Looking for a fun alternative to a birthday cake? This sweet & chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is the perfect choice for your next birthday celebration!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is rich and fudgy, and so decadent. Imagine a giant chocolate chip cookie that you decorate and serve like birthday cake – it’s the best of both worlds! Topped with chocolate frosting and your favorite sprinkles, this cookie cake recipe will please any crowd. Chocolate chip cookie sandwiches are another fun cookie treat!
Ingredients in Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
This cake starts with a simple cookie dough recipe. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- An egg + one egg yolk
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
I like to decorate this cake with some chocolate frosting rosettes around the edge. It adds a little something-something to the cake and makes it feel fancy. (When really it was SUPER easy!)
- Butter
- Cocoa powder
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
Don’t forget the sprinkles! Every cake should have some sprinkles. I love bright colored or rainbow sprinkles for this cake.
How to Make a Cookie Cake with Cookie Dough
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and grease a pie plate or cake pan. I love to use a springform pan to help make it easy to get the cake out later. Or you can line the bottom of your cake pan with parchment paper.
- Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Mix in the dry ingredients until combined, then stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon, reserving a couple of tablespoons for topping your cookie cake.
- Press the cookie dough into your pie plate or cake pan and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over the top. Gently press the chocolate chips into the cake a little bit.
- Bake the cookie cake for 22 to 25 minutes until it’s golden brown. Allow the cookie cake to cool to room temperature in the pan.
- Then run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan. Transfer it to a platter or cake stand using a spatula (or two!) before decorating it.
How To Make Chocolate Frosting
The chocolate frosting recipe for this cookie dough cake is so simple you won’t believe it! All you have to do is add all of the frosting ingredients to a large bowl, then beat together the ingredients using a mixer.
You can add a tablespoon or two of milk to soften the frosting as you go. Then, fit a piping bag with a 1M piping tip, fill the bag with the chocolate frosting, and pipe florets around the edge of your cake. Add sprinkles, and your cookie cake is ready to serve!
What else should I serve with chocolate chip cookie cake?
This chocolate chip cookie cake is sure to be the star of the show especially topped with a scoop of ice cream!
You can create a fun party spread by serving it along with an array of healthy snacks and appetizers. It’s all about balance friends.
Orange juice ice pops and strawberry banana smoothies are yummy kid-friendly options, and my boys always love club sandwich pinwheels, watermelon fruit salsa, and cauliflower hummus served with fresh veggies.
More tasty chocolate chip recipes!
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie S’mores Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge
- Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Tools used to make this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe
Cake Pan: I love my trusty cake pans! These pans are fantastic for making cakes, cheesecakes, and so much more.
1M piping tip: You don’t have to be a pastry chef to pipe frosting like a pro! This piping bag & piping tips set makes for easy decorating!
*This post originally posted on 03/20/2016.
Ingredients
Cookie Cake
- 10 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ⅔ cups flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate Frosting
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon milk
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8-inch or 9-inch pie plate or cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 2 minutes. Then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl. Mix to combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until cookie dough forms.
- Use a wooden spoon to mix in all but 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips. Press the cookie dough into your prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top and press them down slightly.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes. Let the cookie cool completely in the pan. If it's not cool the frosting will melt. (If you're not frosting the cake, you can serve it warm after letting it cool for 10 to 15 minutes.)
- To remove your cake from the pan, run a sharp knife along the edge to loosen. Use a large spatula (or two!) to transfer the cookie cake to a platter.
Chocolate Frosting
- Beat the butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk together in a mixing bowl until smooth. (see note)
- Place frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Add sprinkles on top of the cake. Pipe on frosting along the edges of the cake in rosettes. Add a chocolate chip onto each rosette, if desired.
Notes
- Add 1 teaspoon of milk and then mix to thin the frosting. Repeat as needed.
- Add 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar and mix to thicken the frosting. Repeat as needed.
Nutrition
Susan K. says
Is the temp 325 or 350. Top of the page says 325 and the recipe at bottom says 350. I cooked it at 350 and even though I cooked it as long as it Said the outside was nice golden brown(crunchy and the inside was doughy (undercooked). I cooked it in a glass pie pan. Would a cake pan have made it cook more even?
Ashley Creed says
Are he chocolate chips semisweet or milk chocolate?
Jennifer Kimmel says
Hey Ashley! I prefer semi sweet but you can use whatever you like or have on hand.
Sara jane says
This recipe is so great! I substitute avocado for the butter. Next I want to find a healthier replacement for the sugar. Any suggestions?
Aubrey Cota says
Oh wow, what a great idea, I honestly would have never thought of that. As for sugar replacements, some people will use applesauce, honey, maple syrup or stevia. However, this can and probably will change the texture, flavor and possibly the cooking times/temperatures so be sure to account for that. I am not a nutritionist so it may be worth it to do a little research before you venture into that area.
Erika Rivas says
Tried the recipe cooki came out looking delicious but it was hard as a rock .. Any suggestions on what could have gone wrong?
Aubrey Cota says
It all starts in the dough; you’ll want a soft fluffy texture. Baking is a science, and the ingredients pretty well have to be exact to get the perfect mixture that results in the perfect cookie. If yours came out too hard it could be a couple of different things; you possibly added too much flour (if your scooped directly from your flour container you may have compacted it into your measuring cup, you’ll want to keep the flour light and airy by spooning it into your measuring device), overbaked the cookie cake or simply needed more fat or sugar(Start by adding ¼ cup extra sugar or butter to the dough. Sugar and fat are the ingredients that make a cookie tender). While we provide a cooking temperature and time, however, this is more of a guideline since everyone’s oven can be slightly different, you’ll also want to account for your climate and elevation.
Yogesh says
Yumm????
Aubrey Cota says
My thoughts exactly!
Christina says
Has anyone cut this recipe in half to make it thinner? I have made it before and it is awesome, but it does come out pretty thick. I usually use 2 9” round pans. Want it round still and don’t have a bigger pan…thank you! We live this recipe for birthdays!
Aubrey Cota says
Since I love how thick this comes out I have not tried cutting it in half. Please let us know if you do and how it turns out! Just be aware when thinning it out to adjust not only the ingredients but the cooking times.
Lori says
Is the butter salted or unsalted?
Aubrey Cota says
Generally in baking, and especially cookies and cakes you’ll want to use unsalted butter.
Colleen says
Can this be baked in a pie crust?
Aubrey Cota says
I don’t see why not!! You’ll have to try it and let us know how it turned out.
Thaira says
Can I double the recipe and bake it in a larger pan?
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Yes, but you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly if the thickness increases.
Thaira says
Thanks, I’ll be doing it for my daughter’s Birthday this friday!!!
I’ll send you a picture of how it turned out!!
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Awesome! We’d love to see a picture!!
Sarah Morris says
Can this sit out for a hour or so prior to serving?