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Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Just like the packaged ones but with a lighter sweetness.
Texture: Ultra chewy, fudgy, and soft. Perfect.
Ease: Very easy, you’ll just dirty a few dishes.
Why you’ll love this recipe: Improved from-scratch version of a favorite childhood treat.
As a kid, there were many packaged treats I loved. Cosmic Brownies. Nutter Butters. Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds.
I’ve recreated the Cosmic Brownie recipe, Oreo Cookies recipe, and Homemade Pop Tarts, all with stellar results – so it seemed only fitting that I move on to Homemade Fudge Rounds!
Actually, I had all but forgotten that Fudge Rounds existed until shopping at Target during back-to-school season.
All the end caps were piled high with packaged treats for lunch boxes, and it inspired me to tackle a copycat version without any artificial ingredients.
Seriously decadent and chocolaty without being too rich, these Fudge Rounds will be a crowd-pleaser at any picnic or BBQ, or a hit with the kids after their first day back to school!
What are Fudge Rounds?
Little Debbie Fudge Rounds are fudgy round chocolate cookies, sandwiched together with chocolate buttercream. Think Whoopie Pies, but richer and fudgier! A box of these treats can be found at pretty much any American grocery or convenience store.
Store-Bought vs. Homemade Fudge Rounds
Nowadays, store-bought Fudge Rounds are much too sweet and artificial tasting for me. When you make them from scratch, you can get extra generous with the amount of filling. See what I mean in the photo below comparing the homemade vs. store-bought cookies:
Key Recipe Ingredients
Corn Syrup: Helps prevent sugar from recrystallizing, creating a texture that’s bendy, chewy, soft, and fudgy. Don’t skip it.
- Swap: Use an equal amount of golden syrup, if needed.
Natural Cocoa Powder: Use a high-fat, natural, unsweetened cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor and texture. I recommend Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder. Avoid Dutch process, since this recipe relies on natural cocoa and baking soda. Read more about the differences between Natural and Dutch-Process cocoa powders here.
Cornstarch: Helps keep the cookies soft and tender without making them cakey. Don’t skip it.
How to Assemble Homemade Fudge Rounds
Make the cookies. Mix the ingredients and scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake the cookies. At 350°F for about 8 minutes, until they’re slightly puffy and set.
Decorate. Melt the chocolate chips with vegetable oil, then drizzle or pipe over the cooled cookies. Refrigerate until set.
Make the filling & pipe. Pipe or spread the filling onto the flat side of half the cookies.
Finish assembling. Gently sandwich with the remaining cookies.
Storage & Make ahead
Make Ahead: Fudge Rounds can be assembled and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days before serving. They’re even fudgier when chilled!
Room Temperature: Store assembled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.
Freezer: Freeze assembled cookies in an airtight container, wrapped individually in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month. Enjoy frozen, or thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
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Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at cool room temperature
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (159 grams) all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons (32 grams) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the chocolate drizzle:
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
For the filling:
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (11 grams) unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons warm water (about 100°F)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times, until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, corn syrup, and vanilla. Scrape down the bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
- Using a 1 ½-tablespoon spring-loaded scoop, drop balls of dough on baking sheets and bake until the cookies are slightly puffed up and the edges are set, about 8 to 9 minutes. Remove baking sheets to cooling racks and remove cookies after a few minutes to continue cooling. Cookies will flatten as they cool.
Decorate the cookies:
- For the chocolate drizzle, microwave milk chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth. Drizzle or pipe on top of each cookie. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, at least a half hour.
Make the filling:
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the sifted cocoa powder and powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the warm water and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Pipe or spread filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Gently press another cookie on top of the filling.
- Serve or store assembled Fudge Rounds in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. The colder the Fudge Rounds are when serving, the more fudgy they’ll be!
Notes
More Copycat Recipes You’ll Love:
This post was originally published in 2015 and updated in 2022 with new photos and recipe improvements. Photos by Joanie Simon.
These are better than store bought! They came out so delicious.
i fuckin’ luv you
Beautiful cookies, came out exactly as described. Only thing i would suggest is cutting sugar in either the filling or the cookies. It was a strong blast of sugar that went right to our heads, which i feel took away from the 3 unique flavors of the fudgy cookies, light buttery filling, and milk chocolate drizzle. Kind of merged into one strong laser beam of sweetness
I made these for my husband’s birthday this past weekend and OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE AMAZING! He has to eat gluten free, so I used Pamela’s gluten free flour blend as the flour. Additionally, I used raw cacao as the cocoa powder and maple syrup instead of corn syrup. THANK YOU for this recipe – I’m pretty sure we all heard angels singing as we ate them. 😉
So glad you were able to make this recipe work!
Hi Tessa,
Could you tell me which corn syrup did you use? Light one ordark one? Or it doesn’t matter which one. Thank you
Two questions:
1. Can I use coconut oil instead of butter? I need to bake non-dairy, and because of other food intolerances, Crisco, margarine, and Earth Balance are all no longer options.
2. Instead of the filling you use, can I use ganache? I need to make ganache for another recipe, but will almost surely have too much of it leftover. It seems like it would make a good filling for a sandwich cookie, but I want to be sure.
Thanks!
You use cocoa powder and unsweetened cocoa powder. I didn’t know there were different kinds. Will it say that on the container?
I have a big family, can I double the recipe? Do I just double everything including the cornstarch, corn syrup, baking soda, etc., wouldn’t it affect the final product? Thanks.
I live in a higher altitude area and when I made your double round cookies I decrease like I’m supposed to and they went completely flat any suggestions
Never mind I see my mistake!
Hi! I was very excited to find this recipe and immediately went out and purchased the ‘corn syrup’ mentioned in the ingredients. As I went to make them today I noticed the directions say ‘cornstarch’. Which one is real ingredient? Lol thank you in advance for this recipe!
I just made these for a bake-off hosted by a fraternity at my university, and I won first place! Thank you for the delicious recipe. I know I can always count on your recipes!
Awesome, Lexi! So thrilled to hear it 🙂