Adapted from Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.
You don't really find these cookies in the UK, but they're in almost every cafe in New York City. Described as a 'cakey vanilla cookie' with thin layers of vanilla and chocolate frosting, they looked quite decadent, so I fancied giving them a go..
For the cookie:
3 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
200g unsalted butter, cool but not cold
1 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs
1 extra egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk, well shaken
little bit of vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon zest
Preheat the oven to 180C, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar (standing or handheld mixer) until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs one at a time, and beat briefly after each addition.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix on low speed.
Still mixing, add in the buttermilk and dry ingredients in alternating batches. Start with the milk, and end with the flour mixture (do this in three parts).
Add in the lemon zest and vanilla, and beat on low speed for a few more seconds.
Using an ice cream scoop, dollop the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving around 3 inches around each cookie (about 6 cookies can fit on each sheet).
Bake for about 17 minutes, and rotate the sheets between the racks of the over halfway through the baking time.
They're done when the edges are a golden brown and the cookies are somewhat firm to the touch.
Leave to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool fully.
Yields between 12 and 18 cookies. I got around 17 out of the mixture, but only had room for two oven sheets. So, I baked the first two, left them to cool, and then put the next batch in on the top shelf (I didn't move them between oven racks during the baking time). I actually found that the second 'batch' came out a little nicer than the first.. They were a bit more puffed up and they looked more like the typical black and white cookie.
This is the first time I've ever made black and white cookies, so I didn't expect them to turn out perfect. A few of the cookies stuck together when they baked, so they weren't full circles when I took them out of the oven and iced them. But, the cookie still tasted good :D
Frosting
300g icing sugar
5tsp milk
tsp vanilla extract
3 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
In a large bowl, mix together the icing sugar, milk and vanilla. If it's too thick/thin, add a little bit more milk/icing sugar.
Pour half of the frosting into another bowl, and add the cocoa powder and a teaspoon of water.
Use a spatula to spread the white frosting onto one half of the flat side of each cookie.
White Frosting
Bit of a messy job... but someone has to do it :P
Let them set for about 20 minutes, and then continue with the chocolate icing.
Chocolate frosting..
They're home-made, obviously they aren't going to be perfect. But they do look yum!
Leave them to set completely for an hour or so, and then they're ready to eat :D
Now, it's up to you to decide which side to eat first..
Chocolate or vanilla?
Baked for 40 minutes at 180C
