This post first appeared over at Real Housemoms where I’m a contributor. This easy, rich, and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is the perfect cake to make for your next birthday celebration!
When I was in elementary school (long ago) cookie cakes were all the rage, especially for celebrating birthdays. Someone even once brought in a double layer cookie cake! Now that was insane. We were eating cookie cake so often that I almost got sick of it. This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is so good though, I don’t think you or I will be anything but addicted to it!
COOKIE CAKE RECIPE
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Back in the day they didn’t allow homemade goods to be shared with the class which is quite a shame because homemade is the best (okay, there are exceptions… like if you’ve got a bad recipe… or bad cook). The cookie cake made from the bakery was good but as usual, I recently took the challenge to make my own.
While I’m currently obsessed with these Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies, I used the cookie dough recipe from my childhood that my mom made more times than I can count.
The cookies are amazing and so is the dough! My mom was super cool and let my siblings and I eat spoonfuls of dough and she would even reserve some balls of dough to pack in our lunch. Talk about trading power at the lunch table! But I of course, would never give up something so delicious.
Sometimes my mom would form the dough into cookies, but she would also spread all of the dough in a jelly roll pan, bake it, and cut it into bars. It’s so much faster and easier to make bars and they taste just as yummy if not better, especially if you enjoy the chewy center of a cookie… which is why this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is so amazing.
Go whip up some cookie dough, eat a spoonful, spread the rest in a pie plate or cake pan and bake it. Once it’s cooled, transfer it to a platter, top it with some incredible chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles, and slice it up. Oh, and then par-tay!
How to make Cookie Cake
Cookie Cake
Ingredients
For the Cookie:
- 10 tablespoons butter
- 2/3 cups brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
For the Frosting:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cookie:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a (8 or 9 inch) pie plate or cake pan.
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Cream the butter and sugars together for 2 minutes and then mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
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Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Use a wooden spoon to mix in all but 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips and then press the cookie dough into the pie plate. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top and press them down slightly.
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Bake for 22-25 minutes. Let the cookie cool completely and then run a sharp knife along the edge to loosen and then use a large spatula (or two!) to transfer to a platter. Pipe on frosting along the edges and add the sprinkles.
For the Frosting:
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Beat all the frosting ingredients together until smooth, adding milk as needed. Place into a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip. Pipe on frosting. Sprinkle on the sprinkles.
More cookie desserts to try:
I stumbled across your blog this morning when I needed to find a cookie cake recipe for my husband’s birthday. This recipe is PERFECT! The cake turned out so well and the frosting recipe was delicious. This will surely be a new go-to blog!
Yay! I’m so glad you found my blog, Jane! Happy to hear it helped make your husband’s birthday a special day. 🙂
The cookie cake really was a huge hit. My 5-year-old nephew gave it a 5 out of 5, which means that it’s “definitely a recipe to keep and make again” (according to him) :o)
Haha! That’s so cute of him… and I have to agree! 🙂
Is there a certain. Type of butter to use like unsalted?
Rachel, I always buy salted butter so that’s also always what I use in my baking.
This was AMAZiNG for a regular day when your craving cookies TASTY!!💚💚💚💚💚
So glad you loved it Maurice. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
I made this cookie cake it turned out great. However do not combine the icing and sprinkles if you are putting the icing in a popping bag. The sprinkles clog up the piping bag. I had this problem which was a little frustrating. The cookie cake tastes great and I will definitely make this again.
How long would you cook this if you doubled the recipe and used in a 12″ size cake pan?
I haven’t tried it but I’d start checking to see if it’s done around 25 minutes and then cook longer if needed. Sorry I’m not more help. I don’t have a 12 inch round cake pan.
About how thick is the cake with the recipe you used?
It’s about 1/2 inch in the middle and on the edges is 3/4 inch thick.
I’m thinking about making this for valentines day, but my boyfriend loves peanut butter chocolate chip. If I used half a cup of chocolate chips and half a cup of peanut butter chips. Do you think it would still taste ok. Never made a cookie cake before.
Yes! I think that sounds delicious Stacey!
My son’s birthday and he does NOT like cake. I found this today and immediately tried it. The recipe is AWESOME. I’VE NEVER BAKED A COOKIE CAKE BEFORE. This is now my go-to. Such a simple recipe. I divided the batter into 1 round silicone cake pan, and 1 pie pan (it’s what I had!) baked for 24 minutes – PERFECT.
I lined both with parchment paper. I also used a second piece of parchment paper to flatten out the batter in each round pan The pie pan had the raised edges. EASIEST WAY TO BAKE A QUICK SLICED COOKIE!
Mariah, I’m so glad you had such success with this recipe! Now you’re making me crave it again! 🙂
This recipe is just fricken awesome! No other words to describe it! Thank you so much! 🙂
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it Ahlam!
you have good taste in food.
Thanks so much Alondra!
Could I supplement the brown and white sugar with coconut sugar?
I’ve never baked with coconut sugar so I can’t recommend it. If you do try it, please come back and comment how it worked.
This turned out delicious, although mine wasn’t nearly as pretty as yours.
