snack. I really never had a desire to eat one again, and I had no idea where this cookie idea came from. I really thought it was a Starbucks idea. Whoops!

Fast forward a few years. I noticed my food blogger/Weddingbee buddy Serena of Big Apple Nosh would tweet a lot about these cookies and she’s in NYC. So, I got to googling and found out that these cookies are VERY popular in NYC. (Shame on me…never been to NYC.) So, when Serena offered to bring me an authentic black and white cookie when she came to NOLA, how could I say “no”?

I ended up bringing the cookie home to my parents’ house, and of course, I offered my family to try a piece. This is all that was left for me to try after they had their “piece”. Ugh…

The piece that was left tasted MUCH better than the OK cookie that I had at Starbucks a few years ago, and from what I was told, the cookie that Serena brought wasn’t even the BEST cookie in NYC (that bakery was sold out). Crazy..I thought that cookie was yummy!

Since I didn’t get an adequate amount of cookie, I decided I wanted to bake some up! So, being the baking addict that I am, I started searching for a recipe to make these myself. I came across this one on Epicurious, and I went to town.

This recipe only makes 8 cookies, but black and white cookies are HUGE cookies. They came together pretty quickly, and while they puffed up more than the cookie that I tried, they tasted really good! I think I need to make them again, actually. 🙂

Black and White Cookies
Source: Gourmet

Ingredients:

For cookies

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg

For icings

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a measuring cup.
2. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
3. Spoon 1/4 cups of batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and cool, about 5 minutes.
4. Make the icing while the cookies cool. Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as white icing.
5. To ice the cookies, turn them flat sides up, then spread white icing over half of each and chocolate over other half. Allow the cookies to set for a few hours until the icing is completely dry.