Bergers-Style Cookies (ATK)

• servings: 24

Ingredients

COOKIES

2 cups (8 ounces) cake flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup (5½ ounces) granulated sugar

1 large egg white

1½ tablespoons heavy cream

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

FROSTING

3 cups (18 ounces) milk chocolate chips

1¼ cups heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cups (5 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioners' sugar

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. FOR THE COOKIES: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl; set aside. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

2. Add egg white, cream, and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions until incorporated, scraping down bowl as needed.

3. Working with 1 heaping table- spoon dough at a time, roll into balls and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets, 12 per sheet. Using your moistened fingers, press dough balls to form disks about ¼ inch thick and 2 inches in diameter. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are just beginning to brown around edges, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cookies cool completely on sheet.

4. FOR THE FROSTING: Once cookies have cooled, combine chocolate chips, cream, and salt in large bowl. Microwave chocolate mixture at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk cocoa, sugar, and vanilla into chocolate mixture until smooth. (Frosting should be texture of thick brownie batter and register about 95 degrees.)

5. Flip cookies on sheets. Spoon 2 tablespoons frosting over flat side of each cookie to form mound. Let cookies sit at room temperature until frosting is set, about 3 hours. Serve. (Cookies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

Notes

After cooking our way through 38 pounds of chocolate, we came up with a recipe that honors the Baltimore original. by Morgan Bolling

BACKSTORY

When German-born Henry Berger arrived in Baltimore in 1835, he found German spoken on the streets nearly as much as English. Soon the enterprising baker was selling breads and pastries at open-air markets across town; by the end of the 19th century, increased access to sugar and chocolate allowed Berger (and eventually, his sons) to focus almost exclusively on his best-selling fudge-topped cookie. Today, the bakery turns out 36,000 cookies daily, each one frosted by hand.

The consistency of the frosting should resemble that of a thick brownie batter. It should mound and slowly spread over the cookies. It's OK if some of the frosting drips down the sides of the cookies. If the frosting's temperature drops below 90 degrees, it may become too thick to spread. To bring it back to its proper consistency, simply microwave it at 50 percent power in 5-second intervals, whisking after each interval. Our favorite Dutch-processed cocoa powder is Droste Cocoa.

Spreadable Frosting The temperature and consistency of the frosting are important: It should register between 90 and 100 degrees and should resemble thick brownie batter when you spoon it onto the cookie. If the frosting is too thick, that means it is too cool. To make it spreadable, microwave it in 5-second intervals, whisking after each interval, until it registers between 90 and 100 degrees. If it gets too hot, it will be thin and run off the cookies; in this case, simply let it cool a bit.

Cooks country October/November 2017