Black and White Cookies are soft, tender, and topped with icing. They deliver the perfect balance in every single bite. Try them out soon!
I love delicious and easy classic Cookies. Other timeless flavors include Chocolate Chip Cookies and Classic Sugar Cookies.
Sabrina’s Black and White Cookies Recipe
Black and White Cookies are one of the most classic New York desserts. They’re the perfect combination of a cake-like cookie, topped with two frostings, in the perfect yin and yang combination. Whether you’re from New York City or just grew up watching shows like Seinfeld, these are a nostalgic treat. I promise you will love these, they are the ultimate cookies!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup buttermilk , well-shaken
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Use Dutch-processed cocoa if possible)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and position your baking rack in the middle of the oven.
- In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar together for 2-3 minutes on high until light and fluffy (It's important to not skimp on the time here) then add in the egg until fully combined.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and in a measuring cup mix your buttermilk and vanilla.
- To the stand mixer alternate the flour and buttermilk mixture starting with the flour first until all combined (I do about a third of the flour, then half the buttermilk, then ⅓ of the flour, then the rest of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour).
- Using a silpat, or a buttered baking sheet scoop ¼ cup of batter (an ice cream scoop is the perfect size here) and give them 2 inches of space between the batter then bake them for 15-17 minutes until they spring back.
- To make the icing add the powdered sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth then use two bowls to put half into each and add cocoa powder to one and add water until the consistency is the same as the vanilla side again (using teaspoons of water).
- To ice the cookies, use the flat side of the cookie and spread each half of the cookie with one of the icings, icing the vanilla on all the cookies first then coming back later after the vanilla has hardened and adding chocolate to them all so you avoid a lot of the colors mixing.
Notes
- Change Serving Size: Click on the yield amount to slide and change the number of servings and the recipe will automatically update!
- Conversion: To convert measurements to grams, click on the Metric option next to Ingredients in the recipe card.
- Kitchen Timer: Click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
In a time crunch? Make them ahead of time. These cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week. Store them with a sheet of parchment paper between each layer, to keep the cookies from sticking together.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
These classic black and white cookies bring the iconic New York bakery experience right into your kitchen—no trip required. Known for their soft, cake-like texture and signature half-and-half icing, they strike the perfect balance between rich and sweet in every bite. Unlike traditional cookies, these have a tender, almost pillowy crumb that feels more like a mini cake, making them extra satisfying and nostalgic. The smooth icing is spread over the flat side, creating that recognizable black-and-white look and a clean contrast of flavors. Whether you grew up loving them or are trying them for the first time, this recipe is a simple way to recreate a timeless dessert that’s both fun to make and even better to eat.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Silpat: Helps keep the cooking on the bottom of these cookies gentle and preserves the light color of the cookies.
- Stand Mixer: When creaming butter and sugar a stand mixer is a huge help in the kitchen, you want to see a visual change in the color of the butter and a stand mixer will get you there in no time.
- Ice Cream Scoop: This will ensure your cookies are the perfect size and easy to scoop. I use this scoop for all larger cookies and muffins/cupcakes.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- You are actually going to ice the bottoms of the cookies with the two frostings! This means a slight pillowy bottom and the icing on the flat side.
- I ice the vanilla all at once first and if I have extra time I let the white frosting dry a bit before doing all the chocolate which gives you the clean separation between the two colors of frosting.
- Testing for doneness of the cookies is more like a cake because they spring back up when you test them (when done).
- Try not to chill them in the fridge to speed up the process, they taste different than when you’ve let them cool at room temperature.
- If you cool them on wire racks you may end up with slight indentations in them because they are a cake-like cookie.
- If you want to make more than 8 of these cookies I highly suggest cooking them one sheet at a time. Crowding the oven or putting these near the top or the bottom of the oven may impact the texture of them.
- I’ve made a triple batch before, using three cookie sheets and keeping the batter in a cool spot while waiting for the first batches to finish baking.
Related Recipes
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Photos used in the previous post
You said eggs but you only have one listed
Thank you for catching that mistake in the instructions. I have double checked the recipe and updated the recipe card. There is a only one egg. Please upload a photo of how your cookies turned out!
Do you use self rising flour or all purpose
Hi Joanie, sorry this is so late. All purpose flour. If you decide to try the cookies let us know what you think!
I grew up on the East coast and these are pretty darn good. Close to what I remember getting from the local bakeries! The only bit I changed was I split the vanilla in the batter into half vanilla and half lemon extract. I assume it will only get better when the icing hardens a bit…I couldn’t wait! The other change I did was method related. I made the white icing, then iced the vanilla halves, then added the chocolate into what was left and finally iced the chocolate. Thank you for the recipe!
