Saturday Spotlight - Hemstrought's Bakeries

I am from central New York (Syracuse) and moved to Cincinnati over 25 years ago.  There are several New York delicacies I still miss. One of them being what I refer to as half moons.  Others call these cookies black and whites.  Hemstrought's Bakeries in Utica, New York shared the recipe they have been using since 1920 and I was thrilled when I found it on the web one day 5 years ago.

I have been promising my good friend Debbie I would make these for well over a year.  Well last Saturday seemed to be the perfect opportunity.  It was Gourmet Club night, I was responsible for dessert and Debbie is part of the Club.

These cookies are super easy to make.  The dough is thick and rich.  The recipe states to make 3" round circle but I recommend you make them a little smaller.  The cookies expand quite a bit.  I made 2.5" circles as seen in the picture on the left.

Here are the baked cookies after rising.  Do not over bake! The cookies should be moist in the middle.   You MUST wait unit the cookies are completely cooled before removing from the parchment paper.  Otherwise you have a sticky mess!

The frostings are awesome!  I often use the vanilla frosting for cupcakes or cake.  It's a great fluffy buttercream delight.  I could eat it by spoonfuls!  If you are not fond of bittersweet chocolate you can use all semi-sweet chocolate morsels in the chocolate frosting.  I have made it both ways and either works.  As you can see from the picture on the left you frost the bottom of the cookies not the top.

Here is the recipe and the directions.

The Original Hemstrought Bakery Half-Moon Cookie

Cook time: 40 Min  Prep time: 40 Min  Serves: 30 (2 1/2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients

COOKIES

3 3/4 c all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 c granulated sugar

1 c butter, cubed

3/4 c cocoa powder, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c milk

FROSTING - CHOCOLATE

3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate

3 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 Tbsp butter

4 1/3 c confectioner's sugar

2 Tbsp corn syrup

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

1 c boiling water

FROSTING - VANILLA

7 c confectioners' sugar

1 c butter, cubed, room temp

1/2 c vegetable shortening

7 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Put sugar, butter, cocoa and salt in bowl of mixer and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat. Add half the milk, then half the flour mixture, beating after each addition until smooth; repeat with remaining milk and flour mixture.

4. Spoon or pipe batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, making 3'' rounds 2'' apart. Bake until cookies are set, about 12 minutes. Allow to cool, then remove from parchment.

5. Frosting - Chocolate: Melt chocolates and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water over medium heat. Add confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and 6 tbsp. boiling water - mix to a smooth, stiff paste with a rubber spatula. Thin icing with up to 8 tbsp. more boiling water. Icing should fall from a spoon in thick ribbons. Keep warm in a double boiler over low heat.

6. Frosting - Vanilla: Put sugar, butter, shortening, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Beat on low speed to mix, then increase to medium and beat until light and fluffy.

7. Using a metal spatula, spread about 1 tbsp. of warm fudge icing on half of the flat side of each cookie. Spread the other half of each cookie with 2 heaping tbsp. vanilla icing.

Do something creative today!

Debi