Make Baltimore's Iconic Fudge-Topped Cookies With This Real-Deal Recipe From a Food Historian

When Henry Berger moved from Germany to Baltimore in the mid-1800s and opened a humble bakery in a city already teeming with German bakeries, breweries, and butcher shops, he probably couldn't have dreamed that over 150 years later his legacy would live on through the Berger cookie—a cakey, lightly sweet vanilla cookie base with a thick layer of fudgy chocolate frosting perched on top. Although Berger's bakery was sold and became DeBaufre Bakeries in 1969, the Berger cookie is still sold at the bakery and has a passionate regional following. Copycat "Baltimore-Style" or “Berger-Style” cookies can also be found at bakeries and supermarkets throughout Baltimore, but for many, only a real Berger cookie from DeBaufre Bakeries will do. 

In Baltimore, Berger cookies have reached such iconic status that they are no longer an end in themselves. They now make their way into other local food products, such as the Charmery's Berger Cookies & Cream ice cream and the Baltimore Bomb pie at Dangerously Delicious. Like any good hyper-local specialty, Berger cookies elicit some strong opinions. "Berger cookies make me think of my trips to Lexington Market as a kid," Angel Llewellyn, a lifelong Baltimorean, recalls fondly. "They used to have a whole stall full of cookies and cakes. I can still remember the trays full of treats, live bands playing, and the glow from all of the signs."

While Berger cookies have many ardent fans like Llewellyn, there are some haters among the locals: When Berger Cookies come up in conversation or in Baltimore-centric Facebook groups, there are always a few people chiming in that they’re "too sweet" or "too rich." But for those of us who love the cookies, the sweetness is all part of the appeal. And while there are other bakery and supermarket replicas out there, nothing else hits quite the right notes of a genuine Berger cookie. I dove into the Berger cookie’s history and baked up batch after batch to develop my foolproof copycat recipe below for those who want to recreate the original in their home kitchens. Read on for tips on perfecting the light, cakey cookie and dense, sweet fudge topping and to get the full recipe.

History of the Berger Cookie

Baltimore's history of German immigration is woven throughout the city’s culinary landscape, from the ubiquitous shakers of Old Bay (which originated in Baltimore and was created by German immigrant Gustav Brunn) to the sauerkraut served with Thanksgiving turkey. Germans have had a lingering influence on the local sweet tooth as well.

"Berger was among many German names in the baking business," says Claire Mullins, former marketing director for the Baltimore Museum of Industry. The museum has an exhibit centering on bakeries, including Berger. She feels that "nothing says Baltimore quite like the fudge icing–topped Berger cookie.”

Mullins points out that Baltimore was a major point of entry for immigrants from Europe, who brought with them the recipes for breads and pastries from all over Europe. “When baked here [these breads and pastries] offered a taste of home, and small family-owned bakeries helped to shape the culture of Baltimore and its diverse neighborhoods." 

Francis Beirne dedicated an entire chapter of his 400-page 1950 cultural reflection The Amiable Baltimoreans to the phenomenon. "From the days when persons of German blood first found their way to Baltimore they began to play an important part in providing food and drink to the public, and they continue to predominate in the field," Beirne wrote. An 1884 city directory lists four Bergers who were bakers.

Visually, Berger cookies bear a resemblance to an almost completely forgotten pastry known as Kossuth cakes, a sort of chocolate-covered cream puff. Kossuth cakes were a popular specialty in Baltimore bakeries after the Hungarian Revolutionary Lajos Kossuth visited the city in 1851. Stories vary on whether the cakes were simply named in Kossuth's honor or inspired directly by his description of a similar pastry. It is possible that Berger's bakery adapted Kossuth cakes for longevity and mass production, ditching the cream filling in the process.

Many people compare Berger cookies to chocolate tops or black and white cookies. All three cookies have a sweet, soft, cake-like cookie base, but the texture of the Berger cookie topping is more like a stiff and crystalline fudge than the pourable fondant icing on those other two cookies—and Baltimore has a long history of fudge. Many 19th-century recipes for fudge go under the name "Baltimore Caramels." By the early 1900s, recipes appeared in regional newspapers for “Baltimore Fudge.”

