Baltimore Berger Cookies

I was in the mood for something chocolatey to get my mind off of Covid-19 so I had Hunter and Pippa come over and help me make them. Given the need to ice them with lots of chocolate icing, they didn’t really make too much of a mess and we had a great time.

Recipe By:

King Arthur Flour

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

Cookies
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup milk

Icing
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line with parchment paper two baking sheets.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.

3. Beat in the sugar, then the egg.

4. Add the flour to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Do this gently; there’s no need to beat the batter.

5. Using a spoon or a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. The balls of dough should be about 1 1/4″ in diameter. Flatten each mound of dough to a circle about 1 1/2″ across; wet your fingers or a knife, or grease the buttered bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup to do this. Leave 2″ to 2 1/2″ between each cookie, for expansion.

6. Bake the cookies for about 10 to 11 minutes, or until they’re a mottled brown on the bottom (carefully tilt one up to look), but not colored on top. You may see the barest hint of browning around the edges, but these cookies are supposed to be soft and cake-like, so don’t over-bake them. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool right on the pan as you make the frosting.

7. To make the icing: Place the chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla, and cream into a large microwave-safe bowl, or into a large saucepan.

8. Heat the mixture until it’s very hot; the cream will start to form bubbles. Remove from the heat, and stir until smooth.

9. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Let cool to warm room temperature while you make the cookies. Dip the top of each cookie into the warm icing; swirl the cookie around to really give it a good coating. Set the cookies back on the baking sheet.

10. Spread the remaining icing evenly atop the cookies. If it’s too soft and flows off the cookies, let it set a bit, until it’s firmer. It’ll feel like you’re piling on a lot of icing; that’s precisely the point!

11. Allow the icing to set completely, then store the cookies airtight in a single layer.

Baltimore Berger