yinyang black and white cookies;

These light and fluffy cake puff cookies are light and airy, taking black and white cookies to the next level with a perfect balance of yin and yang! Yinyang black and white cookies include a swirl of chocolate and a swirl of vanilla, studding each half with the appropriate opposite colored chocolate chips–semisweet and white chocolate.

Sometimes you need a light and airy cookie with all the heavy holiday cookies in your tin. Plus I know we could all use a little balance around the holidays, so get a delicious balance of vanilla AND chocolate! Yum~

If you’re not familiar with yinyangs, they are an Eastern philosophical concept that represents balance. Opposing forces yin and yang swirl together to form an interconnected whole. The symbolism of the yinyang applies to many forces, seen in the world around us to represent change and harmony.

Yang is the white or light force, the active force, representing masculine energy, music, and the sun. Yin is the receptive force, meaning feminine energy, ritual, and the sun. There is an intrinsic connection between humans and nature and the movement on yin and yang.

So in these yinyang black and white cookies, the vanilla swirl is the “yang” and the chocolate swirl is the “yin”. Each swirl is studded with the opposing force, a “taijitu”. The dots represent the seeds that each grows with. Neither can exist without the other and yin and yang are inherently connected. Of course, we need the chocolate to help represent these seeds!

This recipe is derived from my original spice cake crinkle cookies but to control the swirls and get a yinyang cookie, you will need some piping bags. When piping each half of the yinyang black and white cookies, you want to start with one flavor, e.g. vanilla and make a comma shape on you prepared pan. I try my best to make them about 2½” in diameter, but to be honest I definitely had some variation in the size of my cookies.

Make sure both flavors of batter are mixed well. The batter is thick, but it needs to be pipeable and lumps can clog your piping tips.

secret to success

Make sure your batter is mixed well. This batter is thick, but it needs to be pipeable so you can create your yinyang. Lumps can clog your piping tips and make it very hard to get nice, even swirls. If you do get some lumps clogging your tip, grab a toothpick, and poke at it through the tip to shift or break up the clot.

Prepare your chocolate chips immediately after popping your yinyang black and white cookies into the oven to bake. You want to move quickly and press the chocolate chips into the freshly baked cookies before they set. Take a white chocolate chip and press it into the fat part of the chocolate “yin” comma, and do the same on the other side. Take that semisweet chocolate chip and press it into the “yang” vanilla comma. Then make sure not to touch the cookies while they cool, otherwise, your risk smudging your perfect circles!

Prepare your chocolate chips as soon as the cookies go into bake. You’ll want to move quick to press them into the freshly baked cookies before they set.

secret to success

Be prepared to eat some evidence! I found it took me a couple of cookies to get a good handle on the swirls, and not all of my cookies were perfect. Maybe you’ll be better than me, but worst-case scenario, eat some evidence! Also, unless you’re perfectly even and steady (I’m not) you may have an uneven amount at the end. You can always make a traditional half-black and half-white cookie or separate vanilla and chocolate cake cookies if the batter ends up uneven at the end.

Unless you’re perfectly even and steady with piping (I’m not), you may have an uneven amount at the end. You can always make a traditional black & white cookie, or separate vanilla and chocolate cookies if needed.

secret to success

secrets to success;

Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!

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more recipes;

Looking for other easy and delicious recipes? Try these yummy options:

• Easy three ingredient no-bake apple butter truffles make for a lovely apple cinnamon treat, and are a perfect way to use up any leftover apple butter! You can even make your own slow cooker apple butter if you have a lot of apples around.
• For an easy snack for dinner, lunch, or on the go, try these easy cheesy beef empanadas.
• Try this healthful protein yogurt in two flavors strawberries and cream & cookie dough for a delicious and sweet snack.