Tips for Creating the Perfect Cakey Berger Cookie Base

The cookie part of a Berger cookie is somewhere between cake and a cookie. Here are a few key tips to getting it just right.

Skip the yolks. The softer, cake-like texture of Berger cookies had me tempted to leave in the enriching fattiness of an egg yolk, but I found in my testing that omitting the yellow yolks creates a satisfyingly white cookie to contrast the dark fudge. And I was still able to achieve the desired soft texture even when just using egg whites. 

Start with softened butter. A major factor that can push the cookies too far into the cake zone is using butter that is too cold, which causes the dough to take on too much air, rise too high, and remain overly soft. So make sure to use softened butter that creams easily in the batter.

Opt for evaporated milk. While many cookbook and online recipes for Berger-style cookies call for milk and cream, I found that the concentrated flavor of evaporated milk enhanced both the cookie and the fudge. The nutty caramel notes of evaporated milk pack in flavor without adding too much moisture or fat. (Evaporated milk also makes an appearance in Maryland's state dessert, Smith Island Cake, where it similarly enhances both fudge and cake. Its bonus shelf-stability lends itself to island living.)

Be generous with the vanilla. When I separated a Berger cookie from the grocery store for inspection, and tasted the cookie alone, without its fudge topping, I was surprised at the vanilla-forward flavor of the cookie itself. To mimic this, I include two teaspoons of vanilla extract in my recipe. For a flavor that is closer to the real thing, you may even opt for artificial vanilla instead of pure vanilla extract.

Perfecting the Berger Cookie's Fudge Topping

Getting the chocolate topping right for Berger cookies might be the most challenging part of the recipe. The cookies should be coated in a dense fudge layer that’s smooth enough to spread easily over each cookie without tearing the cookie base, but thick enough to hold its shape. Most importantly, this topping should be piled high—at least a solid half-inch thick on top of each cookie, with a bit of a crystalline texture (this is actually a welcome quality here!). In a 2022 article, an employee at Rheb's, a historic Baltimore chocolatier, referenced an old fudge recipe in their collection. “It’s a hard-grained fudge, not like the creamy fudge we make,” he said. Old Baltimore fudge recipes involved a lot of the very thing that we now avoid—stirring. The satisfying chew atop a Berger cookie may well hearken to this older formula. When you take a bite into a Berger cookie, your teeth marks should be clearly defined in that fudge. 

But making fudge at home can be a bit of a daunting task. It requires temperature control and exact visual cues so you end up with the correct fudgy texture rather than a hardened sugary mess. I’ve seen copycat Berger cookie recipes that avoid the challenge of making fudge entirely, and instead call for quick no-cook icings that rely on melted chocolate and powdered sugar. While I understand the justification for trying to take the shortcut—working with real fudge can be intimidating—these results consistently fall short, and just don’t have the satisfyingly fudgy consistency of a real Berger cookie right from the box, which is what I wanted. Taking the time to make a thick, dense fudge topping is the best way to produce a true Baltimore Berger-style cookie.

The good news is that I’ve developed a fudge recipe that’s approachable at home. Patience, a good candy thermometer, and a little confidence are all you need to create a fudge topping that will impress a Baltimore native. The key to making this fudge topping at home is to heat the sugar slowly and evenly, and keep your eye on the thermometer. The temperature for the sugar mixture should rise to somewhere between 235 to 240℉, but it needs to reach this temperature slowly, over the course of a solid 15 to 20 minutes. Do not rush the process, otherwise the sugar will not dissolve properly, and you’ll be left with a hardened mess. If you notice the temperature rising too quickly, lower the heat.

