Rich chocolate sandwich cookies filled with a silky chocolate filling — these homemade fudge rounds are far better than storebought!
This is the easy recipe that wasn’t. The cookies that I remade… 7? 8? 9? times. Only for me to decide that the first recipe was actually the best and what was I even thinking trying to improve upon it.
Hundreds (literally) of chocolate cookies have made their way through my kitchen in the past few weeks, only for me to decide that the very first one I tried was perfect (of course, I then had to re-make that 2 more times, just to be sure it really was perfect).
They are everything Fudge Rounds should be — soft, chocolaty cookies sandwiched around a fudgy but smooth and silky filling, and without any overbearing synthetic or processed taste.
I’d actually never tried store-bought Little Debbie Fudge Rounds until a few weeks ago. Zach specifically requested that I make them for him (and he hardly ever makes recipe requests) so I bought a box to do some investigating. I wanted to make sure that these homemade fudge rounds shared key features with the boxed version — distinctly chocolaty super soft cookies with a creamy chocolate filling (and of course, the signature stripes).
These cookies spread very thin while they bake in the oven — that’s a good thing! They’ll be very soft and a little fragile when warm, so take care when handling them out of the oven, make sure you allow the cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets before you even think about moving them, let alone sandwiching them with the filling.
Enjoy!
Homemade Fudge Rounds
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted (142g)
- ⅔ cup natural cocoa powder (60g)
- 1 ⅔ cup sugar (365g)
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 ½ Tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose four (170g)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Chocolate Frosting Filling
- ¾ cup butter softened (1 ½ sticks, or 170g)
- 3 cups powdered sugar divided (375g)
- 4 ½ Tablespoons natural cocoa powder (25g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons heavy cream divided (88 ml)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Stripes
- 1 cup milk chocolate melting wafers (150g) or you may substitute 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a large microwave-safe bowl.
- Microwave in 15-second increments (stirring between) until butter is completely melted.
- Stir in cocoa powder until completely combined. Make sure the butter/cocoa is no longer warm to the touch before proceeding with the recipe.
- Add sugar and stir well.
- Add eggs, vanilla extract, and water. Stir well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Scoop cookie dough by 1 ½ Tbsp-sized scoops and drop by rounded spoonful onto prepared cookie sheet, placing cookie dough scoops at least 2" apart.
- Bake on 350F for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before filling.
Frosting
- In a stand mixer, beat butter until well-creamed.
- Add 1 cup of sugar and cocoa powder. Sprinkle in salt. Stir until combined.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream, stir well.
- Add another cup of sugar and stir, followed by 2 more Tablespoons of cream. Repeat with remaining sugar and cream, and then stir in vanilla extract.
- Pair off your cooled cookies into sandwich pairs, and then generously spread or pipe frosting/filling onto the bottom of one cookie, sandwiching with the bottom of another, until all cookie pairs are filled.
- Melt chocolate melting wafers according to package instructions (or, if using milk chocolate chips and shortening, microwave chips and shortening at 15-second increments, stirring well in-between), until chocolate is completely melted.
- Pour chocolate into small Ziploc bag and snip a small piece out of the corner.
- Pipe melted chocolate over cookies. Allow chocolate to harden before serving (melting wafers chocolate will harden much faster than chocolate chip/shortening chocolate).
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Sam
O no! I’m so sorry this happened, Aaron! Is it possible that the butter may have gotten a little too hot when melting it? I think this could cause this issue here. 🙁
Renee Roush
I think your husband and my husband would get along famously! He’s currently demolishing his second one of these beauties! This recipe is fantastic. My daughter (8 years old) and I made them together and she loved the whole process- especially piping on the frosting and sandwiching the cookies. I tagged you in my instagram post. I love all of the recipes I’ve ever tried of yours, Sam. So straight forward, thorough, and easy to follow. Thank you so much!!
Renee Roush
PS- I just wanted to add the the dough IS more like brownie batter/cake-ish. I popped it in the fridge for about 20 minutes just to let the flour soak the wet ingredients in a bit more. It was a piece of cake to scoop on to the parchment and they rounded out perfectly in the oven.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Renee! They look beautiful! 🙂
Michael
I’m sorry, I am generally have good luck with your recipes, but I have to give this one two emphatic thumbs down. The “dough” was more like brownie batter, the cookies spread paper thin, and then somehow managed to glue themselves to the parchment paper. I measure all ingredients by weight and did not make any substitutions. The parchment paper-fused cookies went straight into the trash.
