My husband is from New York, meaning deli food is a food group in our household. His favorite deli delight? The humble black-and-white cookie. Traditionally, a black-and-white cookie has a dense vanilla cookie base —somewhere between a sugar cookie and a whoopie pie — and thick chocolate and vanilla icing. Black-and-white cookies bring back memories of my late father-in-law, originally from the Bronx, who loved nothing more than a Jewish deli. This year, I’ve pumpkinized the beloved cookie with pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice and a touch of brown sugar.

Pumpkin Black-and-White Cookies

Makes: 12

Cookie Batter

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup pumpkin purée
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp. sea salt

Icing

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2-3 Tbs. water, as needed
• 3 Tbs. cocoa
• ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• Pinch sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, brown sugar and pumpkin purée until well combined. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, beating to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and sea salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until combined.

Use ¼ cup scoop or measuring cup to drop batter onto the lined baking sheet. Use the palm of your hand to flatten into circles. Leave 2 inches between each cookie.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookie bottoms are golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to fully cool. (The cookie bottom will become the top when iced, so flip cookies when cooling to prevent indents.)

While the cookies are cooling, make the icing: In a bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, corn syrup, vanilla extract and water until smooth. Add water, 1 Tbs. at a time, until the icing has a spreadable consistency.

Divide the icing in half, adding the cocoa, pumpkin pie spice and sea salt to one half, along with water to thin as needed.

Use an offset spatula to spread the white icing on one half of the cookie. Let dry slightly, and spread the chocolate icing on the opposite half. Allow to set before enjoying.

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