This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe features a thick base of chewy and slightly gooey chocolate chip cookie topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and garnished with ALL the sprinkles. It's the perfect birthday cake for any cookie lover!
Yield:
8 to 10 servings
Prep Time:15minutes
Cook:40minutes
Tessa's Recipe Rundown...
Taste: Like birthday cake meets the best chocolate chip cookie. Texture: The cookie itself is ultra chewy at the edges, slightly gooey in the center, and taken to a whole new level by the rich and creamy frosting. Ease: Very easy! The cookie dough comes together in minutes without an electric mixer, and can be made ahead of time. Pros: Super fun for celebrations! Perfect for those who don’t love birthday cake. Cons: None!! Would I make this again? Absolutely.
This recipe is in celebration of my NEW COOKIE BOOK coming out on September 1st, 2020! The Ultimate Cookie Handbook features over 50 cookie recipes and tons of visuals into the science of cookie baking!!
Growing up I never really liked birthday cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fresh, homemade cake baked with quality flavorful ingredients. But store-bought birthday cake or one made with cake mix and packaged frosting was too sweet and artificial even for my 10-year-old taste buds. And I’ve loved sweets all my life!
In fact, that weird birthday cake frosting that just tastes like sickeningly sweet plastic gives me nightmares. I used to scrape that stuff off in pure disgust. Anyone else do the same?
And then don’t even get me started on the actual bland and dry grocery store cake. And the designs and decorating… So cheesy and outdated!
This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe is perfect for those who don’t like birthday cake. Or for when you just don’t have the time and patience to bake a cake! Or maybe for those times when you just want something a little fun and different.
Whatever you do, just make sure you’re generous with the rainbow sprinkles for an extra festive cake!
I’ve formulated the chocolate chip cookie base recipe to be ultra thick, chewy, and slightly gooey in the middle with tons of flavor. The melted butter, dark brown sugar, extra egg yolk, bread flour, and cornstarch all help to accomplish this!
Bread Flour: The bread flour in this recipe helps make the cookie cake ultra chewy and thick. If you don’t have any bread flour, feel free to use only all-purpose flour, though your cake might loose some chewiness.
Butter: be sure to use melted butter for this cake. Here’s how to properly melt butter: Place the butter in a small saucepan set over medium low heat, swirling occasionally, until melted. You can also place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts, until melted. You can add the sugars to the hot butter to help create more of that smooth crackled appearance on the top of the cookie cake. Just don’t add eggs to the hot butter mixture otherwise they’ll scramble! Let cool first.
Sugar: Use both granulated and brown sugar. A high ratio of dark brown sugar makes this chocolate chip cookie cake moist, chewy, and rich in flavor.
Milk: The tablespoon of milk helps create a moist and rich texture.
Vanilla: Vanilla helps flavor our cookie cake.
Eggs: This recipe calls for 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk because the extra fat in the yolk creates a moist and chewy texture.
Leavening: Both baking soda and baking powder are called for in this recipe to achieve both lift and browning without making the cookie too cakey. You can learn more about the differences between baking soda and powder here.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is our magic ingredient to achieving that perfect thick, chewy and soft texture. I use cornstarch in several of my chocolate chip cookie recipes!
Salt: Helps to balance out the sweetness.
Chocolate chips: It isn’t a cookie cake unless it’s studded with chocolate chips!
How to Decorate A Cookie Cake:
For the buttercream icing for this recipe, I used a half batch of my go-to Best Buttercream (the video in that post has been viewed over a million times! craziness!) but feel free to make a full batch for an extra thick layer of frosting. I’ve also listed other topping ideas below.
If you’d like, you could also use a piping tip to pipe some beautiful buttercream swirls around the edges of your chocolate chip cookie cake.
Ice Cream (vanilla or cookie dough would be delicious)
Whipped Cream
Don’t forget extra sprinkles and/or chocolate chips!
Equipment for Your Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake:
For this recipe I prefer to use a springform pan because it makes it really easy to remove the entire cookie cake from the pan and place it on a pretty cake stand or serving plate.
If you don’t have a springform pan, however, feel free to use a cake pan or deep pie pan. You may need to adjust the baking time.
How to Store Cookie Cake:
Serve or cover and let stand at room temperature for up to 1 day, or refrigerated for up to 3 days.
This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe features a thick base of chewy and slightly gooey chocolate chip cookie topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and garnished with ALL the sprinkles. It's the perfect birthday cake for any cookie lover!
Ingredients
For the chocolate chip cookie base:
2sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1/2cup(100 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/4cups(247 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
1tablespoonmilk
2teaspoonsvanilla
2large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/2cups(191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4cups(159 grams) bread flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspooncornstarch
1teaspoonfine sea salt
2cups(340 grams) semi sweet chocolate chips
For the buttercream:
1 1/2cups(153 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
4ounces(113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch fine salt
2teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1tablespoonscream or milk
Sprinkles, for garnishing
Directions
For the cookie base:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined.