Sam
Oh no, I’m so disappointed to hear this! Is it at all possible that the butter was still quite hot when the other ingredients were added? It sounds to me like that might have been what happened, I’m going to add a note to others to make sure their butter is cooled before adding the sugar.
Sam
These fudge rounds are amazing! I made them today and my kids and husband loved them. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I make your recipes all the time and they always turn out wonderful!
Sam
Thank you so much, Sam! I’m so glad you enjoy everything so much! 🙂
Ren
Those who are having issues with these cookies are definitely doing something wrong. The cookies spread a lot and they’re supposed to, but they won’t stick to the tray if you do things correctly. They become almost sponge-y and thin, perfect for pairing with an intense filling. I had so much fun making these for my boyfriend and he loved them.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you both enjoyed them, Ren! 😊
jill
Could gluten free flour be used instead of All Purpose? Will there be a flavor difference?
Sam
Hi Jill! I haven’t tried it with gluten free flour so I am not quite sure how it would go. I don’t think it will really change the flavor but it may change the texture. Please let me know if you try it. 🙂
Jennifer
I was randomly searching for something to bake today and typed in “fudge rounds”, not really expecting to find anything good. But then I found your recipe and the photo just drew me in. I whipped up a batch and let me tell you – they are super easy to make and they are sooo delicious! My kids and husband lived them, too. One question though – the filling instructions say to add vanilla, but it’s not listed as an ingredient. Do we add vanilla and if so, how much? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jennifer! I am so glad you enjoyed them! The vanilla extract is listed between the flour and the water. You need 1 teaspoon. 🙂
Jennifer
Thanks for replying so quickly! I did see the vanilla listed in the cookie ingredients but not in the filling. The filling directions say “ Add another cup of sugar and stir, followed by 2 more Tablespoons of cream. Repeat with remaining sugar and cream, and then stir in vanilla extract”. 🤔
Sam
Whoops, I see what you are saying! It is a half teaspoon of vanilla extract in the filling and I have updated the recipe accordingly. Thank you for catching that, I’m not sure how it went so long without me realizing!
Erin
I have made theses cookies several times and they come out so good each and every time! Thank you so much for this recipe it’s always a hit. I now add different mix ins and the recipe is still perfect!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy them, Erin! 🙂
Marhia
I just tried these. I made a few mistakes like using cold cream with the filling but they still turned out good. My husband (who loves fudge rounds) says they taste just as good if not better than the store bought thing 😁
Misty
Do I need to refrigerate the left overs?
Sam
I didn’t refrigerate mine, but if you plan on keeping them longer than 2 days I would.
Erin
These fudge rounds came out perfect. Will never buy a fudge round again, no need! Thank you.
Sam
Yay! I’m so glad that you liked them, Erin! Thank you for coming back and letting me know how they turned out!!
Eva Dankers
Do you think that it would be easier to spread the filling if the cookies were cooled in the refrigerator after they are baked? Maybe make them a little less fragile?
Sam
That could certainly help, though I haven’t tried it that way. I would put them in an airtight container before chilling and proceed with caution in case the coldness makes them more crumbly.
Once they cool completely, they are sturdy enough, just soft. Piping the chocolate on and then gently sandwiching worked pretty well and easily for me.
If you mean you would like to immediately put the cookies into the fridge to accelerate the cooling process, I’m not sure if that would work unless you put the whole pan in the fridge, which I wouldn’t recommend. If you try something and it works I definitely would love to hear it, though! 🙂
Thank you for commenting, Eva!
Amanda
Oh my goodness! I used to love fudge rounds. And these look a billion time better! They sound absolutely delicious!
Sam
Thank you, Amanda! I think you would love these!!
Sues
I’ve never even heard of Fudge Rounds before, but now I must have them!! These look glorious!
Sam
I’d never heard of them either before Zach told me about them (even though I walk past them every week at the grocery store). SO good, though! 🙂
Cody
Hello! I grew up on fudge rounds and love them… except the “processed” aftertaste.
I very much look forward to trying this recipe that I just found (while eating a fudge round, haha)
Sugar Spun Run
Too funny, Cody! I hope that you enjoy eating your fudge rounds. Let me know how your homemade ones turn out. I hope that you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Medha
These fudge rounds look fabulous! Love the chocolatey goodness here 🙂
Sam
Thank you, Medha! 🙂