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NYC's Black & White Cookies, Ranked

Jen Carlson

Published Aug 21, 2015

Modified Aug 21, 2015

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Jen Carlson

Published Aug 21, 2015

Modified Aug 21, 2015

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For such a perfectly simple cookie, the black & white (which is technically a drop cake) can be served up in a variety of ways. There's the dry, packaged up one at your local deli. The one with a thick layer of fluffy frosting spread on top. And the fresh fondant kind. That last one is the most correct kind, in a world lacking in incorrectness.

Keep in mind there is a flexibility to the fondant, meaning it can range in texture—the scale goes from a soft coating to a crisp shell that almost cracks if you break off a piece. Somewhere in-between you'll find perfection. You can spot it from a distance—the cookie coating is not glistening, but it's not too dull, either.

Now diameter and thickness are the only remaining factors. The black & white cookie should be slightly thicker in the middle than at the edges, but NOT TOO THICK. Certainly not much more than an inch, as there needs to be a nice balance between the cookie's cake-like dough and the icing—neither should overpower the experience.

The platonic ideal of the black & white cookie will be found behind a baker's counter, not packaged up and sealed in plastic. Now, onto the city's best...

1. RUSS & DAUGHTERS

(via TripAdvisor)

I have never actually had a black & white cookie from Russ & Daughters, but have they ever fucked anything up? Given their reputation, we're giving them the #1 slot. We are certain that our blind-ranking will not lead you astray.

179 E Houston St (btwn Orchard & Allen), Lower East Side

2. WILLIAM GREENBERG

(via William Greenberg)

We have heard from reliable sources that this is the best black & white cookie. "A B&W is actually a cake and this cake is soft and flavorful, but yields to the perfectly chocolate-y (and vanilla-y) frosting," Matty Jacobs explains, "It is amazingly balanced and delicious." Still, we are putting it in 2nd place because it looks like they skimp on the fondant. You must bring the fondant ALL THE WAY to the edge.

1100 Madison Ave (btwn 82nd St & 83rd St), Upper East Side

3. ZABAR'S

Native New Yorker Rebecca Fishbein believes these are the best of the black & whites, noting, "The cake part is very fresh, and the icing is gooier than you'd expect from a small black & white. It was a Friday night dessert treat back in my youth." Points off for being small, and points off for offering a devil's food cake foundation (which is really more of a traditional half-moon cookie thing), but Zabar's gets the nostalgia vote.

2245 Broadway (btwn West End & Broadway), Upper West Side

4. LESKE'S BAKERY

(via Yelp)

If you must go with a fluffy and frosted top, then Leske's in Bay Ridge does this style the best. Do not order a lot for your evening birthday party picnic, however, a mistake I made one year. These are delicate things, and you will have to carefully lug the boxes to your destination without ruining them, which is even more challenging if you started drinking at 3 that afternoon.

7612 5th Avenue (btwn 76th & 77th Streets), Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

5. GLASER'S BAKERY

(via Yelp)

Okay, fine, you can also get a good frosted one, if that's your thing, at Glaser's. When the NY Times revisited the cookie in 1998, baker Herb Glaser said "that as far as he knew, Glaser's has been making them ever since it opened 96 years ago. 'When I was growing up, I'd have two of them for dessert every day.'"

1670 1st Avenue (btwn 87th & 88th), Upper East Side

HONORABLE POSTHUMOUS MENTION: THE SEINFELD BAKERY

Nevermind, it's closed. The bakery was called Schnitzer's on the show, but was actually called The Royale Pastry Shop. It has since been replaced with a Jenny Craig. Womp womp.

237 West 72nd Street (btwn West End & Broadway), Upper West Side

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black and white cookies

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Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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