Black and White, Red and Green

Last week I ventured out to try my first ever black and white cookie. My fascination with the cookie began after Jerry described in long detail how perfect the cookie is on a season 5 episode of Seinfeld. (But to his dismay, he later felt the wrath of the cookie).

Many years later, I finally decided to purchase my first black and white cookie. I don't know what took me so long to sample one but I'm glad I finally did since I had plans to bake them during my holiday baking madness. I didn't want my first experience to be when I baked them (I also sampled my first chocolate babka at Trader Joe's a couple weeks ago, another pastry made famous by that episode of Seinfeld). 

What exactly is a black and white cookie, you ask? It's a pillowy cookie that has on one side, chocolate glossy icing and the other side, white icing. They're slightly citrusy, although I don't remember the Alessi Bakery cookie being citrusy. My first black and white cookie experience was super delicious and it kept me from eating a cupcake that day.

I decided to make black and white cookies extra festive: I turned them into black and red cookies and black and green cookies!

Black and White Festive Cookies

• use Smitten Kitchen's cookie recipe
• can substitute lemon zest for lemon extract (1 tsp)
• divide the white icing into quarter batches: one for white, red, green and chocolate
• dye 2 batches of the frosting, one red, the other green
• if the chocolate icing dries out or thickens, can thin out by stirring in 1 or more tsps of hot water.
• enjoy!