The Black and White Cookie

"Oh look Elaine, the black and white cookie. I love the black and white. Two races of flavor living side by side. It's a wonderful thing isn't it? ... The thing about eating the Black and White cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie all our problems would be solved." -Jerry Seinfeld

Look to the cookies! 

For those who are not familiar with this New York classic, the black and white cookie is a cakey, lemony bakery favorite. My friend known as Jersey and I are big Seinfeld (and NYC) fanatics and decided that it was time we paid homage to the show's wisdom by baking our own black and white cookie. We try to do what we can to add more harmony to this world.

We veganized and halved the recipe from these Black and White Cookies. The result tasted like a store-bought, no-one-will-guess-these-cookies-are-vegan cookies. Make these for your favorite NY vegans and they just might worship you.

Yields 2 dozen cookies

3/4 c plus 2 T sugar

1/2 c safflower oil, or any vegetable oil

2 Ener-G egg replacements (or you could try 1/2 c applesauce)

1/2 c almond milk

1/4 t vanilla extract

1/4 t lemon extract (scant)

2 1/3 c flour (we used 2 c all purpose and 1/3 c whole wheat flour)

2 T plus 1 1/2 t cornstarch

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Heat oven to 375F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease with vegetable oil.

Mix the sugar and oil in a large bowl. Mix in the egg replacement, and then the rest of the wet ingredients.

Sift together the dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until smooth. Dough will seem too wet to form cookies, but I promise it works!

Drop big spoonfuls of the dough onto the cookie sheets, about 2" apart. Bake until edges begin to brown, about 25 minutes. Wait until completely cool until applying icing.

Icing

2 c powdered sugar

less than 1/4 c boiling water

2 T vegan chocolate chips (or half an ounce of any vegan chocolate)

Add sugar to small bowl. Stir in enough boiled water until sugar-paste is thick but spreadable. Add half of icing into a saucepan over low heat with the chocolate. Mix until chocolate is melted and remove from heat. Using a spreading knife, ice half of each cookie in the chocolate and half in the white sugar icing. Let icing completely set on cookies.