Recipe archive
Recipe archive
America's Melting Pot
Black and White Cookies hero image coming soon
1900s-present - German Jewish and Bavarian immigrant bakers in New York City
Black and white cookies are New York bakery icons, commonly linked to Glaser Bake Shop in Yorkville and to German Jewish bakery traditions. Their half-vanilla, half-chocolate tops made them instantly recognizable on deli and bakery counters.
Difficulty
Moderate
Prep time
30 minutes
Cook time
14 minutes
Total time
44 minutes plus cooling
Servings
12 large cookies
Region
New York City
Era introduced
1900s-present
Introduced by
German Jewish and Bavarian immigrant bakers in New York City
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The black and white cookie sits between cake and cookie: a soft round base turned flat-side up and iced in two clean halves. New York origin stories often point to Glaser Bake Shop, opened in Yorkville in 1902 by Bavarian immigrants, while upstate half-moon cookies tell a related but distinct story. In the archive, the cookie belongs with New York Jewish and German American bakery food, not only with pop-culture nostalgia.
Drafted with black-and-white cookie history from Eater NY (https://ny.eater.com/2014/6/2/6214949/the-black-and-white-cookies-curious-history), Glaser Bake Shop context from Untapped New York (https://www.untappedcities.com/mysterious-origins-black-and-white-cookie/), and New York/half-moon background from The Food Dictator (https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-nyc-black-white-cookies/).
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