Sunday, April 21, 2013

BAKED Sunday Morning: Black and White Cookies


I am a New Yorker.  No matter where I have lived, whether it be Connecticut, Texas or now LA, I have always identified with and been at home in New York. Black and White cookies are one of those things that people always identify with New York and that you can get in every corner deli and bakery.  Unfortunately for the iconic black and white cookie, most of the ones that you buy on the street in NYC are dry, crumbly and generally tasteless with too sweet frosting.

These cookies are the total opposite of that.  They taste like what you want a black and white cookie to taste like, only better.  They are soft and flavorful with a slight crunch on the outside and a distinctly vanilla frosting and a distinctly chocolate frosting.  Neither frosting is too sweet and it is a nice compliment to the only slightly sweet cookie.  Someone once said that the key to a true New York City black and white is lemon zest in the cookie batter, which I think adds to the flavor and keeps them from being cloyingly sweet.

These were pretty simple to put together.  The batter is something between a cookie and a cake and you scoop it with an ice cream scooper to get large but not obscenely huge cookies.  After baking you mix up the vanilla frosting and then take half of that and mix in the cocoa powder for the chocolate side.  My frosting was a little drippy (as you can see from the photo) but it set up nicely and I was able to stack and store these with minimal trouble.  

I feel like black and white cookies are one of those things that seem like they would be a lot of work, but in the end are not.  I only used three bowls and a few measuring cups, a near record for a Baked recipe.  You can find the recipe here and be sure to check out what the other bakers did.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Rebecca -

    Native (upstate) New Yorker here as well, and I was thrilled to see another blogger for whom this recipe was perfect for hitting the nostalgia notes. Nice job!

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  2. I too thought they'd be a lot of work to make....but was surprised when they weren't! Glad you got to make them and relive a little New York in your kitchen. :)

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  3. I agree--for a Baked recipe, these were super simple!

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  4. I can't wait to do these for a make up recipe one of these days! Glad to hear they're the real deal. :)

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  5. I was scared of the "dry, crumbly and generally tasteless (cookie) with too sweet frosting" before making these, but so glad I did! We liked them a lot! Your cookies look gorgeous!

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  6. I was surprised at how easy these were. Your cookies are great looking!

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  7. I'm so happy to read that these made the cut for a true New Yorker! Yours are beautiful.

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