Cranberry's

Given the 23° weather and NFL playoff games, I decided not to stray too far from my apartment for this week's cookie. Cranberry's, located on the corner of Henry & Cranberry Streets in Brooklyn Heights is your standard muffin/coffee/cookie corner shop. The general local consensus is that this place is what it is; I've been told the coffee is often burnt and sandwiches are nothing special. What is special, however, is their unique twist on the black and white cookie.

From there outside, there is nothing to incidcate that your first bite into this swell lookin' cookie will be anything but expected delicousness. What throws your mouth immediately for a twist, as you will notice, is that this is no ordinary black and white cookie. Oh no, it is not, for the cookie, is chocolate. Yes, it's a chocolate black and white, and what I think of it follows if you can move your eyes off of the following picture...

Here's the deal. If you are the type of person to avoid/share the chocolate part of the traditional b&w because it is too sweet, you can stop reading right now. If you enjoy the chocolate part, is I do, you'll find that the vanilla part of Cranberry's cookie is a culinary explosion. It's like switching up a regular b&w, only more interesting. The icing is great on both sides. I personally don't have a huge sweet tooth, and found that by the time I had devoured half of the chocolate side, I just couldn't take any more. It's absurdly sweet, and it takes a special kind of person to make it through this entire cookie.

The Good
-$2, which I'm beginning to realize is the standard price for a B&W
-Icing is superb
-The cookie...is CHOCOLATE

The Bad
-If you can't handle anything too sweet, you might not be able to eat the vanilla side, let alone the chocolate

Lassen & Hennigs

Located just a few blocks from where I live in Brooklyn Heights is Lassen & Hennigs, a place equally divided between bakery and prepared foods. Located on Montague Street between Henry & Hicks, L&H has been around since 1949. When you first walk in, you notice a large baked goods display to your left, but there's no black and whites to be found; that's because they're in the refrigerated case with the cakes, and rightfully so.

Because, as you can see...

It's practically a cake. In lieu of standard icing, it's more like black and white frosting, on about an inch and a half cake base. Biting into this cookie is like biting into a cupcake of some sort, it's an interesting experience. The frosting isn't overly sweet, which was a nice surprise given how much of it there is.

Overall, I have to recommend L&H's B&W based on the uniqueness. It's a good cake, and good frosting, though certainly not your standard cookie. At $1.95, you can easily get 2 servings out of this one 'cookie.' They offer a wide array of other goods, and their prepared foods are solid as well, so if you're in the neighborhood, it's definitely worth stopping by.

The Good
-Always fresh
-Frosting isn't too sweet
-Enough cookie for 2 servings
-Delicious cake

The Bad
-Not really a cookie

The Donut Pub

I begin my black and white cookie hunt on the northwest corner of 14th street and 7th avenue at The Donut Pub. When you walk inside, you are greeted by an L-shaped counter with stools, often filled with people grabbing a donut and some coffee. The Donut Pub is open 24 hours a day and features a variety of donuts, muffins, crossiants, and other breakfast fare.

The black and whites are $2 each and are a nice size and weight. The first thing you notice upon biting in is the fresh, definitely containing no artifical sugars, and just a tad too sweet icing. It's a shame, really, because you can tell that this icing is special, it's just the tiniest bit too sweet that while chewing you can't really taste the cookie. I had to take a few bites without icing to get a feel for the rest of the b&w, and it is certainly tasty. I've had cookies from the Pub before, and couldn't recall them being so sweet, so perhaps I'll have to give them another try. But for now...

The Good

-Very fresh

-Quality cookie

-Open 24/7

-Not lemony (a taste which I don't think suits b&w's)

The Bad

-$2 is a bit towards the expensive end of b&w's that aren't from midtown delis

-Icing a little bit too sweet for my taste

...and the desert porn of the rest of Donut Pub's offerings