Black and White Cookie Recipe
Featuring a soft, cake-like texture and corn syrup-free icing, these simple yet impressive cookies are perfect for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, birthday parties, or just because!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For the white icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk
- 1/2-1 tsp Clear vanilla extract optional
For the black icing (chocolate icing):
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk
- 5 tbsp Black cocoa powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and white sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract, and beat until well combined.
- Add the baking soda and baking powder, and mix. Finally, add the flour and beat until everything is fully incorporated. The dough will be very thick—don’t worry, that’s how it should be!
- Scoop the dough using a tablespoon and roll into balls. Place them on your prepared baking sheet, leaving a decent amount of space between each one (I usually bake 5–6 cookies per sheet). Gently flatten each ball of dough with your hand.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until the bottoms and edges of the cookies are a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and gently flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass or jar. (If your cookies already spread and flattened enough for your liking while baking, feel free to skip this step. I usually do it to make sure they’re all the same thickness.)
- At this point, I always like to reshape my cookies using a wide-mouth canning jar ring to make them nice and round, but feel free to skip this step.
- Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled, make the icings.
- In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and whole milk for the white icing. Whisk until smooth. Add the clear vanilla extract, if using, and whisk again. Add more milk as needed to create a smooth, runny icing. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine powdered sugar and whole milk for the black icing. Whisk until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and whisk to combine. Again, add more milk as needed to create a smooth, runny icing.
- Using the back of a spoon, carefully spread a layer of white icing over half of each cookie. (Some people dip their cookies, but I find frosting them gives the best results.)
- Allow the white icing to harden completely before adding the black icing.
- Once the white side is dry, frost the remaining half with black icing—again, using the back of a spoon.
- Let the black icing harden completely, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
Any leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
The cookie dough is quite thick, so I highly recommend using an electric mixer, or even better, a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. It’s a lot easier than trying to mix them by hand!
This recipe typically makes about 18 cookies, but you can adjust the size to make smaller or larger cookies.
You may end up with extra icing. Feel free to halve the icing ingredients to reduce waste—but keep in mind you might need to make more later.
Traditional black and white cookies often include lemon extract or even fresh lemon zest or lemon juice. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the lemon flavor in these cookies, so I opted to leave it out. But feel free to add some if that’s your thing!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookieCalories: 272kcalCarbohydrates: 50gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 35mgPotassium: 53mgFiber: 1gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 240IUVitamin C: 0.04mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!