The Best Black and White Cookies by 14 year old guest blogger Olivia

Hi everyone! I’m Olivia, 14; Rock Recipes founder Barry’s daughter. This is my first official guest blogger story, and today I’m going to share one of my favourite cookies out there, the famous Black and White New York cookie. 

 Many have never even heard of the deli classic, also known as a “half moon” or an “Amerikaner”.  It is basically a light, fluffy, cakey cookie with a hint of lemon, topped with vanilla icing on one side and rich chocolate icing on the other. So simple, but boy are they good!

I had my first Black and White cookie back in 2008 during the family road trip across the eastern coast of Canada and the United States.  We stayed in New York City for three days during 4^th of July weekend, and I was nearly peeing my pants with excitement (that happened to also be my first 7/11 Double Gulp, not fun during an eight hour car ride, yikes!). 

I remember pulling out of the Lincoln Tunnel and seeing Manhattan for the first time. I was absolutely shocked by the amount of people, traffic and places; I myself had never been more than a few hours away from St. John’s NL, quite a different environment than the bustling metropolis Manhattan. My brother Noah and I were unusually quiet those days; partly because we were so excited we had no words to describe it, partly because we were shaking in our skin due to the fact we had never been more terrified in our lives. ;)

We stayed just outside of Times Square in the Milford Plaza. That first day, I was overcome with the amount of food there was! Fast food joints around every corner, diners, crazy street vendors, there was so much variety! As the day came to a close, just as I had finished my very first experience of the bliss of a Nathan’s Hot Dog, dad suggested we go to the deli across the street from the hotel to grab a snack. There, in that deli, I saw it. A fat cookie approximately the size of my head perfectly coated in vanilla and chocolate which met straight down the middle. I took a bite down the center, and knew this was the cookie for me, and trust me- I know a good cookie!

So four years later I remembered the black and white cookies as I was looking through our road trip album, and was determined to make them for Rock Recipes. My first batch was unfortunately a flop, much too dense and not sweet enough, like an overdone pancake. With some alterations I whipped out a second batch, and I found my perfect New York Black and White Cookie! Soft and cakey with a perfect crumb and a slight lemony flavor, enrobed in a smooth buttery vanilla icing and rich chocolate, so uh yeah, they’re amazing.

So without further ado, my take on the Black and White Cookie… and if a fourteen year old can do it, so can you! ;)

Makes 2 dozen large or 3 dozen smaller cookies.

Preheat oven to 375degrees F.

Sift together and set aside:

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together very well:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter

Add one at a time, beating well after each addition:

4 large eggs

Add:

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp very finely minced lemon zest

Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with:

1 1/2 cups milk

Be sure to begin and end your additions with the dry ingredients. Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving 2 to 3 inches between the cookies. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies or until the center of the cookies spring back when touched. Cool completely on a wire rack. Frost the BOTTOM of the cookies with black and white frosting.

Black and White Frosting

Mix together 

1/2 cup butter

4 cups icing sugar (i.e powdered sugar)

When the butter has broken down into small pieces and the mixture is crumbly add

3- 4 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip this mixture until it is light and fluffy. You may need a little more milk to bring it to a thick but still spreadable consistency. Reserve half of the frosting and to the other half add

3 squares melted unsweetened chocolate

1 or 2 tbsp milk

Beat until the chocolate is well incorporated and the icing is uniformly smooth.

Use a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, pipe a line of vanilla frosting down the center of the cookie and carefully frost one side of the cookies with the vanilla frosting and the other side with the chocolate frosting. Leave the cookies uncovered for a couple of hours for the frosting to set. Do not stack these cookies when storing.