Passover starts Wednesday, and while this year’s Seders will be different from all other Seders, i.e. virtual, they can be just as delicious—especially with the baking experts at William Greenberg on your side. “Our customers love our black and white cookies so much that those who celebrate Passover—meaning they can’t eat leavened bread or any flour that’s been allowed to rise even a little—don’t want to go without them,” said the bakery’s owner, Carol Becker. “So we make a version using a combination of potato starch and matzo cake meal. The base has a cakier texture than our original, but the frostings taste the same.”
The bakery has agreed to share its recipe, Passover style, here. One note: If you make them ahead of time, store the cookies in an airtight container.
Happy Passover from Hudson Yards!
PASSOVER BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES
Makes about 16 large cookies
INGREDIENTS:
For the cookies:
- 1¾ cups potato starch
- ¾ cup matzo cake meal*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup margarine, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
For the icing:
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar**
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3½ ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions:
To make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In small bowl, whisk potato starch, matzo cake meal, baking powder and salt.
- In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or working with electric beaters and a large bowl, beat margarine and granulated sugar together on medium until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, and beat until well combined, two to three minutes. The mixture will look curdled. Stir in almond milk. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients until fully incorporated.
- Drop batter using two-ounce cookie scoop (or ¼-cup measuring cup) two inches apart onto prepared sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, about 15 minutes, until tops are dry and spring back to the touch when lightly pressed. Cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
To make the icing:
- To make the icings: In a small saucepan, combine granulated sugar and ½ cup water. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Put confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Bring 2 tablespoons of water to a boil in a saucepan or microwave and add to the bowl, along with lemon juice and vanilla; stir until smooth. White icing should be spreadable consistency, neither runny nor stiff. If it is too stiff, stir in sugar syrup, 1 tablespoon at a time, until soft enough to spread.
- Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water or in 20-second increments in the microwave. Stir until smooth, then allow to cool slightly. Add sugar syrup, 1 tablespoon at a time, until chocolate is soft enough to spread; it will initially firm up, but loosen again with additional syrup. Spread flat sides of cookies with white icing on one half and black on the other half. Let stand on rack until icings set.
* Matzo cake meal is finer than regular matzo meal. It’s worth seeking it out for a finer-textured cookie.
** To make confectioners’ sugar for Passover, pulse 1½ cups granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons potato starch together in a food processor.
Hudson Yards