YIN AND YANG WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE
Notes:
Besides looking pretty, these white chocolate cookies with dark chocolate might end up being some of the best tasting you’ve ever had. The addition of white chocolate in the cookie batter naturally brings notes of butterscotch and caramel in addition to the butter, sugar, and vanilla flavors. The texture of these cookies is also divine, they are a little crisp on the outside and light because of the thin profile, but chewy and fudgy all at once. I also recommend using a really good dark chocolate, preferably with a cacao content near 70%.
As long as you’re careful scooping the batter/dough (using a leveled off amount for each scoop) the cookies will naturally round out without much fuss.
The addition of coconut oil to the dark chocolate will soften it a bit and make it shinier, and also allows us to melt the dark chocolate quickly without a double boiler process. Don’t eyeball the amount of coconut oil you add otherwise the chocolate may end up too stiff if too little is added and separate when microwaving, or too liquid if you add too much. Generally you want to add 1 tbsp of coconut oil per 1 cup of dark chocolate.
If transporting these cookies it would be good to lay them side by side otherwise you may see some chocolate transfer from cookie to cookie if they are stacked at room temp. But you can also stack them and put some parchment paper in between each cookie.
I weighed the ingredients out for this one so the weight in grams will be more precise than the “cup” amounts.
Ingredients:
White chocolate: ~3/4 cup (125 g)
Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup (113 g)
Eggs (room temp): 2
Granulated sugar: ~3/4 cup (150 g)
Salt (I used pink Himalayan): 1 tsp
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
AP flour: ~1 cup (160 g)
Dark chocolate, chopped (~70% cacao content): 1 and 1/3 cup (170 g)
Coconut oil: 4 tsp
Optional: A little extra white chocolate if you decide to do the yin-yang design (also melt with a proportional amount of coconut oil).
Equipment:
Stand mixer with whisk attachment, or an electric hand mixer
Piping bags will be needed if you decide to do the yin-yang design
Medium (1 and 1/2 inch) cookie scoop
Prep time: 20 mins Bake time: 10 mins, Decorating time: 20-45 mins, Total time: 50 mins to 1 hour and 15 mins.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
Melt butter in a skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbly but not browned, ~2-3 minutes.
Remove the pan from heat and when the bubbles settle down pour the white chocolate in. Gently stir the mixture while the residual heat melts the chocolate.
Add the eggs, sugar and kosher salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. (If using a hand mixer, a large bowl will do). Whisk on medium-high speed until the mixture is pillowy and the sugars have begun to dissolve, 3-5 mins.
With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla extract and then the white chocolate mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the chocolate is evenly distributed, then add the flour and mix on low speed until only a few streaks of flour remain. To avoid overmixing, use a spatula to finish folding in the flour. The dough should be glossy and resemble white chocolate brownie batter.
Using a medium cookie scoop to scoop a leveled amount of dough (use a spatula to level and scrape off excess dough from the scoop) into mounds directly onto the lined baking sheets, with each dough portion ~2 inches apart. The mounds should disperse into relatively flat circles on their own. The batter will yield approx. 15 cookies.
Bake for 8-10 mins rotating baking sheets half-way through and from top to bottom racks.
Let the cookies cool completely, and use a spatula to remove them from the baking sheets.
To melt the dark chocolate, place in a small bowl and add the coconut oil. Microwave in 20-30 second bursts and mix with a spatula in between bursts. It should not take long (I was able to melt the chocolate in less than 1 minute) and the coconut oil will prevent the chocolate from separating and remain shiny.
Decorating the cookies:
Option 1 (Yin-Yang):
You can create a yin-yang stencil (as I did in the Instagram reel) to decorate the cookies. Use parchment paper and a marker to trace the outline of a cookie then draw the curve across and cut out one side out. Make sure to orient the “yin” stencil on the same side of every cookie so you don’t end up with some mirrored yin-yangs in the end.
Transfer the melted dark chocolate to a piping bag and cut the very tip off so you will have good control of the stream. Tie or clamp shut the open end of the piping bag. Trace the “yin” curve on the cookie with chocolate then carefully remove the stencil upwards so you don’t drag wet chocolate across the cookie. Then fill in the dark half of the cookie with chocolate. Wash the chocolate off the stencil and pat it dry in between cookies.
Get a tall glass to store the piping bag upside down (i.e., tip faces upwards) in between cookies so the chocolate doesn’t drizzle out when you’re not using it.
You will need to refrigerate the cookies after piping the dark chocolate to solidify it, then you can pipe white chocolate circles on top of the dark chocolate. Refrigerate again after adding the white chocolate and keep the cookies refrigerated until serving, or just eat right away.
Yin-yang stencil:
Make sure to lift the stencil up and towards the dark chocolate so you don’t drag any chocolate onto the light side.
Option 2 (Dip them):
Dip the white chocolate cookies in the dark chocolate. Or if your bowl is not deep enough, transfer to a piping bag and cut the very tip off and draw a line across the middle of each cookie first, then fill in one half with dark chocolate.
Refrigerate the cookies to allow the dark chocolate to solidify.
These cookies keep extremely well in the fridge and will taste great for days.