Black & Whites

We made Black & White Cookies to bring to Janet & Richard's on Sunday. They came out great—quite authentic if I do say so myself—except for one thing. The "white" icing came out a little too runny, and therefore it dried to more of a transparent color than a real white. It tasted fine, though, and the "black" icing behaved perfectly. Perhaps I will add a little more confectioners sugar next time. Anyhow, here's the recipe, which yields 8 big cookies:

For cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

For icings
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (or more?)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I didn't have Dutch process, so I used regular and it worked out fine.)

Make cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Spoon 1/4 cups of batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool.

Make icings:
Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as white icing.

Ice cookies:
Turn cookies flat sides up, then spread white icing over half of each and chocolate over other half.

Comments

[Laura]

I have made the recipe from Gourmet December 2005. But in this, the cookies are small. I will try your recipe!

[Karen]

I saw that one too and they are IDENTICAL except for the amount of butter -- isn't that strange?