This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake has brown sugar chocolate chip cake layers, a cookie dough filling, and a chocolate chip cookie frosting!
Chocolate chip cookie lovers, this cake is for YOU! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday today than with this epic Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. This cake kinda came out of the blue. At this time of year, I’d typically be throwing something seasonal at you, whether for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or just Fall. But the cakes I make for my birthdays never really seem to follow a seasonal theme.
The first cake I made for my birthday (well, the first one I wrote about), was this pretty rosette cake that literally used a box mix (gasp) and a simple vanilla buttercream. Two years ago, I made this Milk & Cookies Cake (clearly I have a pattern), and last year I didn’t make a cake at all because we were in Walt Disney World to celebrate. Not gonna lie, I’m seriously wishing I was back in WDW right now!!
But alas, I’m *stuck* at home celebrating my birthday on a sunny Saturday with one adorable puppy (she’s a handful but I LOVE her) and one very loving husband (he’s a handful but I LOVE him), and a I have a sizeable slice of this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake to look forward to. It’s no WDW, but it’ll do :).
How do you make a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake?
To make this cake I modified my Milk & Cookies Cake, and swapped out some of the granulated sugar for light brown sugar. I also used milk instead of buttermilk, but really you could go either way — buttermilk will yield a slightly less sweet cake due to the tartness of it.
When making the cake, be sure to coat your chocolate chips in flour. This is an important step, and if you don’t do it they’ll likely sink to the bottom of your pans. I actually forgot to coat mine. It’s honestly the worst feeling. Folding in those chocolate chips and then realizing you forgot to toss them in flour!! I baked them up anyhow (what else was I going to do with that cake batter??) and they didn’t sink too badly, but they sank more than I’d like. So, don’t skip this step!
Once the cake layers were baked and cooled, I cut each of them in half horizontally to make 6 layers. You could just leave this as a 3 layer cake instead, but you’ll have excess cookie dough and frosting (unless you reduce those recipes). The recipe will also work as a two layer (cut into 4 layers) 8″ cake.
Once the layers were done, I whipped up a batch of my edible chocolate chip cookie dough.
Can You Eat Raw Cookie Dough?
Let’s be real here — one of life’s greatest pleasures is licking cake batter off beaters or eating raw cookie dough by the spoonful. I do this every single time I bake a cake (quality control, right?) and have been doing it ever since I was little. I haven’t had any ill effects from it, but there have been cases where people have gotten sick either from the raw eggs or (in very rare cases) raw flour.
This may depend on where you live or where you get your ingredients, so you know better than I do what sort of risk this poses to you. The good news is that this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake contains an edible cookie dough recipe that is egg-free with heat-treated flour and is safe to eat.
The cookie dough will be more stiff than a frosting, and hard to spread onto the layers. So I found it best to line my lightly greased baking pans with plastic wrap and press and shape the cookie dough into discs. I then chilled these discs and placed them onto the cake layers. This method made the discs slightly larger than my cake layers, but they were easy to smush in and adjust when placed on the cake.
If you don’t want to do it this way, you can make the cookie dough filling lighter and fluffier by adding a bit more milk or cream until it’s more of a spreadable consistency. Either method works. Do not chill the cookie dough before using if you do it this way though.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Frosting
The chocolate chip cookie frosting on this cake is a new fave. I used my favourite brown sugar Swiss meringue buttercream and added a whole bunch of crushed cookies into it. I used store-bought Chips Ahoy cookies for this (partly due to laziness), but you could use your own favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe instead. Just make sure the cookies are more on the crunchy side rather than chewy, as you want to crush them up pretty fine and chewy cookies are more likely to clump.
I used a food processor to pulverize the cookies, then passed them through a mesh strainer to get out any larger lingering bits. This gave me the cookie powder I was looking for that would add just the slightest bit of texture to the buttercream, but still make it easy to smooth.
Decorating this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake was fairly simple. I started with a smooth canvas of buttercream, some dollops on top (using a 1M tip), then made some cookie dough balls with the leftover cookie dough (about 1tsp each) and placed some store-bought mini Chips Ahoy cookies along the bottom. I think it’s a simple and pretty way to express all the chocolate chip cookie goodness that awaits inside this cake!
If you’re a chocolate chip cookie fan or love cookie dough as much as I do, this cake is one you’ll need to add to your baking menu!
Looking for more Cookie Dough Recipes?
Tips for making this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Be sure to heat-treat the flour in the cookie dough filling before use.
