Topped with sprinkles and a rich chocolate frosting, my chocolate chip cookie cake makes a great birthday cake substitute. It’s quick and easy to make but so stunning and celebratory with its chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Unlike most of my cake recipes, this isn’t a soft and fluffy slice of heaven. Instead, my cookie cake is quite literally a big, thick, soft-baked chocolate chip cookie, complete with chocolate buttercream. The center is chewy, buttery, and studded with chocolate chips. It’s all the best things we love about cookies, but impressive enough to be the main attraction at a party!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for people who don’t enjoy classic cakes. And with plenty of sprinkles, no one will miss the traditional birthday cake!
- No chilling, scooping, or rolling! Simply make the dough and spread it into your pan. It’s just as easy as my chocolate chip cooke bars!
- Each slice has a soft, chewy, center with a slightly crisped edge. Everyone gets the best parts!
Ingredient Overview
This recipe isn’t too different from your average chocolate chip cookie recipe, so the ingredients are pretty similar.
- Egg + egg yolk. Instead of two whole eggs, I use one egg and and one egg yolk. Discarding that extra egg white means our cookie cake won’t be cakey, but will instead be perfectly tender and chewy. If you don’t want to toss your egg white, save it to make some candied walnuts.
- Cornstarch. This encourages a thick, soft, and tender chocolate chip cookie cake. Cornstarch is one of my favorite “secret” ingredients in cookies (you’ve probably seen it before in my “worst” chocolate chip cookies and Neapolitan cookies), a little bit helps make for a perfectly soft result.
- Cocoa powder. This ingredient is for the frosting rather than the cake layer itself. I typically stick with natural cocoa powder. Dutch process will work too, but the color will be darker and the flavor will be deeper.
- Chocolate chips. I always prefer semisweet chips (they lend a nice balance to things) but if you like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate, any of these will work!
- Sprinkles. Have fun with these! Feel free to use holiday sprinkles (red, white, and blue would be cute for July 4th!) or your own blend. I stir them into the batter and save a few to sprinkle on top of the frosting, too.
How to Make a Cookie Cake
- Cream the butter and sugars until combined and creamy.
- Stir in the eggs and vanilla, then set this aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then gradually stir them into the wet ingredients. Adding the dry ingredients all at once can make combining the dough difficult, so it’s important to do this gradually!
- Fold in your chocolate chips and sprinkles. I like to reserve a few chocolate chips for pressing into the top of the cake after I’ve spread it into the pan–it just looks prettier this way!
- Press and smooth the cookie dough into your pan. I use the back of a spoon to do this. The dough will be stiff! If you really want to get a pretty top, you can press a piece of wax paper against the surface of the dough and use your hands to press/smooth the dough into the pan.
- Bake until the edges are starting to turn golden brown and let cool completely before frosting.
Make the Frosting & Decorate
- Beat the butter until smooth, then gradually stir in the sugar until combined.
- Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and stir until incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure there are no dry pockets hiding.
- Add milk as needed until you reach your desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting around the top of your cake, top with sprinkles, and enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: As hard as it is to wait, you must let the cake cool completely before adding your frosting. If it’s still warm, the frosting will just melt.
FAQs
The cookie cake itself is fine to sit at room temperature (keep it in an airtight container!) and I think it’s best served at room temperature, but whether or not to refrigerate ultimately depends on the frosting you use. With the frosting I use here, this cake can sit out at room temperature for a few days. If your frosting does require refrigeration, know that the cookie cake will be more dense and crumbly when served from the fridge and make sure to use an airtight container to store it.
Yes! A deep 10″ cake pan, 9″ springform, 10″ cast iron skillet, or tart pan will work. Just know that if you use a smaller pan your bake time will be a bit longer and your chocolate chip cookie cake will be thicker and softer. Inversely, if you use a larger pan, then you will have a shorter bake time and a thinner cake. If you use a cast iron pan (a great choice for making this recipe’s cousin: the pizookie), the cake will likely take less time to bake.
My vanilla frosting, Oreo frosting, peanut butter frosting, or chocolate cream cheese frosting would all work nicely here. Feel free to get creative with whatever type you like though!
Are you a cookie person or a cake person? At this point, I feel like it’s just getting to be too hard for me to choose.
Enjoy!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) light or dark brown sugar tightly packed
- ⅔ cup (135 g) sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose
- 1 ½ teaspoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons sprinkles
Chocolate Frosting
- ½ cup (113 g) 1 stick salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Recommended Equipment
- 10" springform pan (see note to use a 9" pan instead)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare a 10″ round pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper or by lightly greasing. Set aside.
- Combine softened butter and sugars in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat well until light and fluffy.¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 g) light or dark brown sugar, ⅔ cup (135 g) sugar
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir well.1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose, 1 ½ teaspoon corn starch, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips and sprinkles.1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips, 2 Tablespoons sprinkles
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake on 350F (175C) for 30 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown.
