Black and White Cookies

Black and white cookies are an iconic New York City treat! My black and white cookie recipe will show you exactly how to make them. The cookies are perfectly cakey, and that shiny two-tone frosting is as tasty as it is eye-catching!

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course cookie, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings cookies (see note!)

Calories 258kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookie

½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg room temperature preferred
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ⅔ cup (190 g) cake flour (see note if you would like to substitute all-purpose flour)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
3 Tablespoons buttermilk

Icing

4 ½ cups (562 g) powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
4-6 Tablespoons milk as needed
4 teaspoons Dutch cocoa powder

Instructions

For the cookies

Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
¾ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter
Add egg and vanilla extract and stir well to combine.
1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
In a separate, medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
1 ⅔ cup cake flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ⅛ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
With your mixer on slow speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the wet mixture, adding about half at a time.
3 Tablespoons buttermilk
Scoop cookie dough by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoop onto prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” apart. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Cookies should be just barely browning on the bottom of the edge, and when you flip them over they should be slightly browned on the bottom (don't under-bake, or the cookies will fall apart when you try to frost them).
Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating with frosting.

Frosting/Assembly

In a large mixing bowl whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and 4 Tablespoons of milk. The icing should reach a consistency that ribbons easily off the whisk, holding its shape for several seconds before dissolving back into the bowl. If it is too thick, add more milk, a teaspoon at a time.
4 ½ cups powdered sugar, 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup, ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, 4-6 Tablespoons milk
Flip each cookie over and spread a heaping Tablespoon of icing evenly over the surface of the cookie, spreading all the way to the edges.
When all cookies are iced, take your remaining frosting and whisk in dutch cocoa, as well as additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time until icing is a smooth spreadable consistency.
4 teaspoons Dutch cocoa powder
Frost one half of the cookie with the cocoa icing. (If I want them to be super pretty, I'll use a piping bag to make a nice straight line across the center and fill in one half, it’s neater than simply spreading over the cookie but your choice!)
Allow cookies to sit until icing is hardened before enjoying (could take several hours depending on humidity and thickness of icing, sometimes I let mine sit out all night to set and then just pack them away the next day)!

Video

Notes

All-purpose flour

Cake flour will hands-down give you the best results. If you must substitute cake flour, you will need 1 ⅓ cup (170g) + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Larger cookies

Classic New York Black and White cookies are BIG. I prefer mine smaller-sized and scoop 1 ½-Tablespoon sized scoops, which yields 18 cookies. However, if you prefer your cookies to be traditionally sized (big!), scoop ¼-cup scoops of dough and bake for 12-14 minutes. You will get 7 cookies this way (psst: the recipe doubles easily with no adjustments if you want to make more!)

Storing

Allow the frosting to set completely then store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Nutrition