Stir in the eggs, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Gradually beat in the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. Bake now or cover the dough and refrigerate until ready to bake.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch spring-form pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Press the cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes for a gooey center or 35 to 40 minutes to cook completely. Let cool completely.
For the buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the salt, vanilla, and cream and beat on medium for 1 minute, adding more cream if needed.
Spread all over the cooled cookie cake then garnish with sprinkles. Serve or cover and let stand at room temperature for up to 1 day, or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
American
This post was originally published in 2016 and updated in 2020 with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)
I want to make this so bad! My brother’s birthday is coming, I’ll try and convince him to let me bake it for him (he usually wants some chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, oh well), if I can’t convince him I think I’ll just have to bake this only for myself… haha
You can just use AP flour. The bread flour helps create a nice chewy texture though, so I would recommend picking some up on your next grocery run to give it a try!
All these years of baking elaborate birthday cakes and my kids finally admitted they don’t like cake. But they love chocolate chip cookies. This was a big hit. I didn’t bother to frost since I knew they would find it too sweet. Everyone loved it and the fact that it stays gooey in the middle. I’m already making it again.
I made two for school get together and baked for 22 min and they still were very under baked, had to throw them away. The buttercream was really good and the cookie would have been very good if it had been baked. I would say at least 30 min bake time.
I made this for my daughters birthday. I didn’t look at the comments first that the 20 minutes baking time is not even close to enough time. I baked it for 32 minutes and even then it was doughy in the center. I wasn’t pleased with it when I served it yesterday. I loved the taste but the inside as doughy. Today I love it! The inside has set up and it is the perfect texture. I would make this again for sure. It is a fun treat to give. I would definitely make it the day before and bake it for 32-35 minutes. Also, I wanted to say that I LOVE this site. I have had success with everything I have made from it.
Hi Cindy, thanks so much for leaving your feedback! Hopefully this is helpful to others who don’t enjoy a more gooey texture (which I personally do). I’m so happy to hear you love the site!! 🙂
Glad I read the other reader comments. True bake time for me was more like 35 minutes and the center was still gooey and soft (in a good way). This dessert is super rich, a very small serving satisfies. So swee doesn’t need the buttercream frosting, although it’s a great frosting recipe. Definitely a big hit in my house!
Can this dough be made ahead of time? I would like to make it a few days in advance and pop it in the freezer. Will it still bake correctly? Also, how long would the frosting keep in the fridge? I’m excited to try this recipe!
This cookie cake recipe is amazing! Made it for my sisters birthday and everyone could not get enough. They raved about it being perfectly gooey in the middle. I will definitely be making this again!
I just made this for a friend’s daughter! Comes together super easy & bakes beautifully! I did a mix of milk, dark & semi sweet chocolate chips! They loved it!
I made this with a 10 inch cake pan. I baked it for 25 mins. I waited until it was completely cool. I let it sit on the counter overnight. It was really good. I thought it wasn’t going to come our right, but it was soo good. The texture in the middle was chewy and the edges had a bit of crunch, but still with a chew. I will make this again. Thanks fir the recipe!
The taste of this was so good! I do have a question with how gooey is gooey? It definitely was gooey and looked done on the outside but was still wet on the inside. I baked for the 30 minutes and will definitely do longer next time but I dont see any pics with gooeyness so I’m not sure if i messed up!
I made this for my birthday last week and it was incredible. Super simple – the hardest part was patiently waiting for the butter mixture to cool before adding the eggs. I ended up baking it for around 35 minutes and it was still perfectly under baked. I didn’t have bread flour, so just used all-purpose flour and it still seemed chewy to me – but I’d be curious to try it with the bread flour sometime to see the difference. Anyway, I shared it with my neighbors (because I knew I’d have eaten the entire thing myself if I didn’t get it out of the house) and both asked for the recipe a couple days later. That’s how good this cookie cake is. You won’t regret making it!
Oh my gosh YUM! My son asked for a chocolate chip cookie cake with icing so I googled and liked the picture you had, so chose this recipe and I am so, so glad I did! It’s amazingly good! My daughter and husband don’t like icing and they love every bit of it! My son loved it, his friends loved it, we all loved it! Moist and gooey and just like a chocolate chip cookie cake should be! So so good! This is definitely going in my keepers recipe box!
As a trained chef and cookbook author, I share trusted baking recipes your friends & family will love alongside insights into the science of sweets. I help take the luck out of baking so you *always* have delicious results! Learn more here.
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I want to make this so bad! My brother’s birthday is coming, I’ll try and convince him to let me bake it for him (he usually wants some chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, oh well), if I can’t convince him I think I’ll just have to bake this only for myself… haha
Haha!! 🙂
When do we use the milk in the cookie recipe? I made it today and put it in at the end after I realized I had forgotten it.
The batter tastes yummy and can’t wait to bake it tomorrow!
