Lavished with both chocolate and vanilla icings, black and white cookies seem ubiquitous in many corner bakeries in Brooklyn, New York. Although these cookies are traditionally oversized, you can turn them out in any diameter. They are also delicious without icings.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift flour, salt, baking soda together and set aside for later use.
Cream sugar, softened butter, and vegetable shortening together until light and a bit fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract and buttermilk while continue beating.
Blend in the flour mixture. Dough should be very soft. Drop it on prepared cookie sheet by heaping tablespoons and flatten each portion slightly.
Bake for approximately 15 - 20 minutes until edges are just start to turn light golden brown.
While cooling cookies on wire racks, start preparing the icing by whisking confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, hot water, and vanilla extract together.
Transfer half of this mixture to another bowl. Then whisk in cocoa powder and melted chocolate until smooth. Either add a little bit more hot water or confectioners’ sugar to achieve the desired consistency.
Turn cookies over and spread half of the flat side with vanilla icing, and the other half with chocolate icing.
The larger you make them, the fewer black and white cookies you will have. Large or small, they're equally delicious.
Let the icings set up completely at room temperature before serving.
TIP: If the icings start to set up before you finish spreading them, place them in the top of a double boiler to restore the viscosity.
