Gluten Free Lemon Black & White Cookies
The Black & White cookie is a classic bakery item whose claim to fame originates on the Lower East Side of NYC in the early 1900s, particularly in Jewish bakeries . The most fun part of eating a black & white cookie is sharing the vanilla or chocolate side with someone who prefers the opposite flavor to you. Everyone who has eaten black and white cookies has a favorite side. Mine is chocolate! What's yours?
Chompies restaurants in Phoenix, AZ make some of the best Black & White cookies in the world. When I became the Gluten Free Product Developer there, I created my own gluten free version of Black and White cookies. Now all customers can go to Chompies to enjoy a fresh black and white cookie and cup of coffee.
Recipe Yields 1 dozen cookies
Cookie:
1/2 cup, 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter or margarine
150 grams granulated sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp lemon juice
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 1/4 cups (290 grams) Blends by Orly London Blend
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tsp (130 ml) whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
Black and White Glaze:
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup (30 grams) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Heat: Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix: Whisk together London Blend, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Mix in flour mixture and milk mixture alternately in batches at low speed beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
Bake: Use an ice cream scoop with lever to batch cookies about 2 inches apart onto your baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and a pale golden color, about 15 to 17 minutes. If you wish for your cookies to be flatter, press them down gently after they have been baking for 10 minutes, and return to the oven for 5-7 more minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack and set aside to cool.
Finish: While the cookies cool, make your glaze. Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa. Add 1 more teaspoon of water to thin to same consistency as white icing. To ice the cookies, turn the cookies flat sides up, then use a pallet knife to spread white icing over half of each and chocolate over other half.