NYC style Black and White cookies in Chicago?

Hi does anyone know of any bakeries in Chicago that sell true NYC style black and white cookies, with the cake batter not the hard cookie batter that a lot of Chicago deli's pass on as black and whites. Thanks

They can be purchased at both Lou Mitchell's and Max & Benny's. I'm not sure who actually bakes them, though. At one point, I thought it was Bridgeport Bakery, since they do most fo the baking for Mitchell's, but it turns out that they do not bake the B/W cookies.

Lou Mitchell's
565 W. Jackson
Chicago, IL
312-939-3111

Max & Benny's
461 Waukegan
Northbrook, IL
847-272-9490

Olivia's Market in Bucktown has black-and-whites flown in from NYC. If you're looking for big volume, they might not be the place to look -- they usually only have 1-2 dozen.

I've never had them, but I think they run for 1.50 or 2 bucks ea (!!).

Olivia's Market
2014 W. Wabansia
(773) 227-4220

North Shore Bakery on Touhy does black and whites NY Style. The cookies are lemony with a somewhat cakey texture and of course the hard icing.

This is a kosher bakery, and I think (not positive) that the cookies are parve, meaning made without butter. They taste good to me, but if you want a really buttery cookie, then look elsewhere.

They don't always have them at the bakery, so it's worth a phone call before you go over there. I have had more luck finding them at my local Jewel in Skokie, at the corner of Skokie Ave. and Gross Pt. Rd. Of course keep in mind they are closed from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.

North Shore Bakery
2921 W. Touhy
Chicago, IL 60645
773 262-0600

I went on a quest a few years ago and didn't come up with much. There is a place on Devon that supposedly has them but they didn't when I tried and it was one of the more unpleasant experiences I've had in a business (person behind the counter was downright hostile). The place on Touhy does have them and Franabana is correct in that they usually only have a few if any ready but are more than happy to make as many as you want if you call ahead. However, they aren't very good.

When I'm in NYC I'm a black & white addict, having at least 2 a day. Here, I don't even bother as the ones on Touhy don't fill my craving in any way.

I'm interested in trying out the place in Bucktown, though. That sounds like the best option right now.

CMC wrote:
When I'm in NYC I'm a black & white addict, having at least 2 a day. Here, I don't even bother as the ones on Touhy don't fill my craving in any way.

I'm interested in trying out the place in Bucktown, though. That sounds like the best option right now.

Don't dismiss the two entries I posted, even though they are restaurants. I'm a big B&W Cookie fan and both LM's and M&B's have the real deal. M&B has a full deli/bakery, where they sell the cookies, so thay may have a respectable quantity on hand. They can certainly make/order as many as you need.

Hi,

I have seen, but not tasted, Black and Whites at Burt's Deli in Libertyville. I would call in advance to ask them about their cookie's style before traveling.

("Fill your belli" at )Burt's Deli
Green Tree Plaza (on Milwaukee Avenue between 22 and 176)
114 Green Tree Parkway
Libertyville
Tel: 847/367-9687

Hours: Monday-Saturday: 9-5, Close Sunday

Regards,

I'm suprised no one has mentioned HP Schmaltz's in Naperville yet. I gotta confess, I NEVER knew what this fuss about black and white cookies was before I went there. I had no idea AT ALL, that is its not so much a cookie but something akin to cake, or as my wife calls it, a muffin top.

HP Schmaltz imports them from a bakery in Brooklyn. I s'pose that makes them authentic. They certainly do not taste stale, which is good too. (And the rest of thes stuff there is pretty darn ok too!)

H.P. Schmaltz & Co.
1512 N. Naper Blvd
suite 152 (Behind TGI Friday's)
Naperville, IL 60563

Ph: 630-245-7595

http://www.schmaltzdeli.com

Thanks for the advice, I will check out the one in Naperville. Someone brought up Max and Benny's in Northbrook. They do in fact have cookies with a black and white icing but they are the hard type of cookie and not the cake batter. Those are not the real NYC traditional black and white cookie.

B,

North Shore Bakery has Black and White Cookies, they usually make them on Monday, sometimes Tuesday. North Shore will make special runs for customers for as few as 6. Call first.



Enjoy,
Gary

North Shore Kosher Bakery
2919 W Touhy Ave
Chicago, IL 60645
773-262-0600

Thanks for the heads up on the Naperville location. I'm out that way once in a while so I'll give it a shot. I will also give the restaraunt options a try too. Thanks! (for making it harder to lose weight).

The black and white described from Max & Benny's sounds like the black and white I had at the chocolate store/bakery (whatever it's called) on Broadway just south of Belmont. All cookie. Good, but not a true black and white.

They also have them at Bennison's in Evanston. I think they are OK, not great. But they are the cakey kind.

Bennison's is on the corner of Davis and Maple in Evanston, just W. of the Davis street El and Metra stops.

I was at the Whistle Stop, a kind of upscale grocery/bakery/Deli in Union Pier, MI yesterday when I noticed a basket of Black and White Cookies. They were individually wrapped in plastic and from a kosher bakery in Brooklyn called Angel's or something like that. I was very excited because I always get some when I go back to NY. However, they were almost inedible. I made my husband try one, too, and we both threw them in the garbage. I think I've had them from North Shore, and they are not the same as the NY ones.

brschwartz wrote: They do in fact have cookies with a black and white icing but they are the hard type of cookie and not the cake batter. Those are not the real NYC traditional black and white cookie.

I don't really have any experience with real ny black & whites, but the above makes me think that the base is a softish sugar cookie?

for that (base at least) thought not black and white iced, I would highly recommend the cookies at Al's Deli in Evanston. On Noyes by the el, hours are fairly short - I think 11am to 4 pm

zim wrote:

brschwartz wrote: They do in fact have cookies with a black and white icing but they are the hard type of cookie and not the cake batter. Those are not the real NYC traditional black and white cookie.

I don't really have any experience with real ny black & whites, but the above makes me think that the base is a softish sugar cookie?

for that (base at least) thought not black and white iced, I would highly recommend the cookies at Al's Deli in Evanston. On Noyes by the el, hours are fairly short - I think 11am to 4 pm

See, that's what's interesting about this whole quest. The New Yawkers always knew what they wanted, but us hicks really had no clue. It's called a cookie but it aint a cookie at all. It is really like eating a thin slice of cake. And I can see now why these threads go on all the time. It would be like if someone posted on Chowhound/New York for Italian beef and got sent for a really good roast beef sammy.

I gotta say, the ones at Naperville deli have shown me that, they can be very good things to eat.

Rob

Olivia's Market in Bucktown has the real thing. They get their black and whites from Sweet Sams bakery in the Bronx. They are the best!

Something in the back of my mind keeps telling me that they have cake-like B&Ws in the food court of Marshall Field's State Street Store in the basement.

I tried the cookie at Olivia's today. I'm glad to report that it's pretty darn good. It's actually a little TOO cake-like, but I'd rather it be too cake-like than too cookie-like. The frosting is quite good, could be a little thicker but I'm not going to quibble--it's definitely better than some of the black and whites I've tried in New York (but not as good as the best places I've tried). It's so much like a cake and the frosting isn't as thick as my favorite places in Brooklyn so it's a lot less filling, which, I suppose, is a good thing if I'm going to be eating these more often.

My next stop will be Naperville. However, it might be weeks before I get out there.

I just returned from Olivia's. Sorry to say that what they've got is NOT like the Black & Whites I had from the bakeries in the Bronx where I grew up. The top wasn't bad but the bottom was too cake-like and didn't have the right flavor. I'm going to make my husband bring one from Max & Benny's.

Max and Benny's is nothing like a black and white nyc cooking, its basically a suger cookie with hard black and white frosting...

I'm so-so on the B&W, but for those of you who are B&W fans and know them from NYC, how much variability is there among NYC B&Ws (i.e. in-city bakeries)? Is it more consistent within the city than the versions you find other places?

The cookie I associate most with NYC is the pignoli, mostly because that's where I always have them. But of course, I've had bad pignolis in the city and now rely on the consistency of the two bakeries my mother-in-law frequents.

