Soft and pillow-like with a thick layer of chocolate and vanilla frosting, these giant Black and White Cookies are just like your favorite NYC bakery, without having to leave your house. Halfway between a cookie and cake, it’s the perfect mix of chocolate and vanilla!
I am ridiculously, super duper excited to share this black and white cookie recipe with you today.
Black and white cookies (also sometimes called half and half cookies or half-moon cookies, although the later sometimes has buttercream frosting instead of a thick sugar glaze) are probably my all-time favorite cookie (or at least tied with my chocolate and vanilla pinwheel cookies!), which is funny because they’re not really a cookie. They’re kind of more like a little spongy cake. But not as cakey as a cake. Does that even make sense?
As a black and white cookie bakes, it puffs up in the middle making a cupcake-top dome shape. The cookie is then flipped over and glazed with both chocolate and vanilla glaze.
And they’re just so good. They might be a little more work than some other cookies but trust me when I say it’s well worth it!
I’m also super duper excited to once again be participating in The Sweetest Eason Cookie Exchange, a cookie-based fundraiser for pediatric cancer. Just like in previous years, we’re helping to raise funds for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for research to develop new, improved, and less toxic treatments for pediatric cancer. If you’re so inclined to donate, our donation link is here (and OXO is matching donations!).
For a little refresher, CLICK HERE to learn a little more about the organization, my own research background in pediatric cancer, and why you should consider donating to this great charity! (And there’s a really great chewy chocolate mint cookie recipe on the other side of that link too, in case you need a little extra motivation to click.)
If you grew up in the northeast, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. Every good NYC bakery and Jewish deli has giant, bigger-than-your-hand, black and white cookies for sale.
But after polling my coworkers, it’s clear that black and white cookies are not ubiquitously known. (One of my prior labmates assumed I was talking about Oreos when I asked if he knew about black and white cookies.)
So let’s start with a little explanation! These thick and fluffy cake-like cookies are flavored with vanilla. But the real gem is the frosting: half is covered with a vanilla (or sometimes lemon) glaze, and the other half is covered with a chocolate glaze.
Why decide between vanilla or chocolate when you can BOTH on one giant cakey cookie?!
While I usually develop all my own recipes, I’m going to give credit here to America’s Test Kitchen’s The Perfect Cookie (affiliate link) for absolutely nailing it with their cookie. This recipe relies very heavily on theirs, with a few tweaks (and lots of helpful tips) to make them even just a little better!
These cookies contain all the standard cookie ingredients, like flour, chemical leavners (baking soda and baking powder), salt, butter, sugar, an egg, and vanilla extract, but they also contain sour cream. Sour cream is key for the light and fluffy texture! We can explain why with my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!
Adding sour cream to a batter increases significantly increases the moistness, without increasing the liquid content of the batter (which would cause the cookies to spread). Furthermore, sour cream is acidic, which helps break down the gluten molecules, resulting in a soft, fluffy cake-like cookie.
The glaze is also pretty standard: confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla extract, cocoa powder for the chocolate glaze, lemon juice (if desired) for the lemon glaze, and also a little corn syrup for a beautiful, shiny smooth finish.
Let’s start with some step-by-step instructions (and photos!) on how to bake the perfect black and white cookie.
Essential Tip #1: How to Keep Black and White Cookies Round
The dough for these cookies is thick and sticky, and it can sometimes be hard to get a nice, round scoop of dough onto the cookie sheet. If your cookies are a little lumpy and oblong after baking, use a round cookie cutter to cut a perfect circle. The frosting will drip down the sides and hide the freshly cut edges.
Next up, we’re going to make the vanilla and chocolate frosting. First things first, sometimes black and white cookies are made with lemon frosting instead of vanilla. I didn’t grow up with the lemon-flavored frosting and I don’t love the lemon + chocolate combination, so I make mine with plain vanilla. But my recipe below includes optional lemon juice if you’d prefer lemon flavor in your white frosting!
To make the frosting, we’ll need two bowls. We’ll start with one base frosting and then split it into two.
Essential Tip #2: How to Get a Flat Surface
Once the cookies have cooled and you’re ready to frost, flip the cookies upside-down and frost the bottom. You can frost the tops and they’ll still be delicious, but to get a flat, smooth look, you’re going to flip the cookies over and frost the bottom.
Essential Tip #3: How to Get a Straight Frosting Line
If you want a picture-perfect straight, even line between the black and white frostings, use wax paper (or parchment paper). Cut a small square of wax paper and place it halfway across the cooking. Then spread on your first frosting, going slightly over the edge of the wax paper. Place the half-frosted cookie in the refrigerator to set the frosting, then slowly and gently peel up the wax paper.
Soft and pillow-like with a thick layer of chocolate and vanilla frosting, these Black and White Cookies are just like your favorite NYC bakery.
Recipe adapted from The Perfect Cookie.
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This recipe was first shared December 2017 and was updated with new pictures and helpful tips December 2022.