RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Beth Greenfeld Zabar's Black & Whites - dairy
It seems these are possibly also known as Half 'n' Half cookies. I have two versions of the recipe, one posted on the net about a year and a half ago and one printed in one of the D.C. area newspapers before that. They both come from "The New York Cookbook" by Molly O'Neill, but they're a tiny bit different in how much of the extracts to use. For the Cookies: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (plus extra for greasing) 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract 2 1/2 cups cake flour 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt For the Frosting: 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate boiling water 1. Preheat the over to 375 degrees. Butter two baking sheets. 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix by machine or hand until fluffy. Add eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and lemon extract and mix until smooth. 3. In a medium bowl, combine the two flours with the baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. 4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches. Stir well to combine. 5. Using a soup spoon, drop the dough by the spoonful two inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake about 20-30 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool completely. 6. Make the frosting: Put the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Gradually add between 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup of boiling water to the sugar, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and spreadable. 7. Put half the frosting in the top half of a double boiler set over simmering water. Add the chocolate to this half of the frosting. Warm the mixture, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat. 8. With a brush, coat half the cookies with chocolate frosting and half with the white frosting. Makes 24 cookies.
