Mini Black & Whites
Author: 
Recipe type: dessert
 
You can make big ones like you see in the deli cases, but we prefer them bite-sized. The buttermilk and lemon juice gives them the perfect tang and just the right flavor. They make a beautiful platter for a dessert table, if you can resist them long enough to get them out of the kitchen. Also, they freeze beautifully.
Ingredients
  • Cookies
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla
  • ½ cup low-fat buttermilk
  • Icing:
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
  • 2½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon water, or more if needed
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  2. For the cookies:
  3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
  4. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until creamy, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add granulated sugar and mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  6. Mix in egg and vanilla, then mix in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk.
  7. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls; drop onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart.
  8. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until bottoms turn golden, about 10 minutes.
  9. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
  10. For the icing:
  11. Whisk confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and water in a small bowl until smooth. Add more water if needed, to achieve a consistency slightly thicker than honey.
  12. Transfer half the icing to a small bowl and stir in cocoa powder here; thin with water if needed.
  13. Spread white icing on half of each cookie's flat side and cocoa icing on the other half. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.
Recipe by Food and Friendship at https://www.foodandfriendshipsantabarbara.com/2016/09/05/who-said-metaphor/