Vanilla Half Moon Cookies (Bakery Style)
These half moon cookies are pillowy soft cookies with half chocolate half vanilla icing which creates this iconic New York cookie!
Ingredients
- 4.58 oz Butter softened
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
- ⅓ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- ⅓ cup Sour cream room temp, full fat
- 1 ⅔ cups Flour AP
- ⅓ teaspoon Baking powder
- ⅓ teaspoon Baking soda
For the icing
- 2 cups Powdered sugar
- 3-4 teaspoon Milk or more if needed
- 1 tablespoon Corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon Cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and sugar, and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's creamy and light in color.
- Add the eggs, and mix until combined and creamy.
- Add the sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Then, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix with the hand mixer until just combined. Do not overmix!
- Use a 2 tbsp cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a regular tablespoon, 2 tablespoons at a time.
- Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 10-11 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and they have a light golden brown color.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the icing
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract and mix with a small whisk until you get a creamy and smooth mixture.
- Divide the icing into 2 separate bowls, and add the sifted cocoa powder plus 1-2 tablespoon of milk. Whisk and add more milk if the mixture is too thick.
- Using a small offset spatula, cover half of each cookie (flat side up) with vanilla icing and chocolate icing. I recommend drawing a line down the middle to create a perfect borderline.
- Allow the icing to set on each cookie before serving. Place them in the fridge for 20 minutes to speed up to setting process.
Notes
- Our top tip of these is adding icing to the bottom side of the cookie instead of the top. The flat surface is easier to frost and will give you a perfect black and white cookie, and it's also the classic way to make them.
- If the icing is too thick, add a tablespoon or more until you get the right consistency.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Nutrition
Calories: 267kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 224mgPotassium: 70mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 425IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!