- Prepare chocolate frosting while the cookie cake cools.
Chocolate Frosting
- Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.½ cup (113 g) 1 stick salted butter, softened to room temperature
- Gradually add sugar until completely combined1 ½ cups (188 g) powdered sugar
- Stir in cocoa powder and then vanilla extract. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.¼ cup (25 g) cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add milk (start with just a splash, if consistency is still too stiff add more as needed until you have a smooth creamy consistency) and beat well1-2 Tablespoons milk
- Pipe icing around the rim of your cooled cookie cake — I used a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2D tip, but in a pinch you can simply transfer your frosting to a ziploc bag, snip off a small corner, and pipe that way.
- Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Pan
A 9″ springform pan may be used instead, cake will need to bake approximately 35 minutes.Storing
Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.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.
This recipe was originally published September of 2017. I’ve updated the post with new photos and a new video and added more helpful tips to the post, but the recipe remains the same!
Stacy
Hi! Can I make the buttercream without the Cocoa powder? I don’t have any on hand!
Sam
Hi Stacy! You can just use a little more powdered sugar. 🙂
B
Recipe says 1 egg plus 1 yolk but the text says add eggs (plural) plus yolk. Which is correct?
Sam
You will just want to add 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. 🙂
Sheila
do you mean it takes 2 eggs altogether 1egg plus 1 egg yoke
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sorry for the confusion, Sheila! We have fixed the instruction text. It is one egg and one egg yolk.
Lorley
Hello Sam
Made this for a birthday at my granddaughter’s work. I loved making this cookie cake. It was so easy to make and baked up with a beautifully golden top. I frosted the edges with your “My Favorite Chocolate Frosting” which is the only chocolate frosting I use anymore. Love that recipe.
Granddaughter said the cookie cake was wonderful and the whole crew loved it. They said it was the best cookie cake they have ever had. Thank you for being my go-to web site for my baking needs.
Sam
That is so great to hear, Lorley! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Carol
This looks delicious. Can I use a 11″ tart pan? Cooking time?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That should work! It will be thinner and need less time in the oven 😊
Stephanie
Just made this and it turned out absolutely delicious! I assume it needs to be stored in the fridge because of the frosting? Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
Hi Stephanie! Room temperature should be fine for several days with this recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Lara
Sorry, one more question, is there a reason I can’t cook this in a 10″ cast iron?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Lara! The cast iron pan will work here. 🙂
Lara
Should you let it cool in the pan? When do you take it out? Can you serve it from the pan? I don’t want it to overcook! Thank you!
Sam
Hi Lara! I let it cool in the pan. Baking it in the springform pan, I just leave it in the pan and snap the ring off and serve from there. 🙂
Heather ogden
Can the recipe be doubled
Sam
Hi Heather! That should work here. I’m not sure how it will bake up if you make it really thick though. Enjoy! 🙂
Trangiee
Is there a reason for baking powder instead of soda? I just noticed a lot of the cookie cake recipes calls for soda only. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Trangiee! After lots of testing i found that baking powder only yielded the best results for a soft and chewy cookie cake. I hope that helps! 🙂
Trangiee
Thank you so much!
Erin
I needed a quick birthday treat for a party yesterday and this was perfect! Everyone loved it. Since my son was diagnosed with tree nut allergies three years ago I make all of our desserts now. Your site is my go-to and everything I’ve made from your recipes has been delicious. Thank you for yet another winner!
Sam
Thank you so much, Erin! I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much. I am honored to be your go to site for recipes. I really appreciate your support. 🙂
Annabel
Delicious, was a big hit! It was a bit doughy in the middle so I keep it in about 5 min longer then asked. The edges were a abit crispy but it was still good!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Annabel! 🙂
Kim
So when I make this tomorrow, I need to use an 8” pan. What other size pan should I use to make it the appropriate thickness?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kim! I reccomend using a 10″ pan for this recipe. 8″ or 9″ will also work, but the dough will be thicker and need more time to cook than what is listed. I hope that helps. 🙂
anne dunning
This was easy and fun to make and downright decadent to eat! I blended the suggested baking time with the golden-ness of your picture to decide when mine was done. About 25 minutes for me. I do love a soft center as well as it is cooked. This was perfect for my oven and me. Everyone loved it!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Anne! 🙂
Maddy P
Tried it! Turned out great except for how it was a little dry. Baked it for the exact amount of time, sooooo…
Sam
Your oven may run a bit hot, maybe shave a few minutes off next time. Glad to hear you otherwise liked it! 🙂
Rachel
So fun! I followed the recipe precisely and my cookie cake turned out great! Very dense and moist in the center. The edges did get a bit crispy for my taste, so I may try cutting the recipe in half and reducing the bake time on my next attempt. The chocolate frosting is delicious, though not entirely necessary considering the richness of the cookie. But who am I to argue with more chocolate?!?!