For most homemade fudge, the goal is to keep the sugar crystals as small as possible, which usually entails waiting for it to cool to 120° before stirring anything into the mixture. But I found that I could toss this popular fudge wisdom aside and stir in my chocolate when the sugar had cooled to around 210°F. This created a fudge that retained a bit of the crystalline chew that's a hallmark of the Berger fudge topping.

The fudge cooks best in a thin stainless steel pan that doesn’t retain too much heat. As much as I love my enameled cast iron, in my tests it was harder to stop the heat from rising too high once I reached the necessary temperature in the cast iron, and much easier in stainless steel. Adding a final dash of Dutch-processed cocoa to the fudge enhances the chocolate flavor and ensures the fudge has a nice dark color like the real Berger cookie topping. Be sure to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder rather than natural cocoa powder for a darker color and more mellow chocolate flavor.

Assembling the Cookies

Once the fudge is made, it is a bit of a mad dash to ice the cookies. I buy myself some time by turning the heat on very low to keep the fudge softened while assembling the cookies. If it begins to stiffen, I recommend stirring in an occasional splash of water to keep it glossy and soft enough to spread onto the cookies. In my tests, I found that spooning the topping onto my cookies allowed me to dole out those famously generous heaps with less mess and waste than when I attempted to dunk the cookies directly into the fudge.

My main departure from the classic Berger cookie is the size. I went a bit smaller than the real thing, because these cookies went quickly, and people wanted more. If you prefer a bigger cookie, the recipe will still work in the same time frame as long as the batter is spread out to an even thickness. 

For those outside the region, DeBaufre Bakery will ship their cookies in their regular packaging or decorative tins. For those who can't wait or who prefer a personal touch, this homemade version thrilled my Baltimore-native tasters and had them sharing nostalgic memories. I think they're a tempting enough treat to convince even the Berger naysayers.

For the Cookies: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325°F (160℃). In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until thoroughly mixed, lightened in color, and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl and paddle as needed, about 5 minutes. Add egg white and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low, and with mixer running, add half of the flour mixture, and mix until incorporated, then return to medium speed. With mixer still running, slowly pour in evaporated milk. Again, reduce mixer speed to low and add the remaining flour mixture, then return to medium speed and mix until just combined and a thick batter is formed.

Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, then scoop out 1 rounded tablespoon portions of batter, swirling to flatten into 2-inch discs, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart (12 cookies per sheet tray). Using wet fingers, gently press to smooth. (You want to avoid a tail, as the tops will become the bottoms once baked.)

Bake one sheet tray at a time until light brown on edges, 10 to 15 minutes. Let sit on baking sheets until completely cool, about 30 minutes. Once cooled, flip cookies flat side up on baking sheets, ensuring space between them for fudge to overflow.

For the Fudge Topping: In a medium saucepan (preferably nonstick), combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and corn syrup and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until butter and sugar are melted and ingredients combine, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook until mixture starts to bubble, monitoring temperature with a candy thermometer. Watch to ensure the temperature rises slowly and that the mixture heats evenly, without stirring, for about 15 to 20 minutes. When temperature reaches just between 235℉ (113℃) to 240℉ (115℃), turn off heat. 

Allow to cool to 210°F (100℃), then add chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Stir until thick and glossy, adding very small amounts, ½ teaspoon water at a time, if needed, to keep the fudge glossy and pourable. It should have the consistency of cake batter and drop to about 115℉ (46℃).

Working with 1 cookie at a time, spoon 1 tablespoon fudge onto each cookie, and spread over the entire surface of the cookie. It's OK if it spills over the side a bit. (If fudge begins to harden while topping cookies, heat saucepan on very low and stir to soften and ensure a thick but pourable texture. You may need to add very small drizzles of water (about 1/2 teaspoon at a time) to keep fudge glossy and spreadable. Let fudge topping cool to room temperature and consistency of thick ganache, at least 30 minutes or let firm up to fudge-like consistency overnight. Serve. 

Special Equipment

Stand mixer with paddle attachment, candy thermometer, medium saucepan

Make-Ahead and Storage

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to six months.