Classic black and white cookies are a mainstay of New York City shops and bakeries. Bursting with vanilla flavor and boasting a super soft texture, these large cake-like cookies are topped with thick vanilla and chocolate icings.
This New York City-style black and white cookie recipe comes from the highly talented, knowledgeable, and influential team over at America’s Test Kitchen. The first time I worked with them was to help promote their Naturally Sweet cookbook a while back. (Remember those chewy chocolate chip cookies with unrefined sugar? Delicious!)
ATK’s latest cookbook – The Perfect Cookie – is dedicated to something we ALL have in common: a deep love for cookies. There’s 250 cookie, brownie, and bar recipes packed inside!
Tell Me About these Black and White Cookies
- Texture: These are super soft and cakey cookies with a thick, creamy icing. The combination of cocoa powder and milk make the icing thinner than the coating on peanut butter half moon cookies, and it crackles when you bite into it like the glaze on these glazed doughnuts and chocolate pop tarts.
- Flavor: The cookie itself has the flavor of basic vanilla cake, but the icing is the star here. Thick, sugary sweet, and of course vanilla and chocolate flavor.
- Ease: Don’t be intimidated! This black and white cookie recipe is a lot easier than I originally thought. You’ll need a few special ingredients like corn syrup and sour cream, but the rest of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.
- Time: There’s only about 25 minutes of prep work, but you’ll need to let the icing set so the icings don’t run together. The great news is that this cookie dough doesn’t require any dough chilling. See all of our no cookie dough chilling recipes including our giant chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, and shortbread cookies.
Recipe Testing: What Works & What Doesn’t
What I love most about ATK’s The Perfect Cookie cookbook – and what I know you’ll appreciate as well – is the comprehensive breakdown of each recipe. Why it works, how it works, tips, tricks, lessons, troubleshooting, and more. It’s the book for the baking nerd in all of us. Here are a few of the things that really worked in these black and white cookies:
- All-purpose flour: America’s Test Kitchen tried to make these cookies with cake flour at first (because they are supposed to be cake-like cookies), but the cake flour made the cookies too crumbly. For best results, use all-purpose flour.
- Salt: After I tried my first test batch, I found the cookies to be cloyingly sweet. Obviously they’re intended to be sugary cookies, but increasing the salt to 1/4 teaspoon helped balance out that sweetness.
- Sour cream: We’re confident sour cream is the secret to perfect homemade black & white cookies. This ingredient creates that iconic texture. It also reacts with the baking soda to produce enough lift in the cookies. (You’ll also need baking powder. Remember the differences between baking powder vs baking soda and why some recipes call for both?)
Overview: How to Make Homemade Black and White Cookies
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it quickly so you understand each step before we get started.
- Whisk dry ingredients together. This includes flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix wet ingredients together. Cream butter + sugar together first, then add eggs + vanilla extract.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream. Expect a very thick batter/dough.
- Scoop + bake. Using a greased ¼-cup dry measuring cup, scoop 1 mound of dough per cookie onto your baking sheet (no more than 6 cookies per sheet). Bake until the edges are lightly browned.
- Make the vanilla icing. Whisk confectioners’ sugar + 6 Tablespoons of the milk + corn syrup + vanilla extract + salt.
- Make the chocolate icing. Transfer 1 cup of the vanilla icing to a separate bowl. Whisk in the remaining 1 Tablespoon of milk + cocoa powder to make it chocolate.
- Frost the cookies. Using the flat side of the cooled cookies, spread vanilla icing on one half, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Then spread chocolate icing on the other half and refrigerate for 1 hour until completely set.
So, which half of the black and white cookie do you prefer – the chocolate or the vanilla? Get your ingredients ready because we’re about to find out!
Homemade Black & White Cookies Video Tutorial
Print
Black and White Cookies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours (includes icing setting)
- Yield: 12 large cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
From the cooks at America’s Test Kitchen, here is a carefully tested and surprisingly easy homemade recipe for New York City style black and white cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), or more as needed, see note*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (145g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature*
Icing
- 5 and 1/2 cups (660g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted (measure before sifting)
- 7 Tablespoons (105ml) whole milk, divided
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons (15g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Reduce to low speed and add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream. Beat everything on low until combined and no pockets of flour remain. Batter is extremely thick.
- Using a greased 1/4-cup dry measuring cup, drop mounds of dough 4 inches apart on prepared baking sheets– 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- Make the icings: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, 6 Tablespoons milk, the corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt together in a medium bowl. Transfer 1 cup to a separate bowl, add remaining Tablespoon of milk and the cocoa powder. Whisk until combined.
