Recipe of the Week: Black and White Cookies

Gridskipper may have a round-up of where to find New York's best black and white cookies, but forget them, just make them yourself! They turn out to be very easy to throw together, and far, far tastier than any you can buy, even in Brooklyn. "Look to the cookie, Elaine!" Recipe after the jump.

Black and White Cookies
(from Desserts by the Yard by Sherry Yard)
for the cookie dough
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 C sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C buttermilk
for the icing
2 1/2 C plus 1 tsp confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup, plus more as needed
2 tbsp hot water, plus more as needed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (NOT dutch process)

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Stir together the flour and baking soda and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Beating at low speed, and just until incorporated each time, beat in a third of the flour mixture, half of the buttermilk, another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and then the rest of the flour.

Spoon the dough 1/4 C at a time onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet, several inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate and bake for an addition 8 minutes or so, until lightly golden around the edges.

Let the cookies cool on a wire rack while you make the icing.

To make the icing, beat together the confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, water, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, carefully melt the chocolate.

Separate out half of the icing and whisk in the chocolate and cocoa powder. Whisk in a bit more hot water and corn syrup to help everything integrate and to thin it out a bit.

Spread chocolate icing on half of each cookie, let it set, then spread vanilla icing on the other half.