Remember Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies? My grandmother was a prolific baker and almost always had homemade cookies on hand when we visited, but when she didn’t, she’d offer Fudge Stripes. I used to eat them by sticking my finger in the hole and turning the cookie around and around while I nibbled the edges until it was gone. I hadn’t had them in years and then one day recently John and I were talking about childhood treats. When I mentioned Fudge Stripe Cookies he suggested we get some, for old times’ sake.
What a disappointment. They tasted bland and artificial, the chocolate coating waxy and flavorless. We each ate one and then tossed the rest of the package, and as I was stuffing it into the trash I found myself wondering whether it was the cookies that had changed, or me. Either way, I knew I could make a homemade version that would be even better than the ones in my memory.
It turned out to be even easier than I expected. Last year I developed my own homemade version of Girl Scouts’ Tagalongs (these Peanut Butter Patties), which are built on a butter cookie base just like Fudge Stripes, and covered with chocolate, just like Fudge Stripes. All I had to do was omit the peanut butter filling and sea salt sprinkle, change up the shape a tiny bit and drizzle the chocolate on in stripes instead of coating the cookie completely.
To replicate the look of the original Keebler cookies, I used a cookie stamp to make a pattern on the tops of the cookies. The way a cookie stamp is supposed to work, you roll the dough into balls and smash each ball with the stamp to flatten it and imprint it with the pattern. I didn’t like the way that worked for this dough – the dough was too soft and got stuck in the grooves of the stamp, and I wasn’t able to stamp it thin enough without completely smooshing it out of shape. Instead, I rolled the dough out with a rolling pan to get it nice and thin and flat, cut it out with a 3-inch round cookie cutter, and then used the stamp to lightly press the pattern into each cookie.
For the hole in the middle, I used the non-business end of a small pastry piping tip. Cut the center hole after you’ve already transferred the cookie to the baking sheet so it doesn’t lose its shape during the move. Of course you can skip the stamp and the hole and just cut out plain, round cookies, if you prefer.
Getting the chocolate stripes parallel and evenly spaced is a challenge, and I can’t say I knocked myself out trying to get it perfect. Anything that’s drizzled with copious amounts of premium chocolate is OK in my book, perfectly parallel lines not required. I find a blend of milk and semisweet chocolate is ideal for these cookies – all semisweet would be a little too dark and fancy, while all milk would be a little too sweet. I use an 80/20% blend (heavy on the milk chocolate), but you can use whatever you like as long as it’s excellent quality. The butter cookie base of this cookie is simple, flavored only with a touch of vanilla, so it’s the chocolate that makes it “wow”: use the good stuff.
For drizzling, I used a disposable pastry bag without a piping tip. I just filled the pastry bag with the melted chocolate and cut a tiny bit off the tip to make a small hole. You could do the same thing using an ordinary zip-lock bag – I prefer the pastry bag because it’s sturdier and holds up better against the warmth of the chocolate, which makes it easier to control.
Making these ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Fudge Stripe Cookies will keep for at least a week in an airtight container at room temperature.
- The recipe yield is a little small – it makes just over one dozen (albeit rather large) cookies. It’s easy to double if you’re baking for a crowd.
Fudge Stripe Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (4 ounces or ½ cup) unsalted butter, preferably European-style, softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup (5¼ ounces or 150 grams) all-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- 8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
- 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment and a third with wax paper.
- Step 2 In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat briefly to combine.
- Step 3 Add the flour and a large pinch of kosher salt. Beat on very low speed just until the mixture starts to come together and form a crumbly dough.
- Step 4 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and gather it together into a smooth ball. Roll it out with a lightly floured rolling pin to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Cut the cookies out with a 3-inch round cutter. If desired, use a 3-inch cookie stamp to press a pattern into the top of each cookie. Dip the stamp in flour first, then lightly press each cookie. If the cookie sticks to the press, carefully peel it off with your fingers or the tip of a sharp knife. Transfer the cookies to the parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them out evenly. Use a ¾-inch round cutter, or the back end of a small pastry piping tip, to cut out a small circle in the center of each cookie. Gather up the scraps of dough and reroll, cutting out cookies until all the dough is used.
- Step 5 Bake the cookies one sheet at a time on the center rack of the oven until they just start turning light golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Watch carefully during the last couple of minutes and don’t let them get brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Step 6 Combine the milk and semisweet chocolate in a shallow bowl with a flat bottom. Microwave the chocolate on 50% power for 3 minutes, then stir until the all chocolate is melted and smooth. If any stubborn lumps of chocolate won’t melt, microwave for 30 seconds more, then stir until smooth.
- Step 7 Pick up one cookie and smoosh the flat (unstamped) side into the chocolate, nestling it into the chocolate so that a little bit of chocolate comes up the sides of the cookie. Set the cookie chocolate side down on the wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Transfer the remaining chocolate to a disposable pastry bag without a piping tip, or a quart-sized zip-lock bag. Cut a small hole in the tip (or corner) of the bag. Pipe parallel stripes of chocolate across the cookies.
- Step 8 Chill the cookies on the sheet for 15 minutes, or let them sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until the chocolate is set but not hard – when you touch it, it shouldn’t smudge, but should still feel slightly pliable, not brittle. Carefully lift each cookie off the sheet and break off the ends of any fudge stripes that extend out beyond the edges of the cookies. (Doing this before the chocolate is completely firm will make it easier to break off just the excess chocolate and not chip off the entire stripe by mistake.) To store the cookies, arrange them in a large, flat airtight container, stacking carefully.
