The 12 Days of Cookies, Day 5: Jeanne Brophy's Black and Tan Cookies

And speaking of our dear departed Gourmet Magazine (as I was just yesterday), did you know I am only two degrees removed from Ruth Reichl? Well, OK... maybe 3 or 4.

It's true! How is this, you ask? Well, because I am a fan of and well acquainted with one Miss Jeanne Brophy, Bay Area food writer extraordinaire, and the mad genius behind World On A Plate, one of the nicest little food blogs you ever did see. Not only is Jeanne an accomplished and informative writer, she has a strong interest in and talent for baking -- and we all know how irresistible I find that! But how does this connect me with the doyenne of New York food journalism?

The story goes like this: a few years back, baker and blogger Jeanne sees a recipe in Gourmet for that classic New York deli treat, the Black and White Cookie. You know... round, domed, a little cakey, and painted in a glaze of icing, half in chocolate and half in vanilla, with a straight line right at the cookie's prime meridian (if a cookie can be said to have such a thing).

Now Jeanne is a lover of peanut butter, and has worked it into many of her favorite recipes, so she is adept at modifying ingredients to satisfy her taste for every first grader's favorite lunch item. She makes the cookies according to the recipe in Gourmet, but instead of the confectioner's sugar black and white glazes, she opts (smartly I think) for a nice country buttercream -- not unlike the icing for my favorite Christmas Cut-Out Cookies. And instead of chocolate and vanilla... why not chocolate and peanut butter? In a nod to her Irish heritage, she names them after the half-porter/stout (Guinness), half-pale ale/lager (Bass or Harp) brewers "cocktail," the Black and Tan. Genius!

As a devoted fan of Gourmet, Jeanne knows that they have a "cook the cover" contest going on, wherein readers can prepare what they see on the cover of the then-latest issue of Gourmet in their own variation, and submit the recipes back to Gourmet for inclusion in a contest to find the best of the pack. On a whim, Jeanne submits her Black and Tan Cookies since the Black and Whites have just appeared on the December cover that year.

I'll have what she's having.

I think you can guess what happened next: after editors picked her recipe as a finalist, the public voted on Epicurious... and lo and behold! Jeanne was the winner! She then was invited to attend Gourmet Institute, a weekend-long conference in New York City featuring many luminaries of the culinary world -- as Gourmet's guest! I'd say she was lucky, but her talent and support among other food bloggers are really what got her there.

I'm not sure how many people have been made aware of how great these cookies are, so I just had to re-share. Thanks, Jeanne! And to paraphrase Miss Janet... what have you baked for us lately?

JEANNE BROPHY'S BLACK AND TAN COOKIES

On the Christmas cookie front, you see chocolate cookies, you see iced cookies, but it's a little rare to see chocolate iced cookies, innit? Peanut butter is also not the most common flavor at your average holiday cookie swap, which makes these gems a hot commodity.

Don't be afraid to double the dough recipe as, unless you really pile it on, you'll have plenty of icing to go around from this one recipe -- or use the excess on some wayward undressed cupcakes! Also, I have never been so great at the "dropping of rounded spoonfuls" you see in so many cookie recipes, so I'd definitely suggest a cookie scoop; a teaspoon or slightly bigger size should give you a nice sized cookie that is easy to ice and not too much to eat.

Lastly, I'd recommend using a no-sugar (aka "natural") peanut butter for the icing to avoid it getting too sweet. If you do a good enough job really whipping together the ingredients, you shouldn't have to worry about the icing separating because the peanut butter doesn't have any artificial emulsifiers. Besides... they likely won't last long enough to see that happen!

Over on Gourmet's still-extant on-line presence, Epicurious.com, Jeanne said of these cookies: "My variation is in the frosting. I'm not super crazy about the traditional approach. So thinking that this cookie is really a petite cake in disguise I developed a chocolate (Black) and peanut butter (Tan) buttercream frosting. Dee-licious!" Obviously, I agree.

Black and Tan cookies seem to me to be the perfect cookie if you want to go to a little bit of trouble (but not a lot) and come out with a lovely, rustic-looking cookie that will immediately have everyone saying "Ooh... those look interesting!" And if they think the look is good... wait until they taste them.

For the cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

For the peanut butter frosting:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup half and half

For the chocolate frosting:
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I like Droste or Valrhona. -K)
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup half and half

Special equipment: a small offset spatula

Make cookies:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter (or line with parchment paper -K) 2 large baking sheets.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well.
Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth.
Drop rounded teaspoons of batter 1 inch apart onto baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Make peanut butter frosting:
Mix peanut butter and butter together with a hand mixer. Gradually blend in the sugar and half and half. Blend until fluffy and light. Can be prepared a day or two in advance, tightly wrapped, and refrigerated. Allow to come to room temperature before using.
Make chocolate frosting:
Mix cocoa and butter together with a hand mixer. Gradually blend in the sugar and half and half. Blend until fluffy and light. Can be prepared a day or two in advance, tightly wrapped, and refrigerated. Allow to come to room temperature before using.
Frost cookies:
With offset spatula, spread peanut butter frosting over half of flat side of each cookie. Starting with cookies you iced first, spread chocolate frosting over other half.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

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Fairytale of New York

Pilate

Listen while you work!

Like Jeanne, let's do Ireland... with a twist, and with a wistful homage to something that has passed away.

In 1987, Irish band The Pogues recorded "Fairytale of New York" with the late, great Kirsty MacColl and here we have Canadian band Pilate (nowadays called Pilot Speed) covering that holiday classic in fine style from the indie Christmas collection, "Maybe This Christmas Tree."