Glad you liked it Kevin!
i loved your resipe i tasted so good that i want to eat it every day and every year forever.
Haha! That’s an awesome review. So glad you enjoyed it Alondra!
can you make me one thousand of these please they are so delishies i want to eat evey time i go somewhere thank you for the resipe
I loved this recipe! I made it for my little brother who turned ten. He usually doesn’t like chocolate, but he loved the frosting! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Fiona, I’m so happy to hear that he loved it! What an awesome sister you are to make him a homemade cake!
Hi, do you think I could use margerine instead of butter so that my lactose intolerant friend can eat it?
Usually lactose intolerant can handle butter in desserts but if they are that sensitive you can use margarine.
Can this recipe be halved? It has a great taste but was wondering about making one not so thick.
I don’t like it at all it’s way too crumbly and it doesn’t doesn’t have enough liquid in it so it does on mine together.
Sara, I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. I’d love to help you find where things went wrong. Did you change any of the ingredients or cooking temp or time? The dough or cookie shouldn’t turn out crumbly at all.
This recipe looks amazing, and I cannot wait to try it! I do have one question… did you use all-purpose flour? I don’t think that it is specified in the recipe.
Thank you! And yes, all-purpose flour.
What if you don’t have brown sugar?
You can make your own brown sugar if you have granulated sugar and molasses. Its important to use brown sugar (or substitute) because it adds a depth of flavor and makes the cookie chewy.
So, my daughter asked for a cookie cake for her birthday. I checked out Mrs. Fields and the cheapest cake option was $40! So I started looking into making my own and came across your recipe. Well, it was a hit! Easy to make, affordable, and the kids said it was better than Mrs. Fields! Thanks for making me look like a rockstar baker!
That is so awesome to hear Christine! It’s always great to save money AND have something taste even better. Keep rockin it in the kitchen! 🙂
Could I use a large round pizza pan for this
If you use a large pizza pan it will be thinner and probably not need to cook as long.
This was wonderful! I made this in a nonstick spring form pan, and lined the bottom with parchment paper. I used half semi-sweet chocolate, and half milk chocolate. We also chilled the dough. It was very moist. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe! I will make this again!
Great idea to use a spring form pan! So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Lauren!
Hi, i’ve just come across this recipe and immediately knew it would be perfect for my best friend’s birthday! I need to make the cookie cake in a 2hr time slot- in my food technology lesson. I would love to be able to pipe on the frosting in these 2 hours! But, my only concern is wether It will cool quick enough for me to pipe the cookie cake. So, how long does it take for the cookie cake to cool?
Sorry to bother you, but please could u reply ASAP!
Thanks.
Sorry if I’m too late but you should be able to frost it on the edges. Just be sure to place the cake in a cool place away from the hot oven so it can cool as quick as possible.
Okay, what did I do wrong? Baked for 30 minutes and still not done. Maybe it was the pie pan I used!?
Did you use a pan smaller than 9 inch?
Same with me : ( . Baked for 27 minutes & the whole thing still giggles. …. but I used crisco instead of butter 🤔 Bad idea apparently but that’s what I had on hand. But now idk what to do, the edges are becoming over cooked & the middle is definitely not close to being done. I’m 36 weeks prego & I just want a cookie cake 😭🤰🏼. Haha will try this again with regular butter though. Clearly the recipe has been a success for others so it was me and not the recipe.
The same thing just happened to me:( I used a 9in pie dish and followed the recipe exactly I can’t figure out where it went wrong??
Interested in making this but due to time constraints would need to make the dough beforehand. Any tips on making the cookie dough two nights before hand?
Can you use an electric mixer or should this be done by hand? please advise. Can’t wait to try it.
Is this cookie cake like an actual cookie or is it more like a cake? I make a cookie cake for my best friend’s birthday every year, but misplaced the recipe. She enjoys more of a gooey cookie cake, instead of a cake-like, fluffy cookie cake. Meaning is this more cookie-like or cake-like? I need it to be more cookie-like. any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks you!
Jamie, It is cookie-like. It’s really just cookie dough pressed into a pie dish to form one giant cookie. She’ll love it!
Awesome recipe. Everyone loved it! Will definitely make again. Now to go check out your other recipes!
Yay! I’m so happy you loved it Jenni!
Would you be able to give the quantities of ingredients in grammes as ive never baked using cips etc
Would love to try your recipe but I’m a bit worried it might not work out if I don’t weigh thingaI
I made two if these and made the biggest best ice cream sandwich. Man oh man was it good
yumm
This recipe is fantastic!! I doubled it and put it in a parchment lined half sheet pan. Baked for 25 mins and it was perfect. Will definitely use again, thank you so much for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it Jen! I love cooking it that way and just cutting it up into bars.
This recipe was so easy and it turned out exactly like the picture. I used the springform pan as well and it turned out perfect! IT was delicious and I will definitely be making it again! Thank you for sharing!
Yay! Glad it was a success for you Wendy! And awesome idea to use a springform pan. I’ll have to try that next time.
