Black and White Cookies

I've never heard of a Black & White Cookie before I watched an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen a few weeks back. (I love Alton Brown by the way!) 

AND THEN, I got asked if I could make some for an order. So went home and promptly started practicing! Most of the recipes I found were in american weights and measurements, which made it a bit harder to understand what I really needed. So the below is hopefully correct after I converted measurements and weights from an assortment of recipes!

I don't know if these are meant to be darker - are they meant to be black? Or is dark brown sufficient? My research also showed that you are meant to spread the icing on top, but I didn't like the messiness of it, so I piped my icing on. I also didn't like that the icing had drizzled over the edges, and wanted them a bit neater, so I used my cookie cutter to neaten them up a bit. You do what works for you though!

I'm also not sure if I really like these. They were so so sweet, and reminded me of a scone, but also a flat cake. A bit like shortbread as well..

Maybe I'll have to make them again to see. 

You Will Need

For the Cookie

125 grams butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the Icing

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup water (you may not need it all)

1 tablespoon melted dark chocolate

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line two trays with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until pale and thick. 

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add in the vanilla and milk. (It's ok if your mixture is looking a bit curdled).

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then gently fold into the butter mixture to form a soft cake like batter.

Place level tablespoons of batter on the prepared trays and smooth.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden in colour.

Once removed from the oven, you can even up the cookies using a round cookie cutter to create a perfect circle. Or leave them as is for a more rustic look.

Mix together the icing sugar and boiling water until a smooth paste is formed (don't add all the water at once, as you may not need it!) You want your icing to be fairly fluid, but you don't want it to be so thin and runny that it runs right off the cookie.

Spread one half of the cookie with the white icing.

Using the remaining white icing, mix in the melted dark chocolate.

Spread the other half of the cookie with the brown icing.

Let the cookies dry on a wire rack for minimum of 30 minutes. You can then use your cookie cutter again to trim off the sides where the icing has dripped down the sides, or leave as is.