Nice looking cookies, Bonnie!

I'm too lazy this morning to go search it out but Paula Dean made 'Black/White' cookies on Paula's Party about a month ago on the show with Elmo. I'm sure her recipe is good...or, at least, you can be assured there's lots of butter! :)

/tricia

OK, I looked up Paula's 'Black/White' cookies...it's just a plain Jane confectioner's sugar frosting. :(

/t

Here is a link that might be useful: Paula's 'Black/White' Cookies

Bonnie, my husband was born in NY and for years talked about B&W Cookies. I finally found a recipe that he admits are better then the original. I'll look it up and post it ASAP! Gina

Bonnie, here is my recipe:
Black and White Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
FROSTING:
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
1 (1 ounce) square bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Directions
1-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter 2 baking sheets.
2-In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the milk, vanilla, and lemon extract. Combine cake flour and all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually blend into the creamed mixture. Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
3-Bake until edges begin to brown, about 11 to 15 minutes. Cool completely.
4-Place confectioners sugar in large bowl. Mix in boiling water one tablespoon at a time until mixture is thick and spreadable. (Add more than the indicated amount if you need to).
5-Transfer half of the frosting to the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Stir in the chocolate. Warm mixture, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat.
6-With a brush, coat half the cookie with chocolate frosting and the other half with the white frosting. Set on waxed paper until frosting hardens.

I love B&W's because they are so "New York." In reality, I find the icing to be too sweet. That means I just take smaller bites! Yours look very authentic.

Oh boy! I'm gonna make these tomorrow! Thanks, Gina.

I love the idea of black & whites because they make me think of my uncle Mike but the icing has gotta be hard enough to break a tooth! (ok, maybe not that hard)

Nina

Gina - that's the same recipe I use, except I made some modifications to the cookie part, and I do not use that frosting. It was a absolute nightmare to work with after adding the chocolate. Also - the recipe says to drop tablespoons of batter to bake. I use the biggest Ice cream scoop I have - Black and white cookies are generally really big (although I have seen some mini-sized when I was in NY last)

The cookies/white frosting tasted better to me this morning than last night after I assembled them. Maybe it just needed to set. I do think I'll add a bit more vanilla next time.

Anyway, my co-workers enjoyed being introduced to one of my favorite NY delicacies :-)

Thanks,

Bonnie

Bonnie and Gina,

I made these this weekend and ended up never frosting them (much to my son's dismay) because the cookies themselves were just so good! Perfectly fluffy and barely sweet. I let my food processor do all of the mixing and made them small but you're right, Bonnie, you need two hands at least for a real black & white.

Bonnie- thanks for staring this thread & Gina- thanks for posting the recipe! It's definitely a keeper.

Nina

Bonnie, come to think of it your right about the chocolate frosting being so difficult. When I posted the recipe I had it on my computer and hadn't made the adjustments to the ingredients. I make the vanilla portion as directed and add about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla for flavoring. I melt at least 2 sometimes 3 squares of unsweetened chocolate and add that to the vanilla portion. I boil about a cup of water and add it by Tbsps.until it gets to be the right spreadable consistency. I also drop the batter with an ice cream scoop and help shape them to be big and round!
We live in a neighborhood that is mostly NY transplants, I like making these and surprising them with "a little taste of home!" Gina