Thank you for making this delicious dessert for us. 🙂
This was amazing! I made it for my 12 tear old daughter who loved it. Also, could I use this dough to make cookies?
Awesome! So glad it was a hit. And yes! For cookies just bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.
Hi there, could you please tell me what tip you used to pipe on the frosting?
M1 You can find it at any craft store, possibly walmart, Amazon (affiliate link)
I just made this and it tastes so good! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Yay! So happy you love it Ren! 🙂
Made this for my dad’s birthday tonight and we all agreed that it was the best cookie cake! The icing was delish too! Keeping this one to make again and again 🙂 Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that Carolyn! Thanks for the review! 🙂
Love this it is sooooooo yummy
Made this tonight, absolutely delicious. It is however not like grocery store cookie cakes which is what I was after. This recipe tasted like a soft giant regular cookie. Any clue how they make the grocery store ones?
do you have to grease the pie pan
Yes.
4/5 rating –
It was going well but after baking we found a black person in it
ummmmmm… I hope you didn’t cook a person into your cookie cake.
Hahahaha…. and all I was looking for was how far this cookie cake can be made and decorated in advance – is the night before ok? Stored on the counter or in the fridge.
You could make it a couple days in advance and just store on the counter covered with plastic wrap.
This smells amazing! I cannot wait to eat this tomorrow night! Made this for my daughters 10th birthday, she is excited too! How would you store? I keep cookoes on the counter, would refrigerator be better?
I just keep mine on the counter covered. After we cut into it I put in an air tight container.
For some reason this did not turn out right. Too salty and was too much like batter and not cookie dough. I followed directions specifically and went back over them to see if I misses anything. Not sure what went wrong.
Sorry you’re having a hard time with this recipe Bethany. I’m not sure where you went wrong. Maybe you put in too much butter? Not sure how your dough would be thin like batter.
It’s really looking awesome and so beautiful cake. I have remembered it’s recipes and also bookmarked this site for my party for my next birthday. You have really make a very beautiful and innovative cake. Thank you so much for such a nice work.
Thank you Ravi!
My 7 year old daughter and myself are making this today for my oldest daughters 20th birthday. Hopefully it will come out as beautiful as the picture. Thanks for the recipe! ❤️
Yay! Have fun baking!
Wow!! We are home on a sick AND snow day and I decided to make something and found this recipe. We didn’t have enough brown sugar so I very-sketchily reduced everything a bit. I don’t recommend that of course, but it still turned out amazing somehow! And that icing… OMG. I am not a chocolate icing fan but figured the kids would like it… wow, it was the best icing I’ve ever had. Totally sold me. I’m never buying a cookie cake again, this was super easy and DELICIOUS! Any tips for a writing icing if I make this for an occasion in the future, Would this icing write well or do you use something else?
Hey Kelly! I’m so happy to hear how much you loved this recipe! For a white icing to pipe with, I like the one I spread on these sugar cookies.
This recipe is great! I got asked to a school dance and answered back by saying, “It will be ‘chip’ing awesome to go to the dance with you. We’ll have a choco’lot’ of fun! My answer is…” and then I frosted “yes” on the cookie cake. The next day at school he said it was sooo good so he gave a piece to his mom and she said, “Wow, this is amazing! You’re asking this girl to another dance, right?” Haha! He loved it! Great recipe! Maybe I should use it to answer back to all the school dances! 😉
That is awesome! Such a clever (and delicious!) way to respond. I don’t think anyone would object with you answering this way. 🙂
DIVINE! Doubled recipe and used 1c. of semi sweet chips, with 1/2 c. each of white and milk chocolate chips. Pressed into a 12×12 heart shaped pan. 1 inch thick in the center and 1.25inches around edges. Best birthday surprise for my 11 year old. Thank you!
I love the addition of other chocolate chips! Sounds like a great birthday! 🙂
Made this for Valentine’s day with my husband and two kids. It came out amazing! It was very easy to make and we all love it!! Thank you!!
This was my first making a cookie cake and everybody went crazy over it! I made it into a heart shaped pan for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and he absolutely adored it. Thank you!
I got busy and didn’t do a trial run before my twins’ 2nd Cookie monster-themed bday party and just prayed this would turn out edible… um, it was absolutely AMAZING. I pushed this into an 11 inch tart pan and baked for 22 min, and it came out beautifully brown on top and perfectly chewy on the inside. My only regret is that I had to frost a blue cookie monster face on it cuz no self-respecting adult enjoys blue frosting teeth! 🙂 Next time, I hope to use your frosting recipe. Beautiful!
Melanie (also my name so you must be cool!)… you MADE the party! Thank you! This will be a regular in the rotation.
I’ve made this 3 times now. First time was perfect until I cracked it removing it from the pie pan. Second time the middle didn’t cook. Now on the third time and once again the middle hasn’t cooked. I’m making this for a customer and I have to deliver it today. I’m just keeping everything crossed that extra time in the oven cooks the middle. I have followed everything EXACT. I don’t understand why the middle won’t cook
I used this recipe for a bake off with my friends and I beat them by a landslide. I loved this recipe so much.
That is awesome! Thanks for the review Shreya! 🙂