Look To The Cookie -- Homemade Black & White Cookies

In season five of the legendary sitcom Seinfeld, there is an episode called "The Dinner Party." Basically, the gang (Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer) are invited to a dinner party and they decide to bring wine and cake. Geroge and Kramer are tasked with buying the wine, whilst Elaine and Jerry go to Schnitzer's Bakery to buy a chocolate babka. While they are there, Jerry gets the urge to buy a black and white cookie. He proceeds to give Elaine a philosophical lesson in the art of enjoying a black and white cookie. (Click here to see a clip of this). In this scene, Jerry's mantra is "look to the cookie."

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because my boyfriend is a MASSIVE Seinfeld fan and a lover of black and white cookies. A while back, I was telling R that if he ever wants me to bake something, all he has to do is ask. He instantly told me of his love for black and white cookies and showed me the clip that I have posted above. I was recently in the mood to bake and decided to surprise R with his beloved black and white cookies.

This was my first time making this Manhattan classic and it was super easy! Icing the cookies was a little bit tricky, but by no means difficult. The key is to ice the flat bottom side of the cookie, not the rounded tops --- I learned that the hard way. Otherwise, very straightforward and rather fun to make!

Ingredients for Cookies:
- 1.25 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup buttermilk*
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp 
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg

*If you don't want to buy buttermilk or can't find it, just milk whole milk with lemon juice. 
Directions for cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking sheets. 

2. In a bowl, mix: flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Combine buttermilk and vanilla extract. 
4. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. 
5. Add egg and beat into mix. 
6. Add the flour mixture alternatively with the vanilla buttermilk. Be sure to begin and end with the flour. Mix until smooth. 
7. Prepare your baking sheet. I lined mine with parchment paper. 
8. Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto your baking sheet. If you have one, I found that an ice cream scoop worked beautifully. 
9. Let cookies bake for about 15 minutes or until they turn golden. 
10. Allow the cookies to cool slighting on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack.
Ingredients for Icings:
- 2 & 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4~6 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder 
Directions for Icings:
1. Mix confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tbsp of water together. (You may need to add more water in order to get icing consistency). 
2. Pour half of the icing mixture into a separate bowl and add about 1 tbsp of chocolate powder. 
3. Now that you have your white and black icing, flip the cookies over to the flat side and ice carefully. 

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