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.