Monday, March 15, 2024

Half Moon Cookies

Half Moon Cookies 

I have never been there, but family members are always bragging about a cookie they would get at the Harrison Bakery in Syracuse, New York. They called it the Half Moon Cookie. I just had to find out about this little delicacy so I set out to find the recipe. Wow! Not only did I find many variations of this cookie, I found multiple names for it. Seems like this is a popular little cookie.       Half Moon Cookies Black and White Cookies Amerikaners       Each recipe differs a bit too. There are chocolate cookies and vanilla cookies. Some come with a simple confectioner’s frosting and some with butter cream frosting.       Several were a thinner, crispier cookie, while various ones were a thick chewy type cookie.       I decided to try the following recipe, and I was very happy with the results.      

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

Makes approximately 30 cookies (unless, of course, you are a dough eater like I am)

Cookie Ingredients
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup shortening
1 egg
2 cups cake flour
3 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder – the better grade the cocoa the better the cookie
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Cookie Preparations
Cream the sugar, brown sugar and the shortening.
Add egg to the mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder until cocoa is distributed throughout.
Add this to the wet ingredients and alternate with milk a little at a time, mixing well, until thoroughly combined.
This mixture will resemble a thick cake batter.
Scoop and drop onto lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes and remove from oven.
Before placing on a wire rack to cool, let the cookies sit on the pan for a minute or two.      

Frosting Ingredients
4 TBL (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
¼ tsp salt
2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
3 TBL hot milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ounce melted bittersweet chocolate (reserve this for the chocolate half of cookie)

Combine all ingredients except the cocoa.
Beat until smooth. Divide this mixture in half.
Add the melted chocolate to half the mixture and stir well.
Keeping the frosting slightly warmer than room temperature allows for easier spreading.      

A couple of tips, using a cookie scoop (an ice cream scoop will work too) works best. I used a 1 ½ tablespoon one. Do not freeze these cookies. They will come out very hard and dry. Wrapping each one separately in plastics keeps them nice and fresh. This is quite a job, however. And of course, well just more temptation to eat more!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        A printable version of this is available Half Moon Cookie Recipe

And we have a free printable recipe card available Half Moon Cookie Recipe Card

This is a pdf file, if you do not have Adobe Reader Installed get it free Adobe Reader