With these, you don’t have to choose between chocolate and vanilla (or take a trip to NYC). Black and White Cookies! Made from a super soft sugar cookie that’s half coated in chocolate icing and half in vanilla icing, you’ll love these classic cookies!
Black and white cookie recipe
If you’ve ever been to New York City, you’re probably familiar with this popular baking cookie. Once you bite into one of these bad guys, you’ll crave it every time you’re in NYC… and even when you’re not. That’s where this homemade black and white cookie recipe comes in. Made from a soft and buttery sugar cookie and glazed with half chocolate frosting, half vanilla, you can bake black and white cookies in your own kitchen!
What are black and white cookies?
Black and White Cookies are made from soft, cakey, round sugar cookies covered in (you guessed it) black and white frosting! They’re a staple in New York City bakeries, but thanks to their popularity, you can find them in certain bakeries across the US! They are traditionally glazed on the flat side of the biscuit (the bottom) and sometimes topped with more buttercream and sometimes with a thin glaze. I’ve tried them both and prefer the thinner frosting, but if you prefer a thick, buttery frosting you can always make a small batch of vanilla and chocolate buttercream instead! 
What does it take to bake black and white cookies?
You need a few different components to make these delicious cookies: soft and buttery vanilla sugar cookies, vanilla frosting, and chocolate frosting. Luckily, all of these pieces are made with fairly simple ingredients, so you don’t have to go to the store to grab too many ingredients to make these! Here is your shopping list:
- Unsalted Butter
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- sour cream
- Flour
- baking powder
- baking powder
- Salt
- powdered sugar
- milk
- corn syrup
- cocoa powder
Tips for frosting your black and white cookies to make them look like you bought them from a bakery
- Make sure your cookies are COMPLETELY cool before frosting: Listen, I understand – I’m impatient too. So you have to believe me (because I learned it the hard way) that you need to let your cookies cool completely before frosting them. I’m talking COMPLETELY cool to the touch, no Oh, that’s cold enough. It’s not cold enough. These need to be completely room temperature before you frost them or they’ll turn into a sad mess.
- Use the corn syrup: I know not everyone is the biggest fan of corn syrup, but it gives these black and white cookies such a lovely glossy finish!
- Frost all the cookies with the vanilla frosting, then all with the chocolate frosting: The easiest way to glaze these black and white cookies is to use strategy. I like to make the vanilla frosting on all the cookies first so you don’t switch between frostings.
- Allow the vanilla frosting to set before proceeding with the chocolate: For the cleanest black and white cookies, it’s best to let the vanilla frosting set completely before frosting the other half with chocolate. Even if the vanilla is messy, you can do a nice clean with the chocolate frosting!
How to store black and white cookies
The frosting on your cookies will be hard, but you still need to be careful to store them properly to keep them from getting messy (and staying fresh!). I like to keep these in a single layer in an airtight container in the fridge for the best results. If you need to stack them you can put a sheet of parchment paper between them, but beware the icing might smudge. They’re still just as delicious, but after all that trouble frosting them, it’s nice that they stay beautiful! You can also freeze these cookies if you don’t want a whole batch for one sitting! I recommend freezing them unfrozen and then thawing and frosting when ready to serve, as the frosting can get a bit runny and messy during freezing and thawing!
Happy baking, my friends!
XXX
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With these, you don’t have to choose between chocolate and vanilla (or take a trip to NYC). Black and White Cookies! Made from a super soft sugar cookie that’s half coated in chocolate icing and half in vanilla icing, you’ll love these classic cookies!
-
Preparation time:
40 minutes -
Cooking time:
13 minutes -
Total time:
2 hours -
Yield:
15 Cookies 1X -
Category:
Dessert -
Method:
Oven -
Kitchen:
American
-
Preparation time:
40 minutes -
Cooking time:
13 minutes -
Total time:
2 hours -
Yield:
15 Cookies 1X -
Category:
Dessert -
Method:
Oven -
Kitchen:
American
Units:
Scale:
- Preparation time: 40 minutes
- Cooking time: 13 minutes
- Total time: 2 hours
- Yield: 15 Cookies 1X
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Kitchen: American
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
For the glaze
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 To 4 tablespoons of milk
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the room temperature butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg, sour cream and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until no streaks or lumps remain, but do not overmix.
- Use a 1.5-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.
- Bake at 350°F for 13 minutes or until edges are set but biscuits are still slightly short in center. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the frosting. In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk together until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add the additional tablespoon of milk to achieve desired consistency.
- Transfer half of the frosting to a separate mixing bowl to make the chocolate frosting. Add the cocoa powder to this half of the frosting and mix until smooth and creamy. You should now have one bowl with vanilla icing and one with chocolate!
- Turn the cooled cookies over so the flat bottom is facing up. Use an offset spatula to frost one half of a cookie with a thin layer of vanilla frosting. Repeat with all the cookies and place the cookies in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the frosting to set. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and glaze the other half of each cookie with the chocolate icing. Place back in the fridge to allow the frosting to set until ready to serve!
Keywords: Black and White Cookies