My Perfect Black & White Cookies (Metric)

Janet Messanelli Bozzone

subheading: FOR THE COOKIES:

150g all-purpose flour

160g cake flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

80g milliliters sour cream, or whole-milk yogurt (yogurt was voted the favored ingredient) (room temp)

45g whole milk (room temp)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

¼ teaspoon lemon extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature

200 grams granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

FOR THE GLAZE: I make them separately since it starts getting hard if you don't act quickly enough.

Vanilla Side

165g confectioners’ sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons of boiling hot water

22.5g light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used the clear vanillin to keep it as white as possible, I add some white food coloring to make it opaque)

¼ teaspoon of lemon extract

Pinch of fine sea salt

Chocolate Side

150g confectioners’ sugar

20g unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I've used regular cocoa too)

2 to 3 tablespoons of boiling hot water

22.5g light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of fine sea salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange racks in top and bottom thirds, and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, teflon sheet, or silpat

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sea salt, and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream or yogurt, milk, vanilla, lemon zest, & lemon and almond extract.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 to 8 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. (I usually beat just the butter for a few minutes before I add the sugar)

Reduce speed to low and beat in ⅓ of the flour mixture, then ½ of the sour cream mixture. Repeat until both mixtures are incorporated (alternating with the dry ingredients), scraping sides of bowl as necessary. (Mixture will be the consistency of thick pound cake batter.)

Dollop ¼-cup scant scoops of batter (use an ice cream or large cookie scoop works) onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them a generous 2 inches apart. (You should have 12 cookies, six on each pan.)

Bake for 6 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets. Continue to bake until the cookies have firmed up and spring back when lightly pressed in the center, 6 to 9 minutes. (They’ll brown only on the bottoms.) Take care not to overbake, or they will dry out.

Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 15 minutes, then transfer cookies directly to racks to cool completely.

subheading: White Glaze:

subheading: While the cookies cool, make the vanilla glaze:

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and whisk in the corn syrup, vanilla, lemon extract, and salt.

Continue to whisk, adding hot water as needed, until you have a thick yet spreadable frosting. It should be thick enough to spread and opaquely cover the cookie (Too thick is preferable to too thin. You can always add more hot water to thin or more confectioners' sugar to thicken) Glaze should not go below 120° F.

Flip each cookie over and spoon glaze over half of its flat side, spreading to edges with the back of the spoon or offset spatula. (I like to use my large side set cooking spoon. Place on wire rack to set.

Let the vanilla side set up a bit and then start the chocolate glaze

subheading: Chocolate glaze:

In another medium bowl, sift the cocoa powder into the confectioners’ sugar and whisk to incorporate before whisking in the corn syrup, vanilla, and salt.

Continue to whisk, adding hot water as needed (usually 2 to 3 tablespoons) until you have a thick yet spreadable frosting that flows from a spoon.

Glaze the bare half of each cookie and place back on wire rack. You can use an offset or rubber spatula to give you a nice straight line. It is OK to overlap the vanilla side a bit to get a better line. Let glaze set for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Instead of milk, yogurt, and sour cream you can use buttermilk, which is what I believe they were originally made with. When I finally got around to making a batch with buttermilk...my test-tasters still preferred the yogurt. For buttermilk use 125g total and leave out the milk.

I use a smaller scoop so cookies are about 3 inches instead of the 4 inches which just seems like way too much cookie for one person to eat...but you can be your own judge. :-)

Be patient adding the water to the glaze mixture. You will initially think you need more, but when you add too much water then it gets too thin. Not a crisis....just add a bit more confectioners' sugar.

I have a hot plate that I keep the glaze at 140F while coating the cookies. Add small increments of additional water as needed.

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