BLACK & WHITE
RECIPE :
Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange racks in top and bottom thirds, and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sea salt and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, milk, vanilla, lemon zest and almond extract.
- Step 3
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Step 4
Reduce speed to low and beat in ⅓ of the flour mixture, then ⅓ of the sour cream mixture. Repeat until both mixtures are incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. (Mixture will be the consistency of thick poundcake batter.)
- Step 5
Dollop heaping ¼-cup scoops of batter onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. (You should have 12 to 14 cookies.) Bake for 6 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets. Continue to bake until the cookies have firmed up and spring back when lightly pressed in the center, 6 to 9 minutes. (They’ll brown only on the bottoms.) Take care not to overbake, or they will dry out.
- Step 6
Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 15 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to racks to cool completely.
- Step 7
While the cookies cool, make the glaze: Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and whisk in 3 tablespoons boiling water, the corn syrup, vanilla and salt. Continue to whisk, adding more boiling water as needed, until you have a thick yet spreadable frosting that is the texture of hot fudge sauce. (Too thick is preferable to too thin.) Flip each cookie over and spoon glaze over half of its flat side, spreading to edges with the back of the spoon. Place on wire rack to set. You will have vanilla frosting left over.
- Step 8
Whisk melted chocolate into vanilla frosting, then whisk in cocoa and enough room temperature water to make a thick yet spreadable glaze. Glaze the bare half of each cookie. Let glaze set for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving.
- 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼teaspoon baking soda
FOR THE COOKIES
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters sour cream or whole-milk yogurt
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters whole milk
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¼teaspoon almond extract
- ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
- ¾cup plus 2 tablespoons/200 grams granulated sugar
- 2large eggs, at room temperature
- 2½cups/300 grams confectioners’ sugar
- Boiling water, as needed
- 1½tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 2½ounces/70 grams unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
- 2½tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
FOR THE GLAZE
Melissa Clark, a food columnist at the New York Times, states that these cookies aren’t just a New York staple, they’re a major part of Jewish culture. According to her, “Black-and-whites have been an entrenched part of the very robust Jewish cookie scene in New York City for a century.”
However, these cookies have a long-debated history about their creation. Specifically, is it really a cookie?
According to Molly O’Neill, black and white cookies are “broken promises” in that they’re floury cakes baked in a cookie shape. Essentially, they’re “drop cakes” because the batter resembles what you’d find in the batter of a cupcake, with a little extra dough so it does not run all over the place.
Nonetheless, people love them and flock to their nearest bakery for a bite of its vanilla, chocolatey goodness.
The Origins of the Black and White Cookie
The cookie is believed to have been created by Glaser’s Bake Shop, which was opened in 1902 by Bavarian immigrants in Manhattan. Many others believe the cookie began as “half-moon” cookies that were served at Hemstrought’s Bakery in Utica, New York. While it’s hard to tell where these cookies’ roots lie, each story shares one common element: they come from German food traditions.
While these cookies seemingly have been around forever, it wasn’t until the 1940s and 1950s they became popular. During and after WWII, American soldiers reintroduced the cookie to Germany, which inspired the name “Amerikaner”. The term is actually derived from the shape of Brodie helmets worn by U.S. soldiers during the World Wars.
