4.01.2009

Black & White Cookies

Black & White Cookies

Did You Know? "Back in the day, black and white cookies were actually made by bakeries from their leftover cake batters, with just a little extra flour mixed in so the cookie didn’t spread all over the place. Sometimes called Amerikaner Cookies, they’re also occasionally referred to as "half-moons" Upstate and in New England. However, with a chocolate cake base, not the traditional vanilla/lemon one, they’re not the same thing..." Deb of Smitten Kitchen.

This next recipe comes from a favorite of both myself and Caitlin. Whenever we're in search of an authentic recipe, Smitten Kitchen usually finds itself to the screen in front of us. Ever since her last post, Caitlin has been researching recipes for her next. After a lunch break spent browsing through the archives of our beloved recipe journal, Cait decided these cookies would be our next baking endeavor together. These two-toned delights have always been a favorite of my brother's and her boyfriend's (one and the same), so we knew we had to get a great recipe to impress him by. After reading Deb's thoughtful post, we were convinced these were the real deal. And now that I think of it, my sister has always had a true fondness for these cookies. Although she likes to keep hers to a 100-calorie portion.



Black & White Cookies

We were unsure of what size scoop to go for with these cookies. We wanted a pretty traditional feel, so we knew they were going to be on the large size. After a few trials, we settled on the standard ice cream scoop. Flattening them out a bit after dropping them onto the sheets, we were pretty satisfied with the outcome. The lemon/vanilla base was just what we were hoping for, truly capturing the cakey texture that you would find in a bakery.


Black & White Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar (I used about 6)
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon light corn syrup.
1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.

In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix by machine or hand until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth.

In medium bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using an ice cream scoop, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a spoon. Bake until edges begin to brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool completely. *The original recipe says to bake for 18-20 minutes, but I found that far too long. Most of mine were in the oven for not even 10 and were perfectly pale gold at that point.

Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place confectioners’ sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Err on the side of caution because a too-thin frosting is hard to undo. Leave remaining boiling water on the stove.

Flip the cookies over, and spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie. Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the bitter or unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup. At this point, if the chocolate frosting is not "black" enough, you may want to add a tablespoon or so of cocoa powder.

Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. If the frosting gets to dried out, whisk in an extra teaspoon of that hot water from time to smooth it back into a shiny frosting. I definitely didn't smooth my frosting out enough, as you can see in the photos. I ended up using probably double the amount of confectioners sugar, as we opted for a more caked on look.

*These cookies will last no more than a couple days, stored in an air-tight container. Their cakey texture goes stale much quicker than your average cookie.


Black & White Cookies

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33 comments:

  1. Ahh, the quintessential cookie!! Love it.

    Hope you're doing well, dear Hayley!!

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  2. I love the rustic look of your cookies. I'm normally not a fan of these because the black and white part looks thick and hard and when you bite into it it's usally too sweet. Thanks for posting this. I will be making them formyself very soon. My question to you is how did this hold up the next day (or 2 days later)?

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  3. How do you recommend storing these? They look fabulous, I have got to get to these maybe as sson as this weekend!! I Love them!

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  4. I'm not ahuge fan of cookies, but these are one of my favorites! They look delicious!

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  5. VeggieGirl: I'm doing great, thanks, I hope all is well with you too! School is finally wrapping up!

    Eliana: You might like a buttercream frosting over this one, if you're not a fan of the sweetness. They were fine the next day, stored in an air-tight container, but would probably not last too much longer (they are more cake-like than cookie).

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  6. They look awesome. I have been wanting to make some of these for the longest time!

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  7. I have never had a black and white cookie but now I want one!

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  8. Awesome, Hayley! I want one so badly.

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  9. I've never had a black & white cookie before. Something to try, definitely!

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  10. I love black and white cookies! These look terrific! I've never tried making them myself.

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  11. These cookies are a childhood favorite of mine! I actually have a recipe for them in my cookbook, too. :)

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  12. B&W cookies are my favorite but I think it's an east-coast thing, people don't seem to know what they are out here in CA! These bring back memories...

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  13. I love black and white cookies. There's a jewish deli in LA that sells them in three sizes - mini, regular and giant (cake sized!). Yours look delicious.

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  14. I have only had b&w cookies once, in nyc. Loved them though. They look wonderful.

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  15. I just left a comment on SK telling her how much her blog rocks, and then I came here! The photos are awesome!

    NAOmni

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  16. Ooh these look soooo good! Black and white cookies are on my (5 page long) list of things I want to bake. I'll get around to them, eventually...

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  17. I see these all over the place here in NYC, but the ones I've had have all been dry, overly sweet, and not very tasty. Seeing yours has changed my mind about them though. I may have to give this a try sometime.

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  18. Now, I want to make black and whites! They look delicious.

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  19. You know a mere two days ago I asked hubby what he'd been craving for me to bake. And he said these b&w cookies. How wild is that? I made pb cups instead because I have such a hard time decorating b&w cookies. My hand is not so steady; I seriously want to take a decorating class. have you ever in Boston? Or other towns?
    Well, these came out perfectly, the size is perfect. Great tip on what size to make the dough balls and then flatten them.

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  20. Your B&W cookies look terrific. I grew up between here (Cent. FL) & NYC as my parents divorced when I was young. Because of that I grew up (& took for granted) eating all these great foods! It wasn't until I started reading blogs that I realized how lucky I was.
    ~ingrid

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  21. Hayley you sooo have to try using the almond butter in the pb cups I made. just make sure to use the higher cacao chocolate though....

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  22. I've never had a homemade b&w cookie....Yours look absolutely delicious--I can just taste that chocolate frosting!!!

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  23. These look so satisfying and cute! Last fall I was lucky enough to get one at a deli in New York--it was almost as big as my head. This looks a bit more managable. :) What a nice little treat! I am also a big fan of Deb's recipes.
    I just linked to your blog on mine!

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  24. YUM! Now, black and white cookies from NYC bakeries wouldn't remotely interest me but half moons from upstate are A-MAZING!

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  25. As Martha Stewart might say, cookies are a good thing. And you could never go wrong with a recipe from Smitten Kitchen! What a great blog!

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  26. ahh I want some of those now!

    thanks for you kind comment, by the way, I'm so glad you like my blog! I love yours also!

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  27. I have a weakness for black and whites. I used to always get them up in NY at the bakeries. Yours look delicious!!!

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  28. are you türkish foods?
    we are foods very delicions too.
    are you student?you are very young.

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  29. "....leftover cake batters, with just a little extra flour mixed in so the cookie didn’t spread all over the place." I SO did not know that! How cool, thanks for sharing!

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