September 2, 2020

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Name: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 stick butter (melted); 1 cup brown sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla; 1 egg; 1 cup flour; 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch; 2 teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal); 1 package chocolate chips; 1/4 cup corn syrup

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

As a baker, I probably shouldn’t share this unpopular opinion, but I don’t love cake. Cake is just a sweet, bready vehicle to get that luscious, delicious frosting into my mouth. I would take brownies, ice cream, or, of course, cookies, over cake any day. Including my birthday! So for my birthday, I always pick a cookie cake over a regular cake. I absolutely love cookie cakes, especially from Great American Cookie Company. But they don’t exist here in Boston, so I figured out how to make this copycat Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake myself!

angled shot of a chocolate chip cookie cake with alternating brown and white frosting flowers around the outside of the cookie, with a slide in the bottom right of the cookie cut and sitting on a cake server, pulled slightly out, on a marbled surface

What you’ll need

This super easy recipe needs just a bowl and a spoon or spatula for prep. If you have a round cookie sheet (usually pizza-sized, but not a pizza stone), that is what I used, but you can easily make a rectangular cookie cake on a regular, rimmed baking sheet.

How to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

You’ll want to line the baking sheet with parchment paper. If you’re using the round sheet, I place the parchment on the baking sheet and then cut the overhang around the outside of the sheet so the parchment is round and won’t hang down onto the oven rack.

top down view of whole chocolate chip cookie cake with alternating brown and white frosting dots around the edge, on top of a marbled surface

In your bowl, you’ll first mix together the melted butter and brown sugar. You’ll then stir in the vanilla and egg. Following that you’ll stir in flour, cornstarch, and salt. Once you have your batter, you’ll stir in the chocolate chips. Lastly, you’ll want to stir in the cornstarch. Make sure this is well combined, and then spread onto the lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes – the cookie will be golden brown when done.

Decorating the Cookie Cake

Let the cookie cool completely before decorating or the frosting will melt. You can certainly make your own frosting, but I think the best cookie cakes are topped with canned frosting. I used alternating Dark Chocolate and White frosting, but you can use any flavors you’d like.

top down view of cookie cake with alternating brown and white frosting dots around the outside, and one slice pulled out part-way and angled. Multi-colored sprinkles are on the cookie as well as the marbled surface the cookie is on.

Most traditionally, cookie cakes are decorated around the edge with words in the center. I used a starred piping tip and piped little flower-like dots around the outside, alternating the chocolate and white icings. I considered writing happy birthday in the middle, but didn’t trust myself to make it look good! However, if you’re writing in the center, using a thicker tip to pipe the background of the words in white, and then a thinner tip to pipe the more legible words on top of the white icing is the most traditional cookie cake approach.

Instead of writing words, I used sprinkles. Lots and lots of sprinkles. Sprinkles make everything more fun and festive! And if you, like me, aren’t artistic, this is a good alternative to writing! But also, if you’re making the cake for yourself, who cares what it looks like, just cover that cookie with frosting (and if we’re being honest, I added a lot more frosting after I took my photos)! There are no rules to decorating, so just have fun with it! It’s going to taste amazing, no matter how it looks!

round white plate with a slice of chocolate chip cookie cake with the tip of the slice bitten off, and the alternating white and brown frosting dots along the bottom of the slice. To the right of the slice is a rose gold fork. The plate is on top of a white marbled surface.

So celebrate anything and everything with this fun and delicious recipe! Get the kids involved and make it a family activity! It’s super quick and easy and the result is extra yummy! If you give this a try, I’d love for you to leave me a comment or a review below!

angled view of cookie cake with alternating brown and white frosting dots around the outside, and one slice pulled out part-way and angled. Multi-colored sprinkles are on the cookie as well as the marbled surface the cookie is on.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote