Black-and-White-and-Green Cookies

From the kitchen of Carly

Buttery shortbread studded with fresh mint, split down the middle with dark chocolate and white icing. These cookies hit that sweet spot between delicate and substantial, with a subtle herbaceous kick that makes them impossible to stop eating.

Black-and-White-and-Green Cookies

Mint-butter dough split three ways, these cookies play visual tricks while delivering real flavor. One half gets the sanding sugar treatment and keeps its pale, delicate color. The other half transforms into a cocoa-dark dough for contrast. The payoff is a cookie that tastes like buttery mint on one side and rich chocolate on the other, without any mixing required.

Prep
n/a
Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 11 oz(320 g)½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more
  • 2 cupmint leaves
  • 1 cupgranulated sugar
  • 1¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 largeegg
  • 1 largeegg yolk
  • 1Coarse sanding sugar or Swedish pearl sugar
  • 1 cuppowdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp. Dutch-process or unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp. light corn syrup

Instructions

  1. Whisk the baking powder, 2½ cups flour, and 1½ tsp. salt together in a medium bowl. In a food processor, pulse the mint and granulated sugar until the mint is finely chopped. Drop in the butter and process until combined, then add the dry ingredients and pulse again. Crack in the egg and egg yolk and pulse until a shaggy dough comes together.

  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it just until it holds its shape. Split it in half, pat each portion into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap both in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

  3. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment to about ¼ inch thick, dusting with extra flour as needed to prevent sticking. Stamp out rounds with a lightly floured 3-inch cookie cutter and arrange them on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Pat the scraps into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for 10 minutes if the dough feels soft, then repeat the rolling and cutting process.

  4. To sugar the edges, hold a bench scraper or straightedge upright about 1 inch from the edge of a cookie to cordon off a shallow semicircle. Do not press it down into the dough; you are creating a barrier, not a cut. Sprinkle sanding sugar over the exposed semicircle and press gently to adhere, then lift the scraper away to reveal a tidy sugared edge. Work through all the cookies the same way.

  5. Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through, until the edges are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to 2 wire racks set inside 2 rimmed baking sheets and let them cool completely.

  6. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Add the corn syrup, a pinch of salt, and 2 Tbsp. warm water, then stir until the glaze is smooth and glossy.

  7. On the undecorated side of each cookie, angle a bench scraper to form a shallow semicircle that meets the sugared edge in a V shape, pressing the scraper lightly into the cookie to act as a barrier. Spoon 1 tsp. of glaze onto the exposed semicircle and use a toothpick to spread it evenly; a little excess dripping over the sides is fine. Lift the scraper straight up and over the chocolate side to create a clean edge. Repeat with the remaining cookies and glaze, then let everything sit until the glaze is fully set, at least 2 hours.

  8. The dough can be made 1 month ahead and frozen; thaw it in the refrigerator before using. Baked cookies keep for 1 day stored tightly wrapped on a rimmed baking sheet at room temperature.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Don't skip the food processor stage. Pulsing the mint with the granulated sugar releases its oils and distributes the flavor evenly through the butter without turning the dough wet or muddy.
  • The bench scraper trick for the sugared edge works because you're creating a dam, not cutting into the dough. Hold it upright and let the sanding sugar do the work, pressing gently so it sticks without cracking the cookie.
  • Chill the dough scraps even if they feel firm enough to roll. A 10-minute rest gives the gluten time to relax and prevents the cookies from shrinking or puffing unevenly in the oven.

Variations

  • Divide the dough into thirds instead of halves: mint, mint-cocoa swirl (cocoa folded in), and plain cocoa. Gives you three flavor tiers on a single batch.
  • Skip the cocoa half and divide the mint dough into plain and pistachio versions using finely ground freeze-dried pistachios in place of cocoa powder.
  • Make matcha-white chocolate version by adding matcha powder to a portion of the dough and coating the other side with white chocolate instead of sanding sugar.
  • Keep the mint-cocoa split but brush the chocolate half with a thin egg wash and top with crushed freeze-dried raspberries before baking for tartness.

Make ahead and storage

Keep these in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They stay crisp and hold their mint and chocolate flavors well. Don't freeze the decorated cookies, as the sanding sugar can absorb moisture and lose its crunch.