BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES

Total Time: 2 hours 

Yield: 12 large cookies

These gigantic black and white classic cookies are a New York City staple and for good reason. They’re light, cake-like and topped with a half chocolate, half vanilla frosting. It’s so addictive and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

For the Cookies:

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ⅓ cup sour cream

For the Glaze:

• 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 7-9 tablespoons whole milk
• 2 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Get your oven ready by moving the racks so that they are in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions (we’re going to bake two pans of cookies at time) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or baking mats.
3. In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
4. Using your stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until it’s light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well to combine.
6. Reduce the speed to low and add ⅓ of the flour mixture, mix to combine.
7. Add half the sour cream and stir to combine.
8. Add another ⅓ of flour, then the last of the sour cream, and then the last of the flour, mixing after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
9. Mix one last time to make sure no dry spots remain in the dough.
10. Use a well greased ¼ cup measuring cup to drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
11. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes, switching and rotating the pans half way through baking.
12. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Let the cookies cool completely before you add the icing.

For the glaze:

1. Whisk the sugar, 7 tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt together in a bowl until smooth. Add additional milk as needed to make a moderately thin glaze.
2. Remove 1 cup of the glaze to a second small bowl and add the cocoa powder. Whisk the cocoa powder and 2 more tablespoons of milk together, adding additional milk as needed to make a spreadable glaze.

To ice the cookies:

1. Work with 1 cookie at a time. Spread about 1 tablespoon of vanilla glaze over half of the flat bottom of the cookie. Stick the cookies in the fridge until the glaze sets.
2. Glaze the other half of the cookie with the chocolate glaze.
3. Let the glaze dry for at least an hour before serving.

NOTES

• I think these cookies are best the second day when the glaze is fully dry.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container. They store very well.
• This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen Perfect Cookie book (it’s such a good book!), highly recommend.