In the battle of the best black-and-white cookie in uptown New York, there are two bakeries that popularly stand out among the countless that sell this delight: Glaser’s and William Greenberg Jr. Desserts, both hailing from the tony Upper East Side, and both gaining mentions in other press for selling superlative cookies.

But can a locally known Bronx bakery, Mother’s, take on and take out these two titans? This battle royal would be every cookie for itself, each one standing on its own two icings. Along with their sugary sheaths in both ebony and ivory, the comestibles would be judged on look, taste, and texture. Top-notch candidates should be ultra-fresh, moist and cakey but still true to their cookie name, and the exterior glaze must be chocolate and vanilla aplenty, yet not take anything away from its downstairs neighbor.

Glaser’s might as well have a sign saying “Cheers” on its outside: The bakery hands out free mini black-and-whites the day after a sellout, if customers had left empty-handed the day before. Herb — one half of the brothers Glaser who crank out the daily goods — told this writer that he makes his cookies from precisely measured cake flour and butter, whereas John, his sibling, works fast and uses shortening in his recipe, resulting in a dry cookie. This proved true when the first ones I sampled were of the John variety, and were on the arid side. The ones made fresh by Herb were much more on point, with a super-moist middle and a toothsome cookie quality around the edges. These cookies were baked to camera-ready, with a picture-perfect ratio of icing to cookie. The sugar coating also had a great, moist consistency. I wanted to marry the white side, speaking loudly with vanilla flavor, whereas its compadre was much more subtle, with cocoa fingers that pinched my cheeks but didn’t slap me. These would have been declared the ultimate victor if not for the inconsistency between family recipe results. Bottom line: Call before you head to Glaser’s and make sure Herb’s cookies are being sold.

Each cookie on offer at Greenberg’s comes in its own pristine, plastic package, apropos of its Madison Avenue abode. This presentation, in the realm of black-and-whites, is usually the omen of a convenience-store imitation. The confection looks like a shiny new car that just came off the assembly line, a tad too perfect, with icing painted on with near-computerized precision. The fudgy, cocoa flavor worked on the dark side, while its vanilla fraternal twin did not hold its own weight in taste; I found it to be cloyingly sweet. But the ultimate decision between chute and ladder on this cookie was the base of it. One can’t, in good conscience, call it a cookie. It is an extraordinary mini black-and-white cake in round, flattish form — but it is only cookie in name. It has moist, cakey qualities, but it is all chocolate-and-vanilla bark and no bite. A couple of the cookies were even a shade on the underdone side. Although I like cake-batter flavor in ice cream, it has no place in baked goods. The “cookie” was fluffy, like my favorite childhood pillow, but when my teeth sank in, it left me empty.

The cookie that filled the void was from Mother’s. I must report I was left breathless on my first visit (around 3 p.m. on a Thursday), when I looked in the glass cases, the racks in the window and behind the counter, only to find nary a black-and-white cookie. Call and place your order before making this worthwhile trip.

These outer-borough beauties tickled my nostrils with lemon while sporting a homemade black-and-white sugar suit. With one nibble, a slight citrus taste burst forth, adding a third voice to this usual duet. Continuing to chomp, I was delighted by crusty, crisp edges of cookie that yielded to a soft, cakey center. This was no cake in cookie clothing. The chocolate flavor on the black side flexed its strong muscle, glistening and oozing with delicious cocoa power, and the white expanse had just the right amount of sweetness and vanilla. The nice contrast between perimeter and core, icing and ideal mouthfeel, makes me proud to announce the champ is really here.

After our clash of the titans, two Goliaths were left in the confectioners’ sugar dust by the little Bronx bakery that could, and the taste test shows that Mother’s knows best.

$1.50 at Glaser’s Bake Shop (1670 First Ave., between 87th and 88th streets, 212-289-2562).

$3.50 at William Greenberg Jr. Desserts (1100 Madison Ave., between 82nd and 83rd streets, 212-744-0304).

$2.25 at Mother’s Bake Shop (548 W. 235th St., between Oxford and Johnson avenues, Riverdale, Bronx, 718-796-5676).