Saturday, November 14, 2009

Weekend Cooking- The Black and White Cookie


For this week's Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, let's check out another sweet treat. If you are not now, nor have ever been, a resident of the New York City area, or perhaps certain parts of New England, you may not be familiar with the confection that is the Black and White Cookie! Oh, what a loss that is, because the Black and White cookie is a fine thing, the perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of tea. To quote Wikipedia,
"A black and white cookie is a soft, sponge cake-like shortbread which is iced on one half with vanilla fondant, and on the other half by dark chocolate fondant. The black and white cookie is often seen as a peculiarly "New York" snack."
Yes, really more cake-like in their consistency than what we usually think of as a cookie, they are something for which at time I get a hankering. Yet, they are not something I ever tried to make myself, instead hoping to stumble upon a bakery that makes them. Which is pretty hopeless unless I take a trip an hour or so north, closer to the Big Apple.

beside the issue of finding one to eat, there also arises the issue of how to eat them. Sort of like the Oreo, there are several ways to approach them. Eat all the chocolate side first, eat all the white side first, all follow the official Seinfeld way!

18 comments:

  1. As I'm from northern NJ, black and whites were part of my childhood. I never liked them as much as my parents do, though. We can buy them in the supermarket, although they're not as nice there as from a proper NYC bakery.

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  2. Growing up in Indiana, I knew nothing of this edibile phenomenon until I moved to Florida in '91. There is a bakery around the corner from us that makes them, and of course with the Seinfeld show they had gotten very popular. I'm telling you, the clouds parted when I tried one. Now we buy them at Cosco for the kids in big quantities.

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  3. of course, Florida is a suburb of NYC...

    Sadly, I can't find them here in the distant reaches of south Jersey and I was forced to obtain some mail order. I really should try to make them myself.

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  4. When I saw the title of your post I was instantly reminded of Seinfeld --- how perfect that you included that clip!

    I have never made these delectable treats, but they are on my list of things to do after I retire :) I always thought it might be a nice treat to bring into school after reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but since we finish that book next week, not sure it will happen this academic year.

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  5. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of tasting a black and white cookie. The picture is quite delicious as is your description. Now I'm on a quest.

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  6. My hands-down favorite treat when I lived in NYC...and I don't even have that big of a sweet tooth! My mouth is watering now! :)

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  7. I adore the Black and White -- and I love that Seinfeld scene! We could get B&W cookies in the Jewish delis in Ohio, but there is something about a real one from NYC . . . Yummmm.

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  8. I feel cheated that I didn't have one of these when I was in New York this year. I guess I'll have to remedy that next year for sure!

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  9. they sound delicious--I want a cookie now.

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  10. Love the cookie! Had a wonderful on in Boston last fall.

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  11. I love balck & white cookies. They're a favorite of my husband's too. Yum!

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  12. Oh, you poor folks that have never had one! So sad. I would offer you all one...BUT I ATE THEM! lol

    I had a gift card for a NY store and bought some overpriced B&W's. Not bad, even if they are too small. They should be big, as you can see in the video.
    They look bigger in the photo because I put the camera very close. Then I ATE THEM! ;-)

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  13. Oh my...I just read that JoAnn is making chocolate and espresso cookies and now I see your black and white cookies! I think I'm having an instant cravings for these! They would make great snack for reading. Yum!

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  14. I just watched this Seinfeld episode! How funny. Black and White cookies were big in MA where we lived before. I have a recipe for them that is good but havent made it for a long time. Funny how some recipes are so regional. No one in Fl had ever heard of Hermits until I brought some to work and people loved them. Do they have Hermits in NJ?

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  15. we have hermits...but not sure about hermit cookies. I googled them---they say there are two types, drop cookies and bars..iced and not iced.

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  16. Oh, I love these cookies! In upstate NY, we call them half moons.

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  17. mom eats the chocolate half and gives me the white part!!

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  18. Jo Ann, is the 'cake' part white or chocolate? from what I read, half moons often have a chocolate cookie.

    to give up half her balck and white...you mommy loves you a lot Bandit!

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