A traditional New York favorite, and MY personal favorite cookies. A very "cakey" cookie that is not very sweet on it's own is complemented by very sweet vanilla and chocolate fudge icing. It took a few tries to get the icing to look decent, but none of these were wasted in the process! These cookies remind me of yellow box-mix cake with chocolate frosting.... and who doesn't love that!
I don't live in New York, so the only place I can get these is at my local Starbucks, and the are usually out of them... And so began my pursuit for the perfect black & white cookies! I found this recipe on epicurious.com.
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
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
For icings
2 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 to 6 tablespoons water
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Special equipment: a small offset spatula
Make cookies:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter 1 inch apart onto baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Make icings while cookies cool:
Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth. If icing is not easily spreadable, add more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. 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 vanilla icing. Cover surface with a dampened paper towel, then cover bowl with plastic wrap.
Ice cookies: With offset spatula, spread white icing over half of flat side of each cookie. Starting with cookies you iced first, spread chocolate icing over other half.
A Few Adjustments:
The first time I made these, I followed the recipe exactly.... and the weren't exactly what I had been expecting.
1. If you want to cookies to be round, dropping the batter on the cookie sheet doesn't work. I learned my lesson after the first time, and now i suggest using a pastry bag with a large round tip to pipe the cookies on the the cookie sheet. I use my disposable decorating bags, fitted with a coupler, but with no tip.... the large opening works perfect!
2. I never butter or grease my baking sheets. Use parchment paper or a Silpat Liner.... These will stick to the pan otherwise!
3. There is no place for the lemon flavor in the chocolate icing. Mix all the ingredients for the icing except for the lemon... divide into half, and only add lemon juice to the vanilla. less than a teaspoon is more than enough!
4. In case you can't figure it out by looking at the cookie, the icing goes on the bottom. Yes, I did almost miss that the first time i made these...
Also, I don't usually have buttermilk in my fridge... I learned on allrecipes.com that adding one tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of milk makes an acceptable replacement for buttermilk... good to know!
Enjoy!
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