My take on a classy cookie that doesn’t make you decide–get your vanilla AND chocolate frosting fix. A crisp shortbread cookie covered in a beautiful and striking glaze. Fancy enough for parties, or just a lazy afternoon with a tall glass of milk. Free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. Top eight free and vegan too!
Black and white has been one of my favorite combos. Have you seen my husband and I? We’re about as Ebony and Ivory as they get.
There’s just something so iconic about these two ends of the color spectrum. There’s a reason why black and white photo prints are still around, even though color printing gets better and higher quality every day. Even my wedding colors were black and white as well–I wanted to keep it classic; and it just had touches of red for accents. Eight years later and I’m still happy when I look back at wedding pictures. My goal was that it wouldn’t be a fad and would be everlasting so that when we look back on our wedding in 50 years we won’t think–what were we thinking??
I just love opposites, so when I saw the famous black and white cookies I just knew I had to make them allergy-friendly. After several attempts, I think I finally mastered my shortbread, and so all I had to do was frost them!
I found using an angled spatula really helped not mess up the lines. Also, I think it helps to frost the white side first, that way if you need to, it’s easy to cover it with chocolate when you do the next side. It may seem daunting, but I went pretty fast and was still happy with the turn out. It’s not as hard as it looks.
And, this glaze is the PERFECT consistency thanks to the corn syrup. It’s wet enough to be easily spreadable, and dries perfectly with a great finish.
I think these are fancy enough that I might use them for my friend’s baby shower coming up. Yet, they’re tasty enough that I’ll let my kids dig into them for an afternoon snack–you really can’t go wrong.
And, my favorite part is that you get to have two delicious frostings in one cookie. It’s such a great balance between sweet vanilla and dark chocolate. I love to take a bite from each side!
Feel extra fancy and get to making these delicious cookies!
Black & White Cookies (Gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nut free; top 8 free; vegan)
My take on a classy cookie that doesn't make you decide--get your vanilla AND chocolate frosting fix. A crisp shortbread cookie covered in a beautiful and striking glaze. Fancy enough for parties, or just a lazy afternoon with a tall glass of milk. Free of: gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut and tree nuts. Top eight free and vegan too!
Ingredients
- SHORTBREAD COOKIE:
- 3/4 cup vegan butter substitute
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla rice milk
- 2 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- GLAZE:
- 1 1/2 cups powder sugar
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter substitute and sugar. Afterwards, add the vanilla extract, rice milk, and salt. Once that is incorporated, slowly add the gluten-free flour blend. Make sure your gluten-free flour blend does not include xanthan, as you want these cookies nice and flat for easy frosting.
- Very lightly flour a clean, flat surface with some powdered sugar. Roll the dough until it's 1/2 inch thick.
- Use a round cookie cutter, and cut out the cookies. The dough is still fragile, so be careful moving them onto a greased cookie sheet. As the cookies will not spread, you can fit 12 to a sheet.
- Move the cookies to the preheated oven and cook just 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are EVER SO slightly browning. Anything longer and they will be way too hard. It's OK if they're still soft when you pull them out of the oven.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- While they're cooling make the glaze.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powder sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and 1 Tablespoon water until smooth.
- Eye ball half of the frosting and move it to anther bowl. Add the cocoa into the second bowl, adding more water, a 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until it's the same consistency as the white icing.
- To frost your cookies, start with the white icing and only frost half of the cookie. Then, frost the other half with the chocolate frosting.
- Allow the glaze to set and then enjoy. Keep covered at room temperature.
Notes
<span class="mceItemHidden" data-mce-bogus="1"><span></span>*Notes: be sure your gluten-free flour does not have a leavening agent like xanthan gum in it.</span>
Cookie adapted from: A Dash of Sanity and glaze adapted from: Epicurious
Don’t forget to pin this for later so you don’t lose it!
Hi! I’m Megan, a mom to four kids, two with multiple food allergies & one with EOE. I’m a published cookbook author that constantly tweaks recipes to make them allergy friendly–it’s an addiction. I share every recipe & tip with the hope that they help you as you manage your food allergies & dietary restrictions. You can still be awesome, even with food allergies!
