Black & White Cookies


My last week in Atlanta is shaping up to be quite a downer. I started off 2012 with a minor cold that turned into a 
cough, that turned into terrible dizziness/drowsiness and now, an ear infection! And I've had multiple people tell me that adults rarely get ear infections... either I'm one of the rare ones or I'm not an adult yet, I suppose. 

I've been floating in and out of sleep, feeling weak and tired, and barely eating. I'm glad an ear infection isn't contagious but since I still have a cold and cough, I have to stay far away from my dear mum, who has just finished her second round of chemo. In addition to all this, I don't have any energy to bake! But I guess it's nice to be home with  my grandmother at times like these, with lots of delicious home-cooked meals around, and not have to worry about any orders at the moment.

I'll be up and running soon, I hope, but in the meantime, enjoy these black and white cookies I recently posted on Sauce Magazine. And I hope you guys are enjoying the new year more than I am :)




I’d always heard about black and white (or half moon) cookies that New Yorkers love but wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. Turns out they’re basically drop cake-like cookies with half-vanilla, half-dark chocolate icing. What’s not to love?

Although it’s a drop cookie, I piped the batter onto the sheet in order to have uniform circles. Of course, these aren’t your typical New York cookies. I added a few more spices and made them smaller. A note of caution: The mini versions were adorable, but piping the frosting took far longer than I anticipated. At the end, I was tempted to heat up the frosting and just dip both sides in. I restrained myself and patiently finished the rest, but feel free to accommodate to your time restraints (or lack of patience). I now understand why these cookies are characteristically huge.


Either way, these little treats are super soft and melt in your mouth. They’re nowhere near as sweet as sugar cookies, instead touting a tangy flavor that goes well with a sugary sweet icing of your choice. The tang of the buttermilk also prevents the sweet frosting from overpowering your taste buds, leaving a pleasant taste that lures you to take another bite. These cookies cater more to adults than children, making them a great gift for any party or cookie exchange. 




Black-White Cookies
Approximately 3 dozen cookies


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ cup butter
½ cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ cup buttermilk

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
• In a separate larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
• Add the egg, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Alternate gradually adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk into the batter until well combined.
• Load the batter into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe out small circles on the sheet, about ½-inch apart (or use a tablespoon to drop the batter onto the sheet).
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden on the edges.
• Let cool.
• Frost half the cookies with vanilla icing and the other half with chocolate frosting. Allow time to set and dry completely before storing or stacking.


Chocolate Icing
½ cup dark chocolate (preferably in chip form)
4 Tbsp. hot water
2 cups powdered sugar, plus additional as needed
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
½ tsp. espresso powder


• Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot water over them, stirring until combined.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir.
• Add more powdered sugar if necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. (Start with small quantities of sugar and work your way up according to consistency and flavor.)


Vanilla Icing
3 cups powdered sugar, plus additional as needed
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. clear vanilla extract


• Stir all ingredients together in a bowl.
• Add more powdered sugar if necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. (Start with small quantities of sugar and work your way up according to consistency and flavor.)


Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine



These cookies went into an order that a friend placed to gift to her classmates at the end of the school year. Here are the other cookies: orange blossom flower, gingersnaps, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I'll be posting the recipes of  the rest of them shortly :)



Comments

  1. These look super cute! I hope you get to feeling better! (I had a very bad ear infection last week and rang in the new year with antibiotics and codeine (after patiently hoping it would clear up as many do!), so I definitely feel you on the ear infection thing!)

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  2. hope you feel better soon Amrita!

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