Black and White Cookies

When you think of black and white cookies, you usually think of the cookies you see in almost every bakery window while storming the busy streets of New York City. You know the cookies I'm talking about...the big and thick, chewy and cakey cookies that are painted with chocolate frosting on one side and painted with white frosting on the other side. However, Sunset magazine has a different take on the traditional black and white cookie (or perhaps this is the west coast version...or the distant cousin...of the NYC classic).

After this failure from Sunset, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about trying another Sunset cookie recipe. Then again, my philosophy on baking is "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so I risked the Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate bars and Lindt Excellence White Coconut White Chocolate bars in my pantry and ran with the recipe.

At first glance, I was pretty sure that this was going to be yet another Sunset flop after seeing the way the cookie dough resembled brownie batter, but I continued on my way, added the chopped white chocolate and chilled the dough.

Here's a picture of the cookie dough before adding the white chocolate and chilling:

 















The recipe instructs that you chill the dough until firm, at least 1 hour. (At least are the key words here.) Let me just tell you right now that your dough will be nowhere near a firm dough at 1 hour. I let my dough sit in the fridge for four hours before continuing on with the recipe, and it still wasn't anything near what a firm cookie dough batter usually is. I just pulled out the cookie scoop, crossed my fingers and hoped that somehow (and magically) the oven would bake up two decent batches of cookies.

Voilà...

These are really good cookies. These have a crunchy/flaky exterior and a chewy brownie-like interior. The white coconut white chocolate added a great flavor. I love the tiny pieces of coconut in the Lindt bars. You get the taste of coconut without the stringyness (is that a word?) of shredded coconut. The big, irregular chunks of white chocolate look great in contrast to the dark bittersweet chocolate in these cookies, too.

And who did I make these for? Kristen, of course. She's stopping by tonight, and a big plate of cookies always puts a smile on her face. I figured these cookies were perfect to make for her since she loved these so much. And in keeping with the chocolate/white chocolate theme, I know she'll love these cookies, too.

Black and White Cookies

Adapted from Sunset

12 ounces Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate bars, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 ounces (two 3.5-ounce bars) coarsely chopped Lindt white coconut white chocolate

Preheat oven to 325°. In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (but not touching it), stir chocolate and butter until smooth, 5 minutes. Remove bowl from over water; whisk in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture and stir until well blended. Stir in white chocolate. Cover and chill dough until firm, at least 1 hour.

Shape dough into 2-inch balls and place about 3 inches apart on buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.

Bake until set at the edges but still soft in the center, 12 to 15 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking.

Let cool for 5 minutes on sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely.

Yield: Makes about 28 cookies

Notes: Use quality chocolate bars...you can use either bittersweet or semisweet chocolate depending on your tastes and/or what you have on hand. Do NOT overbake these...mine were done at 12 minutes. You can use regular chopped white chocolate if you cannot find the Lindt white coconut white chocolate. I got 24 cookies.