Monday, April 13, 2009

Black and white cookies...classic and yummy!!

So I had my first attempt at my favorite cookie the black and white!! So my Grandma Rachel used to buy these for me from the kosher bakery like all the freakin time now these are slightly different then the ones Grandma bought me but defintly just as good maybe even a bit better!! So I googled black and white to find out a bit about my favorite cookie and discovered ITS NOT EVEN REALLY A COOKIE!! Its considered a drop cake cause its moist like a cake but its just the shape I think that makes everyone think that its a cookie. But back to the ones I used to get as a little girl..They were way more like a cookie then a cake they were crunchy on the outside and slightly harder then the ones you make from home so I preffer the ones you make from home they are moist and delicious and arent super sweet which I love about them so much its the frosting that gives them there sweetness which i love about them!! They are just as good without the frosting as they are with it!!

My vanilla icing...
My chocolate icing....
My first attempt at frosting...not perfect but could be worse I guess!!! LOL
Ok still not exactly half and half but not bad for my first try and not only where they super easy to make but super tasty me and my son each had 2!! LOL Enjoy making these and the cool thing about them you can flavor them with any extract not just vanilla in the icing and if you really wanted to jazz them up tint the white icing a different color!!! Thats what I am gonna do for a friends babyshower I am gonna be baking for!! I actually got this recipe from an old gourmet magazine article I found online so try it out if you like black and whites you will love these!!
RECIPE FOR THE COOKIES...
1 1/4 c. AP flour
1/2 t. Baking soda
1/2 t. Salt
1/3 C. Buttermilk well shaken
1/2 t. Vanilla
7 T. Unsalted Butter softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
preheat oven to 350 degrees F
This says butter 2 large baking sheets I used parchment and it worked just fine!
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a seperate bowl
stir together the buttermilk and vanilla in a cup (FYI I forgot the vanilla in mine and it tasted fine! but will make another batch and see if there is a difference in taste)
Cream butter and sugar in mixer on medium high till pale and fluffy about 3 minutes, then add the egg beating until combined and dont forget to scrape your bowl down and on the bottom to make sure the egg and butter is thourghly combined.
Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatly in batched starting and ending with dry and mixing till smooth.
so the recipe says to drop rounded teaspoons of batter onto cookies sheet I personally piped mine with a bag and plain tip and it is easier then trying to get the batter off the spoon without making a mess!!
Bake about 6 to 8 minutes or until golden around edges and they spring back when you touch them. This is supposed to yield 5 dozen small cookies I didnt make that many cause I did some bigger ones as you can see from the pictures BUT I imagine if you make them perfectly the same size you would get that yield. I believe I got about half that and that was making about 2 or 3 meduim size cookies.
NOW FOR THE ICING...
2 3/4 c Confectioners sugar
2 T. Light corn syrup
2 t. Fresh lemon juice ( i didnt have any so i used bottled works just as good) ;op
1/2 t. Vanilla
4 to 6 T. Water
1/4 c Unsweetened dutch- process cocoa powder
and a small offset spatula
Make the icing while the cookies cool:
Stir together cofectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 T. Water in a small bowl until smooth. If icing is not easily spreadable , add more water 1/2 t. at a time till desired consistancy. Then transfer half that to another bowl and add cocoa powder adding a bit more water until the same consistancy as the vanilla icing. Cover surface with dampened paper towel then cover bowl with plastic wrap to keep from crusting and drying out.
ICE COOKIES
with offset spatula, spread white icing over half the cookie on the flat side of each cookie. then starting with the cookies you iced first spread the other half of those with chocolate icing.
Once the icing drys you can keep then layered between either parchment or wax paper in an airtight container at room temp for up to 4 days.
Well have fun making these tasty cookies I hope you like them as much as I do!!! Until next time or I should say my next project I will see you guys later!! HAPPY BAKING!!

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