I guess I'm just wondering -- in this quest for a B&W, are folks looking for a NYC B&W, or an NYC B&W that they once had at _______ Bakery in Brooklyn/Bronx/Queens/Manhattan/Staten Island?

Zee

As a native Chicagoan who's tried about 15 places for black and whites (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens) I'm not as qualified to answer as a native New Yorker but I'm pretty confident that there is some consistency. Some have better chocolate frosting, others better vanilla, some both. The cookies themselves, while always being cake-like, vary a little in size and thickness. And some bakeries put a small layer of apricot jam over the cookie before putting the frosting on.

So, to answer your question, I think there are many places in New York that could fufill most New Yorkers craving for a black and white regardless of which bakery they frequent the most.

My grandparents lived in Upstate NY and we used to get B+W cookies, but they called them "Half Moon Cookies". They looked like the cookie pictured above, but had chocolate cake. So my question is, do B+W cookies have chocolate cake or vanilla usually? Or is the "Half Moon Cookie" a different thing? This cookie also had pretty thick frosting. Do any of the places in Chicago mentioned above do the chocolate version? I saw the ones at Olivias and they were vanilla...

Thanks for any insight!

emdub wrote:My grandparents lived in Upstate NY and we used to get B+W cookies, but they called them "Half Moon Cookies". They looked like the cookie pictured above, but had chocolate cake. So my question is, do B+W cookies have chocolate cake or vanilla usually? Or is the "Half Moon Cookie" a different thing? This cookie also had pretty thick frosting. Do any of the places in Chicago mentioned above do the chocolate version? I saw the ones at Olivias and they were vanilla...

Thanks for any insight!

The half moons Mrs. JiLS grew up with in Syracuse, New York could be either chocolate or yellow cake. They still sell both pretty much everywhere cookies are sold in Syracuse; I always eat several of each when visiting the inlaws.

While reading these posts it suddenly dawned on me that the cookies (cake) you are talking about was called moon cookies when I was growing up in Chicago. They were cake like and they were something I really didn't like so I haven't tried any here. Try Leonards Bakery. Mark is from an old time Jewish Bakery and he may have them. They are located in Northbrook on Dundee and they sell to many restaurants.
Paulette

NYC Bagel at North Avenue and Sheffield had them when I stopped in. I did not try them, you may want to call and see if they always have them.
http://www.nycbageldeli.com/sandwiches.html

I've checked there several times. Are you sure they have them? Last time you saw them? Not only did they not have them but I might as well been asking for eyeball tacos based on the responses and looks I got from workers there.

Zeeshan wrote:Olivia's Market in Bucktown has black-and-whites flown in from NYC. If you're looking for big volume, they might not be the place to look -- they usually only have 1-2 dozen.

I've never had them, but I think they run for 1.50 or 2 bucks ea (!!).

Olivia's Market
2014 W. Wabansia
(773) 227-4220

I noticed these cookies today. They are from Sweet Sam's in the Bronx. They are priced at $2ea.

E.M.

Fox and Obel also occasionally sells black and whites:



I'm not at all familiar with this cookie, neither Kate nor I have ever had one before, and I thought it was pretty good. Kate, however, was extremely impressed, particularly with the white frosting, about which she rhapsodized at some length. I think it cost about two bucks.

Hyde Park Produce sells black and white cookies. They cost $1.49. I am not sure where they are sourced from, I am positive they are not baked on premises. All in all, a fine example of the style. I am not really in a position to say, though, as I never liked these cookies very much and tend to only eat the bites of others' cookies that I am offered. And I never eat from the chocolate side, because I loathe chocolate. So there is a barely useful data point. My wife just told me that University Mark-Up (Market) also has black and white cookies for sale.

Hyde Park Produce
1310 E 53rd street
Monday-Saturday 8-8
Sunday 8-5

University Market
1323 E. 57th street
I don't know their hours
Probably about the same as the Produce Mart, perhaps open till 9
But don't quote me
Better yet, don't eat in Hyde Park

edited to add price