Black and white cookies

Ingredients

• 125 g unsalted butter, softened
• 110 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 ml (¼ cup) milk
• 185 g (1¼ cups) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 lemon, zested

Icing

• 320 g (2 cups) pure icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp melted dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

Resting time 30 minutes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until thick and pale. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add vanilla and milk (mixture will look curdled at this stage). Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl, then fold into butter mixture with lemon zest to form a soft batter.

Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Place tablespoonfuls of batter on trays spaced 5 cm apart and smooth tops. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden. Trim edges of biscuits using a round biscuit cutter to create a perfect circle, if desired.

To make icing, combine icing sugar in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of boiling water, stirring until smooth. Divide into 2 bowls and stir melted chocolate into one. Spread one half of each biscuit with white icing and the other side with chocolate icing. Place on a wire rack and stand for 30 minutes or until icing has set.

Photography Ben Dearnley. Food preparation Phoebe Wood. Styling Vivien Walsh.

As seen in Feast magazine, July 2014, Issue 33.