- The recipe will also work as a two layer (cut into 4 layers) 8″ cake.
- The buttercream recipe makes enough to frost the whole cake, if you wanted to skip the cookie dough layers.
- You will have some cookie dough left over. You can make cookie dough truffles with any extra, or just store it in the fridge and eat it with a spoon like I did.
- I used store-bought cookies for the buttercream, but you can use your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe if you prefer.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup milk room temperature
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips tossed in 1 Tbsp flour
Cookie Dough Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk room temperature
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Chip Cookie Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups dark brown sugar packed
- 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chip cookie crumbs 150g, from approx 8 cookies crushed and sifted
Assembly:
- cookie dough balls
- mini chocolate chip cookies
Instructions
Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars on med-hig until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Toss chocolate chips in 1 Tbsp flour. Fold in chocolate chips and mix until just incorporated.
- Bake for 35-40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
Cookie Dough Filling:
- In a small bowl, whisk flour and salt, set aside.
- Beat butter until creamy, add sugars and beat on high until pale and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins). Add vanilla and mix until combined.
- Reduce speed to low and slowly add in flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Slowly pour in milk. Increase speed to med-high and beat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Spray three 6" pans with cooking spray and line each with plastic wrap. Place 2/3 cup of the cookie dough filling and each and spread evenly (I used my hands for this -- it helps if your fingers are slightly wet). Fold the plastic wrap over to cover the cookie dough and chill to set.**
Chocolate Chip Cookie Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.***
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
- Add vanilla and cookie crumbs whip until smooth.****
Assembly:
- Cut each layer of cake in half horizontally.
- Place one layer of cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with one of the discs of cookie dough filling. The cookie dough may extend over the edges of the cake. If so, just smush it in a bit and smooth it out.
- Place another layer of cake on top and press down gently. Top with 2/3 cup of frosting and spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers, alternating cookie dough and frosting and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost the cake and smooth the sides and top. Use a 1M tip to pipe dollops on top. Use some of the remaining cookie dough to make small balls (1 tsp) to place on top of the frosting dollops. Place small chocolate chip cookies around the bottom of desired.
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Notes
** You can skip this step and try and spread the cooke dough onto each layer instead. It will be quite firm though and a bit harder to spread.
*** Wipe your mixer bowl and whisk down with lemon juice or vinegar to make sure it is completely grease free and make sure there is no trace of yolk in your whites or your meringue will not stiffen.
**** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth. If it looks soupy, place it in the fridge for 20mins and rewhip.
Aimee says
Hi! My step daughter wants cookie dough cake for her birthday. I don’t like Swiss meringue buttercream and it’s probably because I’m terrible at making it. I’ve tried and never comes out right. Can I make this with a regular buttercream with confectioners sugar? How do I add the cookie dust crumbs and the brown sugar to this to get right consistency for smoothing? Thanks! Gorgeous cake
Olivia says
Hi Aimee! You can totally do a regular buttercream, but skip the brown sugar — it won’t dissolve. I would just add cookie crumbs to your fave American buttercream recipe. You can try to replace some of the powdered sugar first, so it’s not too sweet, or just add cookie crumbs at the end and add cream/milk to thin it out as needed. If you ever decide to give SMBC another go though, be sure to read through my tutorial! https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
Kiss Pookie says
Could you recommend a way to bake this as a rectangle cake? It sounds delicious but I want to hide “chocolate dinosaur fossils” under a “dirt” layer for my son’s birthday.
Olivia says
Hi Kiss! How large a pan are you wanting to use? Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
Kiss Pookie says
Yes, I think that is helpful. After looking this I think I will try to do 2 8×8 square pans instead of a large rectangle pan. That might be more proportionate to the 6″ rounds your original recipe calls for. I am guessing those will still take about 25-30 min to bake at least. Since you’re the expert, does that sound reasonable to you? Thank you so much!
Olivia says
It really depends on how much batter is in them. I recommend looking in on them at 20mins to see how they are doing. If they still look raw, keep baking until they *look* done. Then gently jiggle the pans, if any jiggle then keep baking. Once there is no jiggle you can use a skewer to test them. If it’s mostly clean then they are done!
Sarah says
I was thinking of substituting the actual cakes for your chocolate cakes then doing a chocolate drip too. Do you think that would work? Or would it all be a bit much? (Is that even a thing?!!)
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! I think that would be delicious, in fact, I did a version of that here 🙂 https://livforcake.com/cookie-dough-chocolate-cake/
Tash says
Hi Olivia,
I’ve made your black forest and lemon & blueberry cakes and absolutely loved them!
