Berger Cookies (showing the underside of one)
© Denzil Green
Berger Cookies are made by DeBaufre Bakeries in South Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Each cookie consists of one large vanilla wafer, about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. It is topped with thick, creamy, fudgy chocolate ganache. The ratio of biscuit to chocolate is about .25 oz (7g) of wafer and 1 oz (28g) of chocolate. The biscuit part itself is somewhat dry, so the topping ends up compensating.
The cookies are swirled in vats of chocolate [1] to get the topping on.
The bakery is just wholesale and mail order; they do no walk-in trade.
Nutrition
Ingredients: sugar, flour (bleached), water, fudge (partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil) cocoas (natural processed with akali) margarine (partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil) corn syrup, eggs (FDC yellow 5 & 6) corn starch, milk (non-fat), artificial flavor, salt.Nutrition FactsPer 1 cookie
AmountCalories140Fat4.5 gCholesterol5 mgCarbohydrate23 gSugars20 g
History Notes
The cookie recipe was brought to America in 1835 by the Berger family.
It has been modified somewhat over the years to account for changing ingredients.
Sources
[1] “They’re made with a lot of tender loving care,” he (Charles DeBaufre) said. “The workers still swirl them in vats of chocolate. They’re put in by hand and pulled out by hand.” — Rasumssen, Frederick N.. Benjamin F. DeBaufre, 68, supervised production of famed Berger’s cookies. Baltimore Sun. 2 June 1999.
Meister, Craig. Debaufre Bakeries continue legacy of Berger cookies. The Examiner. 3 June 2006.
Samuels, Paulette. C is for Cookies: A Look at a Native Culinary Delight. The University of Baltimore Post. 18 January 2007.