If you can’t get to the bakery, make your favorite bakery treats at home, like these authentic, New York-style black-and-white cookies.
These are strange times, my friends. Many, if not most, of us are sheltering at home and engaging in social distancing as the world grapples with this horrible pandemic. Like so many of you, I am essentially stuck at home with my family trying to get through each day without knowing how long this isolation and disruption will last. We know that we are fortunate in many ways, but are still feeling frustrated, disappointed and anxious.
No surprise that I have turned to baking to ease my anxiety. Until I run out of flour and eggs – luckily, I was well-stocked to begin with – I am baking something just about every day. Even my family cannot consume all the treats I am making, so I have been giving them away to friends and neighbors. I go for a walk and leave packages of baked goods on their porches, ring the doorbell and then retreat to the bottom of the stairs. Sometimes we engage in a little back-and-forth from an appropriate distance.
One project that I decided to tackle, with this extra time on my hands, is black and white cookies. I love this Jewish bakery classic with its soft, cakey texture and sweet double dose of icing. And to tell you the truth, it is hard to find a good version here in the Midwest. To my surprise, many people in the Midwest haven’t even heard of these cookies, or only know them from “Seinfeld.” (“Seinfeld” did a lot for Jewish baked goods, if you think about it: there was a black and white cookie episode and a babka episode.)
Even in New York, the home of the black and white cookie, there are many subpar versions. I am partial to the one at Eli’s Market on the Upper East Side. Even though it pains me to say it, I prefer that B&W cookie to the one at my beloved Russ & Daughters. (Fun fact: my dad went to college with Marc Russ Federman, the third generation owner of Russ & Daughters; his daughter and nephew are the current owners.)
Here are my requirements for a black and white cookie. One, a soft, cake-like texture and a nice, dome shape. Two, the cookie should have a noticeable lemon flavor but never, ever almond extract. Almond extract is one of the nastiest flavors on earth, in my opinion and it always tastes artifical to me. Three, the icing should be smooth, thin, and glossy – not a thick, gloppy buttercream.
There are many recipes out there for black and white cookies and I tried them all. Some came close to my ideal, none were perfect. I was very excited when Melissa Clark from the New York Times shared her recipe because I trust Melissa and her New York bona fides. It’s a very good recipe and the inspiration for this one, but I quarrel with Melissa on the inclusion of almond extract and I had trouble with her icing recipe, which includes melted chocolate – too much extra work and too strong a chocolate flavor, in my view.
So, this week, I tried two different recipes and a few different techniques and I have landed on my ideal version of this iconic cookie. It is actually quite easy to make these at home with typical ingredients – the only thing you might not have on hand is sour cream. But it is indispensable to this recipe. So, when you are able, venture out in search of sour cream and make sure you have enough butter, powdered sugar and eggs while you are at it. Oh, and a lemon.
The key to this recipe is making the batter thick enough to create the cakey cookie with the slight domed shape that we all crave. Too thin, and the batter will spread and flatten in the oven. But if the batter is too thick, your cookies will look more like muffin tops. It’s a Goldilocks thing: you can’t have the cookie too thick or too thin. It has to be just right. My approach is to make a very thick batter and then spread it out slightly on the cookie sheets before baking.
As for the icing, you don’t want to have to make two batches; that’s too much work. Instead, I prefer to make the vanilla icing and glaze half of each cookie. While the white icing is setting on the cookies, use the icing you have left over as the foundation for the chocolate icing. Simply add cocoa powder to the remaining white icing and then add just the amount of milk, 1-2 tablespoons, necessary to get the consistency you need.
This is the exact right thickness for a black and white cookie.
So, if you can’t get to the bakery for a while – or you live in a place where even the bakeries don’t have good black and white cookies – try making them yourself at home. If you don’t want to eat 16 cookies by yourself – and why not? – perhaps you can leave a care package for a neighbor or two.
In the meantime, I would love to hear from you about how you are faring at home and if you need any cooking advice, as we are all preparing more meals than usual. Do support local restaurants with the occasional takeout order if you can. It will be a nice break for you and it is a matter of survival for them.
Look to the cookie, my friends!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 4 oz butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 TB vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 5-6 TB milk, divided
- 1 TB corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until combined, about another minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and sour cream to the bowl, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing after each addition and scraping down the sides as necessary. Mix just until combined.
- Measure out 1/4 cup of batter and place it on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until you have four cookies per sheet. (Aim for 1.75 to 2 oz of weight per cookie.) Spread each mound of batter in the shape of a circle until the batter is approximately 1/2 inch thick - not thinner.
- Bake one tray at a time for 13-15 minutes, rotating the tray 180 degrees halfway through baking. (You should end up with 15 to 16 cookies)
- Cool cookies on the sheet briefly than remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk, the corn syrup and the vanilla in a medium bowl. The icing should be thick but spreadable.
- Glaze half of each cookie with a thin but opaque layer of the white icing using a small offset spatula or knife. Place cookies on a wire rack and allow the icing to harden before proceeding.
- Add the cocoa powder to the remaining white icing. Add 1 to 2 TB of milk to the mixture and whisk until the icing has reached a thick but spreadable texture. (If the mixture is not sweet enough to your liking, add a 1/4 cup more of powdered sugar and more milk if necessary.)
- Glaze the second half of each cookie and allow the icing to harden.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
I can’t wait to try this!
I hope that you do and please let me know how they turn out!