My first attempt at these did not go so well. They really turned out way too thick and puffy. The frosting turned out great. I would have liked a little more lemon flavor. I am going to post the recipe I used and then the recipe I will try next time. They were good, don't get me wrong, just far too thick and cakey.

Black and White Cookies
Adapted from a bunch of places, but mostly Zabar’s

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/black-and-white-cookies/

Traditional black and white cookies are BIG and LOUD, not unlike the New Yorkers that made them famous. Preferring everything on the daintier side, I’ve made them very small before, but this time went for a nice medium size.

Yield: About 2 dozen very large cookies, 60 medium (I used a scoop 1 3/4 inches in diameter that yielded 3-inch cookies) or so many cookies that you might lose your mind frosting them if you go tinier. I’m just saying.

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon light corn syrup.
1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.

2. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix by machine or hand until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth.

3. In medium bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using a soup spoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.

4. Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place confectioners’ sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Err on the side of caution because a too-thin frosting is hard to undo. Leave remaing boiling water on the stove.

5. Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie. Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the bitter or unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup. At this point, depending on the chocolate you used and your preferences, you might find the chocolate color to be a little lighter than the “black” of a black-and-white cookie. If so, I find that a tablespoon or so of cocoa mixed in darkens the color nicely.

6. Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. I find that the chocolate–especially with cocoa in it–is especially prone to getting too dry, so don’t worry about whisking in an extra teaspoon of that hot water from time to smooth it back into a shiny frosting.

7. Let the frosting set. Store in an airtight container. These cookies keep for a few days, but I think they’re best on the first or second. Because of the cake nature of the bases, they can get stale quickly. However, this is really a non-issue as I have yet to make a batch that didn’t get polished off in no time.

So this is the one I will try next time. The tride and true version. Who knows how it would turn out. But I invite you to give it a shot.

Zabar's Black and White Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Cookies:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:
4 c confectioners' sugar
1/3 to 1/2 c boiling water
1 oz bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter two baking sheets and set aside.

To make the cookies:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and butter. Mix with mixer or hand until fluffy. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and lemon extracts and mix until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt and stir until mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches, stirring well to combine. Using a soup spoon or ice cream scoop, drop spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting:
Place the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Gradually add enough of the boiling water to the sugar, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and spreadable. Remove half of the frosting to the top half of a double boiler set over simmering water and add the chocolate. Warm the mixture, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the frosting is smooth. Remove from the heat. With a brush, coat half the cookie with chocolate frosting and the other half with white frosting.

Here's one more if you like. I like to compare them all really to see what is different about them. This Martha one got good reviews. Zabar's is the most legendary place in New York City, home of the black and white cookie.

Black and White Cookies

Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Makes 10

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cake flour, not self-rising
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, plus more if needed
• 1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until smooth. Add milk, and whisk to combine. Whisk in melted butter and extracts. Add flour mixture, and stir to form a smooth dough. Cover, and chill for 1 hour.
2. Line baking pans with Silpat nonstick baking mats. Using a 2-ounce scoop, drop five cookies per pan, 3 inches apart. Bake until edges are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack set over parchment paper to cool.
3. In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons hot water, and corn syrup. Whisk until smooth. Using a small offset spatula, ice half of each cookie. Return cookies to rack to drip, if necessary.
4. Add chocolate to remaining icing. Stir until smooth. Add additional corn syrup to thin to desired consistency, if necessary. Spread chocolate icing over second half of each cookie. Allow cookies to set, about 10 minutes.