- Spread vanilla icing onto half of the cookies– the flat side. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until set so that the icings do not bleed into each other. Spread chocolate icing onto other side and allow the icing to set completely, about 1 hour, before serving.
- Cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You’ll want to bake this cookie dough right away as the baking powder is initially activated once wet. You can, however, bake the cookies in step 4, cool completely, cover tightly, and store at room temperature for up to 3 days before continuing with step 5. Frosted or unfrosted cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving or frosting.
- Special Tools: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Glass Mixing Bowls | Silpat Baking Mat | Cookie Sheets | Cooling Rack | Cookie Icing Spatula
- Room Temperature: Room temperature ingredients are important. The butter will curdle if some of the batter ingredients are colder than it.
- Batter Consistency: If your batter isn’t super thick– thick somewhere between cookie dough and pancake batter- try adding an extra 2-3 Tablespoons of flour before scooping and baking. The cookies spread too much if the batter isn’t thick enough.
- Sour Cream: Use full-fat sour cream in this cookie batter. Full-fat plain Greek yogurt works as well, but you’ll get the most tender texture from sour cream.
- Cocoa Powder: You can use either natural-style or dutch-process cocoa powder in the icing. It doesn’t matter since there is no leavening occurring. (Here’s more on Dutch processed vs natural cocoa powder.) I prefer dutch-process or a darker cocoa like Hershey’s Special Dark.
- Recipe reprinted in partnership with ATK from The Perfect Cookie
Keywords: Black and White Cookies
I made the recipe as is, but added fresh lemon zest to the cookie dough (i remember the good B&W cookies in NYC as having a slight lemon flavour). Cookies turned out excellent. They were slightly flat, so yes, I could have added more flour to the batter, but it wasn’t a big deal. I made smaller cookies using a tbsp to scoop the dough and there were 18 total. You could half the icing recipe and still have enough – I did add a smidge more milk to my icing as it was too thick without it.
★★★★
Do you need to change anything due to altitude? I’m at a little over 5000 ft and the cookies were flat. Thx!
Hi Keri, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
While I usually love Sally’s recipes, this one was WAY off the mark. I followed the recipe, to a T, as always, and ended up with flat, almost chewy, sugar cookies. There was absolutely nothing light, fluffy, or “cake-like” about these.
★★
I love making these cookies. They always turn out perfect, they’re always don’t and tender with lots of flavor. They’re a hit whenever I take them places. . I use a small ice cream/cookie scoop to make small cookies. My friends like them better small. You just have to adjust the baking time. Thanks for another great hit. You’re recipes are always fabulous.
★★★★★
Just baked these so I haven’t tasted them yet. They did not yield 12 cookies, only got nine.
I made the frosting according to the recipe and it was ridiculously off as others have mentioned.
Perhaps it was a typo but after looking up other black and white cookie recipes 1 1/2 cups of sugar was what is called for.
I have me this recipe by myself 4 times now. They taste exactly what I ate as a kid in a miami Jewish bakery
Freaking fantastic!!!!
Follow these directions step by step and you’ll home made blank and white cakelike cookies.
We only cover the white top or bottom with white thick Frosting.
100% fantastic ny style Jewish cookies. Easy to make at home. Never a need to stop at a Publix again.
★★★★★
I’ve made these cookies before and they are so amazing!! Is there a way i could shape the cookies as a heart (for valentine’s day) before they bake, or should i just cut them to heart shape after baking? Thanks so much!!
★★★★★
Hi Nicole, this dough won’t hold a shape with a cookie cutter before you bake it. You can cut the shaped cookies or here are even more ideas for Valentine’s Day Recipes!
Cookies were on the mark, however vanilla icing was way too sweet.My daughter also say they are brown by and white ! what do you suggest?
★★★★
Hi Denise, it’s definitely a sweet icing! You can slightly cut down on the confectioners’ sugar if desired. To keep the icing thick, you’ll have to reduce the milk as well.
Hi – a five star rating because these sound like they’ll be delicious. My question – has the recipe been tested doubling the ingredients? 12 cookies will not be enough for my family
★★★★★
Hi Patricia, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
OH MY GOODNESS!! These cookies are nothing short of lovely. With or without frosting – just delicious. I made two batches, wish I had made more! Everyone loved them. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
I love these cookies but my vanilla icing never stays white once I spread it on the cookie! It’s more clear, or tannish. What am I doing wrong? Thanks
★★★★
Hi Jill, is it too thin? You could add a bit more powdered sugar to help it thicken up.
