Black and White Cookies

Name: Black and White Cookies
Yield: makes about 22 cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour; 1 cup (130 g) cake flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 6 tablespoons (90 ml) whole or low-fat milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; Grated zest of 1/2 lemon, preferably organic; 1/2 cup (4 ounces/115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (250 g) powdered sugar, or more if needed; 2 teaspoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup; 1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water, or more if needed; 3 tablespoons (20 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

December 9, 2011

I almost started an international incident when I put some pictures of my black and white cookies on my blog. People went ballistic because I didn’t include a recipe. The problem was that I didn’t know who to credit since my recipe is culled from a variety of sources. Like New York City, the spiritual home to these cookies, my sources and inspiration for them are the ultimate melting pot: a Seinfeld episode, an email from food maven Arthur Schwartz, a recipe from the legendary Zabar’s, and George Greenstein’s comprehensive tome, Secrets of a Jewish Baker.

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