black and white cookies

I fully intended on taking these cookies to share with my Bible study, but I waited too long to ice them, and then they weren't dry in time.  Then I bought some cute cellophane bags to package them up and deliver them to some friends around town, but the bags were too small to fit one of these giant cookies in.  I tried to convince Lane to take them to work so they'd be out of my reach, but he decided to eat 6 for dinner instead.  I tried not to eat these, I really did.

Apparently these cookies are a New York City tradition, but I've only been to the city once, and my 18 year old self was just focused on cheesecake at the time.  And musicals.  I missed out on these!  They are soft and cakey- amazing with an afternoon cup of coffee, or apparently for a 7am dinner if you work the night shift.  The icing does make a mess, but it's not nearly as difficult as it looks.  Lane said he only ate the chocolate half because he had to, but I couldn't decide which side I liked more!

Black and White Cookies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups cake flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool

¾ cup sugar

1 large eggs, at room temperature

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

¼ tsp. lemon extract

½ cup milk

For the glaze:

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine

¼ cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup water

2½ cups (20 oz.) confectioners' sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Milk, as needed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.   Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk to combine.  

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 30 seconds.  Add in the sugar gradually, increasing the speed to medium-high and beating until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Blend in the egg, vanilla and lemon extracts at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds.  With the mixer on low speed, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, mixing until just combined.

Using a ¼-cup measuring cup and a spoon, place six ¼-cup mounds of dough a generous 2 inches apart on each baking sheet.   With moistened fingers, gently press each mound of dough into a disk ¾ inch thick.  Bake until the centers of the cookies are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the baking pans halfway through the baking time.  

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes.  Use a wide spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.  Let cookies cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.  In a medium saucepan, combine the corn syrup and water and bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla until combined.  Transfer ¾ cup of the vanilla icing to the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to combine.  Add milk as necessary to make sure the icing is spreadable.

To glaze the cookies, place the cookies on wire racks set over waxed paper or foil.  Use a small offset spatula or knife to spread about 2 tablespoons of the vanilla icing on half of the flat side (bottom) of each cookie.  Tilt the cookie and run the spatula around the edge to scrape off excess icing.  Allow to harden slightly, about 15 minutes.  Using the offset spatula, spread the chocolate icing over the other half of each cookie, scraping away excess icing from the edge.  Allow the glaze to set at least 1 hour before serving.  

Source: Annie's Eats

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