Chocolate Almond Cookies

I grew up outside of Baltimore and there is a company that sells this delicious cookie called 'Berger Cookies.' They are soft cookies with a huge amount of chocolate frosting globbed on top. Very yummy and are a frequent request any time my parents come to visit. I have found that they freeze well enough, though they aren't quite as good as fresh.

Since I can rarely feed my Berger cookie craving, I decided to make a version of my own. I tried a few recipes in the past and never quite got the right consistency for either the cookie or the frosting. I haven't gotten anywhere near close...until now.

This time around, I found a recipe for black and white cookies. I used that as a base, though I changed the lemon extract to almond extract. I made the cookies much smaller than that recipe called for, which doesn't make a difference, I just had to figure out just how long to bake the cookies. The batter is actually much more cake-like than cookie-like. I used a cookie scoop to portion out the dough and then a small offset spatula to spread the cookies into a larger circle. They were done when the edges just barely started to turn brown and a cake tester came out clean.

As for the topping, I used a fudge recipe since the cookies have a fudge-like frosting. I made a simple fudge using semisweet chocolate and let it set just a bit. I spread the fudge onto the cookies. Next time, I will need to make a double batch of fudge, since some of the cookies didn't get any frosting and the ones that did did not have nearly enough.

The final result is the closest that I have come so far. I added just a little too much almond extract to the batter. I was happy with the taste, but I can see how it would be too strong for most people. But other than that the cookies turned out great! The consistency was soft and smooth, just like I had hoped for. I am also tempted to try a different topping next time. Maybe a chocolate buttercream? I am not sure if it will harden enough for this cookie, so I will have to think about it further.

Until then, my Berger cookie craving has been temporarily slaked.