Black and White Cookies

               Growing up in the New York area, Black and White cookies were found in most bakeries.  There was a Seinfeld episode that featured this cookie in which there was a discussion on what side of this cookie you would eat first.  One side, in case you don't know, is covered in white icing and the other in chocolate. They are also not cookies.  They are more of a cake with a hint of lemon.  So if you bite one and are expecting a crumbly cookie you will be disappointed.  These are more of a flat cupcake.

               The history is a bit sketchy.  These are known as Amerikaner cookies in Germany.  It is thought that American GI's brought the cookies to Germany after the war.  In New England they are known as Half Moon cookies. But, regardless of the how they originated, I am glad they did.



Ingredients (recipe tweaked from one found on Smitten Kitchen)

1. 9 Tbl butter (room temp.)
2. 1 Cup sugar
3. 2 eggs
4. 3/4 Cup whole milk
5. 1/2 tsp vanilla
6. 1/2 tsp lemon extract
7. 1/2 tsp salt
8. 1/2 tsp baking soda
9. 1/2 tsp baking powder
10. 1 1/3 Cup cake flour
11. 1 1/3 Cup all purpose flour
12. 2 Cups confectioner sugar (or icing sugar)
13. 2 Tbl cream
14. 4 Tbl milk
15. 1 tsp vanilla
16. 4 tsp cocoa

This made 33 cookies for me.

In one bowl whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set this bowl aside.

In a mixer, whip the sugar with the butter.

Then add the 2 eggs and mix them into the sugar mixture.

Then add the vanilla, lemon extract, and milk.  Combine them well.

Now combine the dry ingredients in with the liquid.  Use a spatula to scrape down the sides.

Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with parchment paper.

I used a small ice cream scoop and placed the batter on the parchment 2 inches apart.  I then used wet fingers to form the dough into wet circles about 1/4 inch thick.

Place them in the oven that has been preheated to 375F.  They were cooked in 13 minutes in my oven.  They will become golden.  The bottoms turned more golden than the top so make sure the bottoms don't burn.  Take them out and let them cool.

To make the icing take out 2 small mixing bowls.  In each bowl place 1 cup of confectioners sugar with 1 Tbl of cream and 1 Tbl of milk.  In one bowl add the Tbl of vanilla.  In the other add 4 tsp of unsweetened cocoa.

I spread some vanilla icing on half of a cooled cookie. The icing will go on what is the flat bottom of the cookie.  I iced the vanilla part on all the cookies first.  The icing will solidify on top.  Spread the chocolate icing on the other half starting with the first cookie you iced.

Let the icing harden on top.  It takes only about 10 minutes.  Yes, they can be eaten right away but if you want to store them right away the icing needs to harden a little so that one cookie won't ruin the icing on another.  I kept these cookies refrigerated and they didn't last more than 3 days.