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Home » Soft and Cakey Cookies

Favorite Black and White Cookies

Modified: Sep 28, 2021 · Published: Oct 27, 2010 by Anna · This post may contain affiliate links · 18 Comments

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This post includes my favorite Black and White Cookies along with a rundown of other Black & Whites recipes I've tried including ones from Epicurious, Martha Stewart, Baked Bakery and another one from Salon.  They are all good recipes, but I like the ones made with buttermilk, originally from Gourmet, the best.

Black and white cookies

The others are all very good in their own way -- some denser, some crumblier, but my favorite Black and White Cookies are slightly cakier with a lot of flavor from vanilla and a hint of lemon.  As for the icing, I really like the one I've posted, but if you have a better one let me know.

This is an old table I made in WordPress before I knew how to make proper tables. I'll fix it when I get a chance.

Favorite Black and White Cookies

Gourmet Black and White Cookies (Epicurious)
black and white cookies
My favorite right now! Cakier than the others and less crumbly, but moist and delicious. Less lemony and more kid friendly. Maybe. Only tested on one kid.
Baked   Explorations                        Black and White CookiesVery good Black and White Cookies. Moist, but not too cakey. Had the lightness about it that one would expect in a Black & White, and lots of lemony flavor.
Salon.com Black and White Cookie Recipe        Black and White CookieThis cookie tasted almost exactly like a New York deli Black & White, but after trying some other recipes with more butter, I'd choose them over this cookie. These did have a very crumbly, light texture, though. My mother loved them.
Martha Stewart Baking Handbook Recipe         black and white cookiesThis cookie was higher in fat than the others. It was richer, denser and very filling. Because the cookies are so rich, I think they’d be ideal as “minis”, but when made regular size, they’re almost too heavy.

Recipe

Black and white cookies

Favorite Black and White Cookies

Anna
My favorite recipe for Black and White Cookies
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 25 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
 

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (160 grams)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter softened (50 grams)
  • ½ cup granulated sugar ( 100 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest or a tiny dash of lemon oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk or equivalent buttermilk powder

Frosting

  • 1 ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (240 grams)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk plus more as needed
  • 1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon of corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
  • Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with a hand held electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla, then add egg, beating until combined.
  • Add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately by hand until you have a smooth batter.
  • Spoon ¼ cups of batter about 2 inches apart onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes.
  • Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and chill (to cool quickly), about 5 minutes (or let them cool at room temperature).
  • Make the Black & White Icing. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, cream, corn syrup and vanilla together in a large bowl. Measure out about ⅓ cup and put it in a separate bowl
  • Add the cocoa powder and ½ teaspoon of water to the ⅓ cup that you measured out and stir until smooth. If the chocolate frosting seems too thick, thin it with a little water or milk.
  • Transfer the frosting to disposable decorating bags that do not have the tip snipped off. You won't need a decorating tip. When ready to use, snip off the tip of the decorating bags and pipe half moons of each flavor over the cookies.
  • Makes about 8 to 10 cookies (I usually get 8)
Keyword Black and White
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
  • Black Bottom Cupcakes
  • Old Fashioned Black Walnut Pound Cake
  • Pudding Mix Black and White Cookies
  • Mini Black Bottom Cupcakes
  • Easy Black and Orange Cookies

More Soft and Cakey Cookies

  • Mrs Fields Cinnamon Sugar
    Mrs. Fields Cinnamon Sugar Butter Cookies
  • Old Fashioned Applesauce Cookies
    Old Fashioned Applesauce Cookies
  • Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Pudding Mix Black and Whites
    Pudding Mix Black and White Cookies

Comments

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  1. Rebecca says

    November 29, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    Awesome, awesome recipe. My vanilla frosting was a bit runny, but I added some more sugar and it was fine. Thanks for posting. Your comparisons are the best!

  2. Anna says

    November 01, 2010 at 9:27 pm

    Lourdes, this recipe makes a fairly cakey (yet light) cookie. My dough was like very thick cupcake batter, though. It wasn't dry like a scone. Did you accidentally use too much flour? Could you have packed it into the cup a little too much? Or maybe they just weren't what you were expecting.

  3. Lourdes says

    November 01, 2010 at 9:08 pm

    Mine were very cakey. Were yours flat? Mine looked like muffin tops. The texture of the dough was more like a scone, than a cookie. What did I do wrong?

  4. Tracy says

    October 31, 2010 at 8:13 am

    I love it when you taste test recipes for us. Next time I want to make black & white cookies, I'll know where to come for a recipe!

  5. melissa says

    October 29, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Thanks for doing the research, Anna -- I'll save this recipe!

  6. Anna says

    October 29, 2010 at 7:49 am

    Stephanie, thanks for the heads up! I saw the episode and the cookie, but wasn't sure they were going to post the recipe since it's the second chocolate chip cookie. I see that they did! Woo hoo.

  7. stephanie says

    October 29, 2010 at 5:32 am

    Anna- did you see Bravo just desserts? another chocolate chip cookie to try!

  8. Kerstin says

    October 28, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    How fun to test all those recipes! I just saved this one since it's your favorite 🙂

  9. Steph@PlainChicken says

    October 28, 2010 at 4:47 pm

    I love this recap! Adding the gourmet black & white to my "to bake" list

  10. justJENN says

    October 28, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    Yay black and white rundown! I need them all. In my tummy.

  11. Katrina says

    October 28, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    I love when you do these comparisons. Been a crazy week, and I haven't left many comments, but I have been stopping by. I don't think I'd like the lemony flavor either.

  12. Carol says

    October 28, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    Thanks for taking the time to bake all these variations! When I was growing up in Chicago, our neighborhood bakery had cookies that were very similar to black and whites, though I don't remember them having lemon flavor. We called them "cake-cookies" and I just loved them! I remember the icing on these to be thicker, more like a buttercream (maybe they were being lazy and using up their extra cake frosting? or my memory might be way off) I could *either* get "black" or "white", but not both together.

    The closest I've come to finding something similar is a vanilla whoopie pie recipe that I found, though I think I will try a couple of these (minus the lemon) to see if they are better.

  13. Upstate NY Native says

    October 28, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Now THIS looks like a true B&W! Less crumbly and more cakey is a very good description!

  14. Crustabakes says

    October 28, 2010 at 9:43 am

    WOW, what an informative and useful table comparison for the black and white cookies. THanks so much for sharing!

  15. Sue says

    October 28, 2010 at 9:23 am

    It's good to know that you've tested and compared so many black and whites. When your Fiori Di Sicilia arrives will you make more or will you be tired of them by then?

  16. x3Baking says

    October 27, 2010 at 6:04 pm

    I would love to make these cookies...the only thing stopping me is the that they need to be iced with an offset spatula and the heavy cream which I don't have. Your cookies look really good.

  17. Meredith says

    October 27, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    Have you tried David Lebovitz's version. I've heard that they're very good, too......

  18. Louise says

    October 27, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    Today's cookies look great. I need to get myself some Valrhona cocoa asap.

Peanut Butter Fudge Jumbles recipe baked in a 9-inch square Pampered Chef stoneware pan.

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