Who doesn’t love a giant chocolate chip cookie? This soft, chewy cookie cake decorated with homemade buttercream frosting is the best way to celebrate a birthday or any special occasion!
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One of the first things I learned about my husband when we started dating was that no special occasion was complete without a cookie cake. Birthdays especially, always meant a cookie cake from Wegmans Supermarket!
To be honest, I had never even heard of a cookie cake until I met him. But then, alas, I experienced the magic of a Wegmans cookie cake, which my husband confidently declared was “the best dessert on Earth.”
From that day on, I was a cookie cake girl too—but I’m not the least bit surprised. It’s basically one giant chocolate chip cookie that’s soft, thick, and chewy, sliced like a cake and finished with swirls of chocolate and/or vanilla buttercream frosting.
This recipe was created for my hubby and our shared love of cookie cake. It takes everything nostalgic about the grocery store classic and makes it even better from scratch. This one’s for you, my love!
Why You’ll Love This Cookie Cake Recipe
- Soft and chewy: this cookie cake is far from dry!
- Gooey center but sturdy enough to cleanly slice: say goodbye to crumbly cookie cake.
- No chill time needed: the cookie dough goes right from bowl to oven.
- Make it ahead: it’s just as delish made up to 5 days in advance.
- Customizable: chocolate or vanilla frosted (homemade or not), with sprinkles or whatever toppings you choose!
Ingredients
You’ll need a handful of ingredients (many of which you probably already have on-hand) to make the best cookie cake! Here they are:
- All-purpose flour – all-purpose flour is the backbone of a cookie cake!
- Unsalted butter – butter creates rich flavor, tenderness and moisture.
- Light brown sugar – light brown sugar adds moisture, chewiness and rich flavor.
- Granulated sugar – regular sugar adds sweetness and helps with browning.
- Large eggs – eggs creates structure.
- Vanilla extract – vanilla adds rich flavor.
- Salt – salt enhances flavor.
- Baking soda – baking soda helps the cookie cake spread.
- Baking powder – baking powder helps it rise.
- Semisweet chocolate chips – while you can use whatever kind of chocolate chips you’d like, I find semisweet is sweet enough to be nostalgic yet still richly chocolatey.
- Decorations (optional) – make it pretty with sprinkles, coarse salt, PB cups, Oreos, etc.!
- For the homemade buttercream frosting….you’ll need butter, vanilla, and salt as listed above, and powdered sugar and a splash of milk (+ cocoa powder) if you’d like chocolate buttercream!
How to Make a Cookie Cake
Let’s make the perfect cookie cake! Here’s an outline with photos to help you; for the full recipe, see the recipe card below.
Grease: Grease a 9” springform pan. Line the bottom with a parchment round.
Beat: Preheat oven to 325℉. For the cookie cake, beat the butter, both sugars, and vanilla on medium speed with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes.
Stir: Stir in eggs.
Mix: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Add: Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and mix until just incorporated.
Fold: Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips until just incorporated.
Press: Press dough evenly in pan, smoothing top.
Sprinkle: Sprinkle and lightly press 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top.
Bake: Bake for 35-40 minutes until top is golden brown and center is set but jiggles slightly when shaken.
Cool: Cool completely before removing from pan or frosting.
Cream: For frosting, in the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, add butter and salt, and beat on medium-high for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder (for chocolate), milk, and vanilla and beat over medium for 1-2 minutes.
Frost: Use a piping bag or Ziploc bag pipe frosting as desired. Decorate and enjoy!
Topping Ideas: How to Decorate a Cookie Cake
Cookie cakes are great because they can be decorated just like a regular cake! Here are my favorite topping and decoration ideas:
- Buttercream frosting border + message (“Happy Birthday!” or “Congrats!”, etc.)
- Chocolate drizzle
- Sprinkles
- Crushed or mini candies (M&M’s, Reese’s, Oreos, etc.)
- Homemade Whipped Cream and fruit
- Edible flowers
- Flaky salt
- Ice cream or homemade No Churn Ice Cream scoops right before serving
My Pro Tips
Pro Tips for Making the Best Cookie Cake
- Use softened butter: soft butter creams more evenly with sugar, creating a smoother dough and better texture.
- Don’t overmix the dough: mix just until the flour disappears to keep the cookie cake soft and chewy instead of tough!
- Press the dough evenly into the pan: an even thickness helps the center and edges bake at the same rate.
- Slightly underbake for a soft center: pull the cookie cake when the center is 190-195°F.
- Let it cool before decorating: frosting a warm cookie cake will cause the buttercream to melt and slide!
Storage
Store frosted cookie cake at room temp for up to 2 days. After that, store in the fridge for up to 5 days, bringing to room temp an hour before serving.
Freeze a whole cookie cake or individual slices tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil or a freezer-safe bag, for up to 3 months.
Reheat unfrosted slices of cookie cake in the microwave.
FAQs
Absolutely! I recommend only 2 layers since this cookie cake is thick. Double the frosting recipe if you’d like frosting between the layers and on top of the cookie cake.
The secret to a soft cookie cake is using more brown sugar than granulated sugar and not over-mixing the dough. Most importantly, slightly underbake it and remove it from the oven when the center is just set and the internal temp is 190-195℉.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you’ve tried this Cookie Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please let me know in the comments below. I love hearing from you. Please consider leaving a 🌟 star rating while you are here!
BEST Cookie Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cookie Cake
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature for 20 minutes
- ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips + 2 tablespoons for top
- Decorations like sprinkles or flaky salt, (optional)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
OR Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Well grease the sides and bottom of a 9” springform pan. Then line the bottom with a parchment round.
- Preheat oven to 325℉. For the cookie cake, beat the butter, both sugars, and vanilla on medium speed with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes.
- Stir in eggs, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and mix until just incorporated.
- Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips until just incorporated.
- Press dough evenly in pan, smoothing top.
- Sprinkle and lightly press 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until top is golden brown and center is set but jiggles slightly when shaken. The internal temp in the center should register 190-195℉.
- Cool completely in the pan before removing from pan or frosting.
- For frosting, after cooling, remove cookie cake from pan and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, add butter and salt, and beat on medium-high for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder (if making chocolate frosting), milk, and vanilla and beat over medium for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Use a piping bag or Ziploc bag with a corner snipped to pipe frosting as desired. Decorate with sprinkles, etc. and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Feel free to use milk, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips!
- Each frosting recipe makes roughly 1 ¼ cups of frosting which is enough for generously frosting the perimeter of your cookie cake. If you’d like to make both frostings, I’d halve each recipe.
- Whole milk is best for frosting but you can use whatever milk you have on hand!
- Want to skip the homemade frosting? There’s no shame in store-bought!
- A frosted cookie cake can be stored at room temp for up to 2 days. Past that, store in the fridge and let stand at room temp for an hour before serving.
- With cooling time if frosting the cookie cake, total time will be approx. 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When I lived in western NY I bought cookie cake all the time for my kiddos birthdays (from Wegmans). I could never make it taste like the store bought when I’ve made it at home UNTIL NOW. I love this recipe!!! It’s like a thick, moist cake but in cookie form where not one inch goes to waste. Way better than wegmans…sorry weggies!!