Oops, you just add it in with the eggs. Edited the recipe to correct that error, it should be fine without it 🙂
Love your website! What can I use for a substitute for the bread flour tho?
Many Thanks,
Carol
You can just use AP flour. The bread flour helps create a nice chewy texture though, so I would recommend picking some up on your next grocery run to give it a try!
Can i replace the bread flour with just all purpose flour?
Can this recipe be adjusted for a 10″ cookie cake? If so, what adjustments would need to be made?
Is 20 min correct? I made it in a 9 in springform at 350 for about 30 min and it was a soupy mess. It would seem too thick for only 20.
That’s how long it took me to get the dough to solidify and still be slightly ooey and gooey in the middle, as you can see from the photos 🙂
All these years of baking elaborate birthday cakes and my kids finally admitted they don’t like cake. But they love chocolate chip cookies. This was a big hit. I didn’t bother to frost since I knew they would find it too sweet. Everyone loved it and the fact that it stays gooey in the middle. I’m already making it again.
Could you make this into an ice cream cake with the chocolate chip being the bottom? Would it change the cookies texture?
I made two for school get together and baked for 22 min and they still were very under baked, had to throw them away. The buttercream was really good and the cookie would have been very good if it had been baked. I would say at least 30 min bake time.
I made this for my daughters birthday. I didn’t look at the comments first that the 20 minutes baking time is not even close to enough time. I baked it for 32 minutes and even then it was doughy in the center. I wasn’t pleased with it when I served it yesterday. I loved the taste but the inside as doughy. Today I love it! The inside has set up and it is the perfect texture. I would make this again for sure. It is a fun treat to give. I would definitely make it the day before and bake it for 32-35 minutes. Also, I wanted to say that I LOVE this site. I have had success with everything I have made from it.
Hi Cindy, thanks so much for leaving your feedback! Hopefully this is helpful to others who don’t enjoy a more gooey texture (which I personally do). I’m so happy to hear you love the site!! 🙂
Glad I read the other reader comments. True bake time for me was more like 35 minutes and the center was still gooey and soft (in a good way). This dessert is super rich, a very small serving satisfies. So swee doesn’t need the buttercream frosting, although it’s a great frosting recipe. Definitely a big hit in my house!
Can this dough be made ahead of time? I would like to make it a few days in advance and pop it in the freezer. Will it still bake correctly? Also, how long would the frosting keep in the fridge? I’m excited to try this recipe!
Could you make this into an ice cream cake with the chocolate chip being the bottom? Would it change the cookies texture?
Can i use light brown sugar instead of dark brown? Thats all I have.
Also if you could check your email from me, that would be great!
Great recipe, but be careful, the grams don’t match the cup measurements!
This cookie cake recipe is amazing! Made it for my sisters birthday and everyone could not get enough. They raved about it being perfectly gooey in the middle. I will definitely be making this again!
it was great. Thank you
I just made this for a friend’s daughter! Comes together super easy & bakes beautifully! I did a mix of milk, dark & semi sweet chocolate chips! They loved it!
I made this with a 10 inch cake pan. I baked it for 25 mins. I waited until it was completely cool. I let it sit on the counter overnight. It was really good. I thought it wasn’t going to come our right, but it was soo good. The texture in the middle was chewy and the edges had a bit of crunch, but still with a chew. I will make this again. Thanks fir the recipe!
I’m so glad you loved this cookie cake!
The taste of this was so good! I do have a question with how gooey is gooey? It definitely was gooey and looked done on the outside but was still wet on the inside. I baked for the 30 minutes and will definitely do longer next time but I dont see any pics with gooeyness so I’m not sure if i messed up!
This cookie cake is definitely meant to be gooey, but you can certainly cook longer next time if you’d like!
I made this for my birthday last week and it was incredible. Super simple – the hardest part was patiently waiting for the butter mixture to cool before adding the eggs. I ended up baking it for around 35 minutes and it was still perfectly under baked. I didn’t have bread flour, so just used all-purpose flour and it still seemed chewy to me – but I’d be curious to try it with the bread flour sometime to see the difference. Anyway, I shared it with my neighbors (because I knew I’d have eaten the entire thing myself if I didn’t get it out of the house) and both asked for the recipe a couple days later. That’s how good this cookie cake is. You won’t regret making it!
Happy birthday Kate! So thrilled you and your neighbors enjoyed this recipe. YAY!
Why is your buttercream white whilst mine is yellowish in color?
Oh my gosh YUM! My son asked for a chocolate chip cookie cake with icing so I googled and liked the picture you had, so chose this recipe and I am so, so glad I did! It’s amazingly good! My daughter and husband don’t like icing and they love every bit of it! My son loved it, his friends loved it, we all loved it! Moist and gooey and just like a chocolate chip cookie cake should be! So so good! This is definitely going in my keepers recipe box!
I am so, so happy to hear this recipe was a hit!