Daylight Savings Time is coming up this weekend. If you're a morning person, you probably love it. If you're a night owl, you probably hate it. Luckily, I've got a cookie for you today that will appease both parties—the classic New York black and white cookie. You can find this cookie in just about every deli in New York City. They are a thick, cakey cookie with a light lemony frosting on one side and a dark, rich frosting on the other side. (And to be perfectly honest, this recipe is better than any one I've had from a deli!) Make up a batch of these and share them with your friends. They're the perfect way to celebrate daylight (and that extra hour of sleep), or the ideal consolation for those mourning the early dark evenings.
Black and White Cookies
1 3/4 cups sugar 1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature 4 large eggs 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract 2 1/2 cups cake flour 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture batches, stirring well after each addition. Place heaping mounds (about 1/4 cup) of batter on a prepared cookie sheet, about six cookies per sheet. Bake until edges begin to barely brown, 12-14 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
White (then Black) Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract 1/3 to 1/2 cup water 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped 1 teaspoon light corn syrup. 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
Directions Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place powdered sugar in a large, heat-safe mixing bowl and pour in lemon extract. Gradually stir in enough boiling water, a tablespoon at a time to the sugar mixture to make a thick, spreadable frosting. Leave remaing boiling water on the stove. Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie.
Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup and cocoa. Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. If the frosting gets too dry, whisk in an extra teaspoon or two of the hot water to smooth it out. Frosting should be shiny. Allow frosting to set, then serve cookies immediately, or wrap in plastic to keep fresh.