These cookies are always a hit!! They are soft & taste delicious!! And, they are so pretty! Adding them to our cookie plates this year!
I tried making these cookies at home and they turned out so delicious. Thanks, Sabrina, for this recipe. Would probably make these again.
I had fun making these cute balck and white cookies! They turned out so soft and chewy. So satisfying!
I made these cookies before a few times and I live in New York, but hate going to buy them when I know I can bake them myself. My biggest problem is with the vanilla icing I can never get it white enough, it seems to come out transparent. So I add about a 1 Tblsp of melted better along with the lemon juice, corn syrup, icing sugar, and vanilla extract so its a little thicker and sticks better.
Thank you for the recipe! Mine came out maybe too “pillowy” though your appear flatter. What did I do wrong?
Hi! Im so sorry it didn’t come out as desired! It may be something in the ingredients, or maybe the scoop size? Hard to tell.
Adrienne,
I would like to make the Black and White cookies for a wedding. I see the recipe only makes 8 cookies. Would I be able to make the cookies smaller for a cookie table? If this
would be possible, can you please give me some suggestions.
Thank you, Adrienne
I haven’t tested cooking times on smaller cookies, but I would say just test it with 1 tablespoon sized scoops. You want to watch it like a hawk for the timing, you don’t want any color on the cookie itself.
I live outside of the US and don’t have immediate access to corn syrup. Is there a substitute I can use instead?
You can always make your own. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, over medium heat, add the sugar, water, cream of tartar, salt and lemon juice. Once the sugar dissolves, turn down the heat and let the syrup simmer steadily until it reduces significantly and becomes a thick syrup that drips off your spatula slowly.
I was wondering if the icing has a hint of a lemon taste? I’ve probably eaten hundreds of these cookies in my life and never tasted lemon before. To avoid the lemon can I use something else?
Thank you.
You can just leave it out if you’d like. Enjoy!
I had never had a black and white cookie before but had always wanted to try them. I made these this weekend and they are the best cookie I have had in a long time. These will definitely be made again for my cookie swap.
Yay!! I’m so glad you decided to give them a try, Aileen.
I just got done making these I had one and I had to have another I’ve tried other recipes these are phenomenal I will definitely be making them again probably as soon as they’re gone my daughter wants me to make them gluten-free for her I will try that thank you
These are by far my families favorite cookie. I grew up with these in Los Angeles CA in Jewish bakeries and my husband in the Bronx NY. Now retired to Orange Beach Alabama with NO bakeries only the fake band in grocery stores. Thank you for this recipe I’ve used many times.
So glad to have helped out.
I grew up with these cookies in Austria. I am an art teacher and had a seminar in L.I. and started to talk about cookies. And one of the students brought some the next day. You mentioned they are a staple in New York. To no surprise the cookie was called in Europe “Amerikaner” which means Americans. This got a little long and am so excited that you shared this recipe. Thank you
How cool!
These are delicious and I love making them. But forgot buttermilk is there a substitute you’d recommend ?
You can make your own buttermilk by mixing 3/4 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into 1/3 cup milk. Stir it and then let it sit for 5 minutes. You’ll be good to go! Hope this helps!
I keep The Saco Pantry cultured buttermilk blend on hand. It’s a powder that you add water to. I found it at Walmart. It’s great to use when you don’t have buttermilk or cows milk and vinegar in the house.
I grew up on half moon cookies thanks for the recipe
You’re welcome Diana! Enjoy!!
We called them half-moon cookies in syracuse, New York!
Love it!
Can you believe I’ve never had these cookies before?
They are amazing! You have to try them!
How many eggs? Your ingredients list one. Bit the directions say add eggs one at a time. Thanks!
Sorry about that type. It’s one egg.
Black and white cookies were one of my favorites as a kid. I’d go back and forth nibbling the chocolate side then the vanilla side.
Nice and tasteful. Who would ask for more ! Thank you !
Mmmm black & white cookies are such a great classic! Love this recipe!
These look great! I want to be eating them now!
What stunning cookies! I’ve never seen that Seinfeld episode, but I kinda want to check it out now. 🙂 Also, you can never go wrong with chocolate and vanilla together on a cookie. So good.
I have always loved these black and white cookies. I always eat the chocolate side and give the other side to my husband hahahaha
Ha! I like your style!
Those look so elegant – nice!
Yum! I love these New York cookies. They are the only ones where I like the vanilla icing better than the chocolate although I wouldn’t turn down either.
Thanks, Barbara! Next time I’m around, we can go share some – I’ll take the chocolate side and you can have the vanilla!
I absolutely adore the design on these, they look so delicate and yummy!