Can you substitute half of the sugar for brown sugar? I ran out of sugar and only have half the amount I need – I don’t have time to go to the store. What should I do?
★★★★★
I followed the recipe but instead of dropping the mounds of dough I put it in a pastry bag. Could this be why they weren’t puffy did I take the air out of them? They r still good just a little flat
★★★★★
Hi Ellen, it sounds like your cookie dough may have been too soft. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Here’s some tips to help keep cookies from spreading!
Made these for my brothers 65th bday. They’re his favorite cookie. Needless to say they were a hit! Cookies baked up so light and fluffy and I love that the icing wasn’t runny! Delicious cookie! This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
Thank you Sally for the perfect Black and White cookie recipe!! it’s spot on!
This recipe was ehhhh – not a true NY Black and White Cookie recipe. I followed it because I couldn’t find my regular recipe. So the cookie itself is supposed to have a very light lemon flavor, this one didn’t – to achieve this flavor, the addition of a 1/2 tablespoon of lemon extract would be perfect. Now the icing – the vanilla half was pretty decent, but the chocolate half was god awful – and I had a feeling it would be – the reason – this recipe calls for unsweetened powdered cocoa – powdered cocoa works in some recipes, but not this one. Three ounces of bittersweet chocolate melted with a tablespoon of heavy cream would have been 100x better. If you bake often, a 2 1/4 – 4 tablespoon cookie scoop works better than using a 1/4 cup measuring cup.
★★
where are you from that the cookies had a lemon flavor? i’ve neve had one, interested to try though.
Everywhere I’ve had a black and white cookie! Well, I guess it’s mainly New York City
I’m not a great baker, but learning. 1. Yes! Spoon and level works perfectly! Must do. 2. Yes! Room temp ingredients, where noted, are absolutely necessary. These came out spectacular, fluffy,puffy, light, perfect. Thank you!
★★★★★
Made these for the 2nd time and once again they did NOT disappoint. I cut the icing recipe in half bc I remembered having so much leftover the first time and it was the perfect amount…minimal extra. Thanks for another great recipe!!
★★★★★
I have proudly made and iced about 4 dozen of these cookies for an upcoming party for my 94 yr old Dad. He’s a New Yorker living in Virginia and I am hoping to take them as the dessert for his party. They look great. Thanks for the great instructions!
I froze them but I am very worried about how to thaw and serve them without destroying that pretty icing. Is it possible to thaw them and then store in individual cookie bags? Or should I move them into the cookie bags now, keeping them frozen? Or did I make a mistake by freezing them flat in large ziplock bags? Any advice is appreciated.
★★★★★
Hi Kathy, either option you described should work just fine! I, personally, would move them into individual bags while frozen, then thaw overnight in the fridge before serving. Let us know how it goes!
These were perfect! I used a spring loaded cookie scoop to keep the cookies round, and followed the recipe carefully, and it worked out great.
Alas, dairy cookies are a rare indulgence around here. Next time I’ll have to use plant-based substitutes. Any suggestions for which plant-based milk is best for the icing, and which vegan butter will blend best in the batter?
Thanks!
★★★★★
I’ve made these with oat milk, Shoprite organic dairy free butter sticks, tofutti sour cream, and King Arthur gluten free flour and they came out great. I did add a little extra flour to get the right consistency.
★★★★★
Without exception every person who tried these was beside themselves – both the cookie and the icings. I have a couple of technique questions. First, about every 3 2 scoops I have to wipe the cup and grease it again. Is there a more efficient way? And I would like them to be a bit higher. They are very light and airy. Thanks as always!
★★★★★
Hi Jessica, it can certainly be a messy process! Did you grease the scoop first? Using a little non stick spray really helps with the mess. Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try, we’re thrilled they were a hit.
i need to make half white, half baby blue for a baby shower. should i use white cocoa powder or just half the recipe and color it?
We don’t have much experience with white cocoa powder so let us know if you try that. Simply coloring half the icing recipe blue would definitely work as well!
Hi, as most I and my grand children, love your recipes and go to first instead of my old book. Well, except for some of my mothers and grandmothers old and true recipes.
I grew up in upstate Utica NY, so think of this special treat from the New York Bakery. I really got excited when I saw you had this black & white cookie recipe.
I would think special for any one who would have had the originals and maybe bring back terrific childhood memories (back to the 50d here)! Oh well any age who have had them.
I have a question, after all I said now time for the eye roll, do you think using maple syrup instead of corn syrup would work or maybe change the flavor too much also?