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Deborah
I hate using corn syrup; is there anything I can substitute for the corn syrup in the frosting and maintain the proper consistency?
Megan Lavin
Hi Deborah. I don’t use corn syrup very often, but it’s sometimes worth it to me because of the tacky consistency it imparts. I’ve never tried it with anything else. My only guess (though I don’t know if it would work) would be brown rice syrup.
phantom
Your article is truly informative. In addition to that,
it is interesting, compelling and well-written. I would want to see even more of these types of good writing.
Kuro
Which brand of gluten free flour do you use? I use Bob’s Red Mill but it had xantham in it.
Test
Greetings! Quick question that’s completely off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird
when viewing from my iphone4. I’m trying to find a template or
plugin that might be able to fix this issue. If you have any suggestions, please
share. Cheers!
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I’m sorry Michal–I’m not tech savvy. I believe when I bought my template, I made sure it was one that was mobile friendly. I’m only food smart–but I’m sure there are lots of resources out there. Best of luck!
Alisa Fleming
What a feat! I’ve never seen this type of cookie made allergen-free, let alone with such a perfect crumb!
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Thanks Alisa–that’s a huge compliment, since I feel you have your finger on the pulse of all things food-allergy related! 🙂
Jenni
What gorgeous cookies
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Thanks so much Jenni! 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
These are so pretty! Awesome that they’re free of so many allergens, too.
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Thanks so much Maya! 🙂 Yes, I hope they’ll be super inclusive, no matter the allergies.
Wendy
These look so amazing! Hard to believe how allergy-friendly they are.
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Thank you Wendy! 🙂
Amanda
When I was in college I loved these! Haven’t had once since going gluten free, I need to make them!
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I hope they bring back good memories for you and help you enjoy them again! 🙂 Best thing is when you’re able to re-create one of your favs. 🙂
Elle @ Only Taste Matters
What a fanatic twist on a classic! They’re now accessible to everyone.
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Thanks Elle! Yes, I hope this helps more people be able to enjoy them.
Lauren Gaskill
I’ll take the whole batch for myself please! Love these!
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I did have to give some away so I didn’t eat them all! 🙂
Sandi (@fearless_dining)
Gorgeous cookies…I love that they have both icings!
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Thanks Sandi! Yes, sometimes it’s just too difficult to choose between choc and vanilla…why not have both? 🙂
Brianna Hobbs
These are beautiful cookies! Perfect for the holidays in a few months.
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Thanks Brianna! Yes, I hope to put them in a few holiday cookie round ups and reuse them then, but I just couldn’t wait! 🙂
Celeste
That melted chocolate! It’s about bedtime but all I want now are a few of these cookies!
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Looking at food photos right before bed is the worst. I always go to bed hungry! 🙂
Gluten Free With Emily
These look amazing! I have been wanting to make them during the Holidays!
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Thanks Emily! Yes, I hope to put them into some holiday recipe round ups and refresh them then. 🙂
keeley mcguire
Um, yes please! Can’t wait to try these!
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I hope you enjoy them. Thanks Keeley!
Nutrimom
Oh my-I remember getting these when we would go to the deli !!
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They’re definitely a classic! 🙂
Erica D.
If you happened to use an AP with levening agents, it would just be more cake-like, right?
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Hey Erica! I’ve never done it, but my semi-educated guess would be that they would dome in the middle. No big deal, just harder to frost with this design. If you try it, let me know!
Tiffany deSilva
These look so tasty, yet elegant! I’m sure my kids would love them! They’d be great for a dinner party, too.
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Thanks Tiffany! I love that they’re versatile–like you say, great for kids AND a dinner party. Enjoy 🙂
Kelly @ TastingPage
Mmmmm, cookies! Even better – allergy free cookies!
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Yes, allergy cookies are the best! 🙂 Thanks Kelly!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
O goodness! Yes!! These are so awesome Megan! Love it!
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Thanks so much @Rebecca!!!