Shelly's Recipe

BLACK & WHITE COOKIES

Category: Cookies

FOR THE COOKIES
2 cups cake flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup milk

FOR THE ICING
3 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons honey
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar until well combined and light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time (scraping the bowl between additions, as needed), until fully incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined, followed by half of the milk, mixing until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk, ending with the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts until combined, being careful not to overmix.

Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the prepared baking sheet(s), leaving 2 inches between the cookies. Bake until centers are firm and edges just begin to brown, 15-18 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before icing. Once the cookies are completely cooled, flip them over.

To make the icing: Melt the chocolate in a small bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, bring the water and honey to a boil. Remove from heat and add half of the mixture into the sugar. Whisk until fully incorporated and smooth, adding more of the honey mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add extra liquid very slowly to be sure that the icing doesn’t get runny.

Fill a decorating bag with a small amount of icing and snip off the end. Draw a straight line directly across the center of the bottom of each cookie. Return any extra icing to the bowl. Using a small offset spatula, spread vanilla icing over half of each cookie, filling it in up to the line.

Once all of the cookie have vanilla icing, stir the melted chocolate into the remaining vanilla icing. If needed, stir in any remaining honey mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

Again using a small offset spatula, fill in the other half of the cookie with chocolate icing.

Yield: 24 cookies

Recipe Note: I actually found it much easier to do a full layer of white icing (allowing it to dry) and then putting the half layer of black. It lead to nicer lines!