Thank you
All Take Care
Patti D
Hi Patti, we’re so glad you love our recipes! Corn syrup helps the glaze “set” and gives it that gorgeous shiny appearance. In a pinch you can try a homemade simply syrup – or even honey or maple syrup. Let us know how it goes!
Patti–I always substitute corn syrup for Lyle’s Golden Syrup (English brand that’s commonly available nowadays at grocery stores–sometimes in the “international” section and online). It’s got the thickness and sweetness, but it’s all natural.
I was THAT person and modified the recipe! I did 1 c AP flour, 1 c almond flour, 1/4 c tapioca flour, 1/2 c sugar decreased butter to 1/2c and increased the BP to 1 tsp. GREAT! Beautiful batter, no issues w spreading or lack of. I used coconut butter on half and dipped in unsweetened shredded coconut and the other half w melted chocolate, sprinkle of ground toasted almonds and sea salt. DELICIOUS.
★★★★★
The cookies were good. However, I felt the cookies dough needed a little more dimension. I searched other recipes & added, almond extract & lemon zest. Will try this next time.
However, I encountered a HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE ICING . First the consistence was extremely dense & hard to spread it was like quick drying cement. Second with 5 1/1 cups of pd sugar, it made way to much icing.
I rewatched the tutorial to see what when wrong when I made the icing & didn’t see anything I did differently to cause the issue I had with the frosting’s dense/thickness. Any advice what went wrong?
★★★
Hi Saundra! It’s very thick icing so it doesn’t slip off the cookies and you need a substantial amount to yield enough frosting and to ensure it’s thick enough (not runny). Feel free to reduce the confectioners’ sugar, but you’ll have to reduce the milk as well. Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try!
Thank you for responding so quickly to my icing dilemma. However, the icing was not even spreadable, it broke the cookie the first time. I ended up mixing it with my hands since it bent the whisk. I also, reviewed the tutorial again & mine was no where near that liquid consistency. I just thought it was something I did wrong that you could address.
How are you measuring your confectioners’ sugar? Make sure to spoon and level; scooping could pack the sugar in too much which would yield a much thicker icing. Here’s more information on measuring baking ingredients if you’re interested!
True black and white cookies do not have lemon in them.
★★★★★
I’ve made this recipe and my father-in-law, who’s not the emotional type, said these b&w cookies were EXACTLY like the ones he would get from a local Jewish bakery when he was a boy in NYC. I’ve had NONE of the problems with the icing (I suspect folks aren’t sifting as noted in the recipe, but I weigh my ingredients with my kitchen scale, especially items like powdered sugar, which can become compacted in the bag)–mine looked just like the pic, and if you like to avoid using corn syrup (yikes!), use Lyle’s Golden Syrup (a thick, natural sugar syrup that works perfectly in place of corn syrup)–it’s an English brand that is available at most grocery stores or online. I don’t think I’ve ever received higher praise from a hard-to-please father-in-law, but he had tears in his eyes when he tasted these. TYSM Sally’s Baking Addiction team! PS–
★★★★★
My icing was also way way too dense to spread and had to add a lot of milk.
Despite THICKLY frosting the cookies I had way to much frosting and made a second batch (no one was complaining) and now after thickly frosting the second batch, I still have frosting left!
BUT, thanks Sally for the recipe as it was delicious and true to how I remember the cookies in NYC. Love your site and use it often!
Made the sugar cookies w icing and the coconut pineapple cake. Both are absolutely excellent. Dare I say, addictive. Share with co workers who can’t stop raving
★★★★★
instead of scooping the cookie dough, could i make these slice and bake style??
Hi Alexa! We don’t suggest that for this style of cookie dough, it’s too light. Here’s a fun slice and bake cookie recipe if you’re interested!
I have made these cookies and they are delicious however I would like to make them again but I do not have sour cream only CRÈME FRAICHE . I wonder if that would work with these cookies.?
Hi Erika, we haven’t personally tested these with creme fraiche, but we can’t see why that wouldn’t work. Let us know if you give it a try!
What is the trick to getting the icing to taste good? I was not a fan of the icing at all. It has a bitterness to it. It really puts a damper on the cookie.
I love all your recipes and so do my adult children and all their co- workers! I enjoy baking, but can’t possibly eat everything, so I bake your amazing recipes and send them to work with my adult children. Everyone loves the desserts I make. Thank you Sally for all your amazing recipes that make me look like a skilled and awesome baker!
★★★★★
AMAZING! These are kind of labor intense but worth every bite! I had to tweak the icing, but worked out fantastic! I love the size of them too! Perfect! Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★