Baltimore Berger Cookies

Years ago, one of my coworkers lived in Baltimore.  Every Christmas she'd send a care package that included boxes of Berger cookies.  Our whole team got excited when that package arrived.  I swear the sole purpose of that cake-like cookie was to transport the thick layer of fudgy frosting.  Sweet, rich and absurd looking.  They're delicious.

It's been several years since the office closed (we moved to home offices) and the care packages stopped.  Yet our team still reminisces about Berger cookies.  So when I came across a recipe for Baltimore Berger Cookies I knew I had to give it a try.

There was going to be unhappiness in this household if I gave all the cookies away.  So I made a double batch of the batter and a batch-and-a-half of the fudge (several cookies were... um... taste-tested prior to frosting).  I would say the recipe's ingredients were very good (I took a commenter's suggestion and swapped out corn syrup for maple syrup).  Taste and texture was what I remembered.  However, the method was all over the place (it instructed to make the frosting both after and before the cookies).  It instructed to frost the top of the cookies, but it should have been the bottom:  real Berger cookies don't have a flat side.  I made a smaller cookie than called for (more to share with a group) - the originals are huge.  I'll need to make notes before I make them again.  And definitely make the full amount of frosting.

I will certainly make these again.  I brought a bunch to a work meeting yesterday and they disappeared almost immediately to a chorus of "These are good!"  I still have some horded in the fridge.  Happiness.