Recipe courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli
Black and White Cookies
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- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 3 hr 10 min (includes chilling, cooling and setting time)
- Active: 40 min
- Yield: 8 to 10 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 9 servings
- Calories
- 328
- Total Fat
- 10 g
- Saturated Fat
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 58 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 40 g
- Protein
- 4 g
- Cholesterol
- 41 mg
- Sodium
- 218 mg
This is a cookie from my childhood, which I spent waiting patiently at the register of every midtown deli or diner. I don't think I ever saw one not confined to plastic and doing too much counter time until I was a teenager! I bought one from a glass case, unwrapped, the frosting slightly cool and almost crunchy on top of the cookie, and I was hooked. The lemony notes from the white frosting and the cocoa-y chocolatey notes from the chocolate frosting made me fall in love. Texturally one-note in the best way, this soft cookie lives in the world between cookie and cake. The flavors are delicate and the acidity in various places makes this cookie fun to make at home and addictive…I made this part of a deli dinner party with pastrami and cold cuts and it was a huge hit. You can make all-vanilla and all-chocolate frosted if you like. Practice those smooth edges and halves — make your cookies deli-perfect!
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 3 hr 10 min (includes chilling, cooling and setting time)
- Active: 40 min
- Yield: 8 to 10 cookies
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 9 servings
- Calories
- 328
- Total Fat
- 10 g
- Saturated Fat
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 58 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugar
- 40 g
- Protein
- 4 g
- Cholesterol
- 41 mg
- Sodium
- 218 mg
Ingredients
Cookies:
Frosting:
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Directions
- For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Stir in the salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until pale and lemon colored, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the lemon zest, vanilla and egg and mix on low speed to combine.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the flour mixture, along with the buttermilk and apple cider vinegar. Don’t overmix (it makes the cookies tough). Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes.
- For the frosting: In a large bowl, sift the confectioners’ sugar. Whisk in the lemon juice, corn syrup, salt and 2 tablespoons water. Spoon half the frosting into a smaller bowl, then stir in the lemon zest. In the large bowl, whisk in the cocoa powder. Note: If the frosting is too thick, whisk in a splash of water. If it’s not glossy, add a dash of corn syrup.
- Layer the baking sheets with parchment and spray with the cooking spray. Dunk a 1/4-cup measure (or a similar size ice cream scoop) in flour to coat it. (This will help prevent the batter from sticking and make rounder cookies without rough edges). Scoop 1/4-cup batter onto the baking sheet, leaving room for it to spread, and feel free to round or smooth an edge with your finger or a floured spoon. Repeat with all of the batter, allowing 4 (maximum 5) cookies on each baking sheet. Tap the baking sheets lightly a few times on your counter to even them out and place in the center of the oven to bake.
- Bake the cookies until light brown and spongy, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool 10 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to carefully lift each cookie off the baking sheet and turn it on its other side (flat side up) to cool, 1 hour more.
- Use the edge of a kitchen knife or larger straight-edged spatula (or even a ruler wrapped tightly in foil) to make the even line of each half of the frosting. Gently lay the blade of the knife/spatula straight down the middle of the flat side of a cookie and spoon the vanilla frosting on one half. Give it a minute to spread against and settle evenly on the edge of the knife, then turn the knife edge perpendicular to the cookie to expose the other half (it will look as if you are about to cut the cookie). Fill in the remaining half with the chocolate frosting. Let the chocolate frosting settle, then gently lift the knife/spatula up. Repeat with all the cookies. Let set at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
