New York City's Iconic Black-And-White Cookie Is Now A Doughnut

The black-and-white cookie has, for all of time, been an iconic and proud delicacy of New York City. It's been a symbol of all that's great about the Big Apple, and as the great philosopher Jerry Seinfeld once said, "Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet, still, somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie, all our problems would be solved."

Well, the clever guys at Doughnut Plant have taken on the challenge of world peace, and have decided to put their own unique spin on the classic NYC cookie, inventing the black-and-white doughnut. Founder and doughnut mastermind Mark Israel is pretty tightlipped on how it's made, but essentially, it's a cake doughnut that seamlessly fuses the two flavors of the black and white cookie into one doughnut in a way that is a little more complex than it looks.

While the doughnut might look like a half-black and half-white doughnut, it's actually a half dark chocolate cake dough, with Valrhona chocolate glaze doughnut on one half, and a white chocolate dough with glaze doughnut on the other. When bit open, you'll be able to see the contrasting colors effortlessly joined together in perfect harmony.

The company has been making them since 2016 and currently turns out up to 1,000 each week. All the doughnuts are handmade daily, and, unusual for a cake doughnut, are all made without eggs. The end result is a dense but not heavy pastry that provides a satisfyingly rich dark chocolate cake bite, with a pleasantly sweet and creamy chocolate glaze on top, contrasted by the almost playful and lighter white chocolate cake half. Bite into both halves for your first taste of this color mixing duet, and that'll then no doubt be followed by a side switching and alternating back and forth between the two flavors.

It's not the most traditional representation of this East Coast snack, but with every bodega and deli offering its version of the famous local cookie, it only makes sense that embrace both cultural city pride and multicolor unity, and give the black and white doughnut a chance next time you're in New York City. As Seinfeld puts it, "Look to the cookie", or in this case, the doughnut, from the best doughnut shop in the state.