Can’t wait to make this one! Just a quick question, I prefer ABC to SMBC, so was wondering if I could use your Vanilla Buttercream recipe for this one and add the cookie crumbs to it? Or would you recommend something else?
I’ll be using 2×8″ pans for this one, will your Vanilla Buttercream recipe be enough to fill and cover the cake?
Thanks!!
Olivia says
Hi Tash! You could totally add cookie crumbs to the ABC. You may need to add a bit more cream if it thickens the buttercream too much. And yes, one full recipe of the ABC will be enough to fill and frost a 2 layer 8″ cake. Let me know how it turns out!
Dimitria Lyles says
Hi there! I’m an amateur baker who’s husband absolutely loves chocolate chip cookies. His birthday is coming up and I would love to surprise him with this cake! However I do not have a stand mixer, nor a double boiler. Everything I make I mix by hand using spoons, forks and whisks. Is this recipe achievable without a stand mixer and without a double boiler? Any tips you can give me to make this cake without the fancy equipment? Thanks much! 💕🍪🥛🎂
Olivia says
Hi Dimitria! You would really need at least a hand mixer for this — specifically for the meringue frosting. You could get away with making the cake and cookie dough filling by hand (provided you really whip that butter and sugar to cream them — doable, they made us do this in pastry school!). I would recommend that you try it with an American buttercream instead (https://livforcake.com/simple-vanilla-buttercream/) as you don’t need a double boiler (though really this is just a metal bowl placed over a pot with 1-2″ simmering water in it) and can get away with whipping it by hand (it won’t be easy though). Let me know if you try it!
Lauren says
Hi I made this cake for my 8 year old sisters birthday it looks amazing I also made the champagne cake for my mums birthday using Prosecco but for this cake the chocolate chips still sank with the flower coating 😋😆
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! Bummer about the choco chips sinking! I haven’t had that happen with this recipe as the batter is on the thicker side.
Sreekala says
Hi Olivia,
I baked this cake for my daughter’s birthday. It came out very nice. Extremely moist and soft!!! But found it was extremely sweet and butter heavy. Do you have any suggestions on what I can cut down on to make it less sweet and less buttery?
Thank you so much for this blog! I love your Black Forest I have baked it 3 times and it has been a hit every time!!!
Olivia says
Hi Sreekala! Did you find just the cake itself too sweet and buttery or just once paired with the cookie dough and frosting? The cake itself shouldn’t be overly sweet or buttery, but you can try to reduce the sugar by 1/3rd or so. So happy to hear you like the black forest cake! 😀
Sreekala says
The cake by itself was not too sweet and buttery, I think the cookie dough in between the layers made it too sweet. Will try with fewer layers of cookie dough next time. Thank you again!
Olivia says
Ah yes, the whole cake together is quite sweet for sure! If you like, you can leave out the cookie dough layers altogether as they add the most sweetness.
Katrina says
I made this cake for someone and they absolutely loved it. How do you think these would turn out as cupcakes? Any recommendations for baking?
Olivia says
Hi Katrina! I think they would work perfect as cupcakes! You can hollow them out and add some cookie dough in the middle if you like. For baking, all you need to do is reduce the time — start checking at 15mins or so.
Carrie says
Hi!
I want to make this for a party on Saturday. How many days in advance can I make it if I plan to keep it in the refrigerator?
Olivia says
Hi Carrie! I recommend no more than 2-3 days in the fridge but only because the fridge tends to dry cakes out.
Rebecca says
Hi Olivia! This cake looks delicious. Do you think it would be possible to put into 8-inch pans?
Olivia says
Hi Rebecca! Yes, the recipe as is will bake up two 8″ layers which you can cut in half to make 4.
Rebecca says
Thank you Olivia! Can’t wait to bake it!
Bethney says
I’m needing to make this in an 8” size. Would you double the recipe? Or do you think this recipe would be sufficient? I don’t want to cake to be too short.
Olivia says
Hi Bethney! The recipe as-is will work in two 8″ cake rounds. See note in my Tips section above the recipe.
Rebecca says
Beautiful cake! Do you think it would be ok in the refrigerator 2 days before I serve it?
Olivia says
Hi Rebecca! Yes, I think that would be fine. I hope you like it!
Amy says
I was planning on making this for my husband’s birthday.. he does not like cake! However, he loves cookies. Could you tell me if the layers are more like a cake or cookie consistency?
Olivia says
Hi Amy! The cake layers are definitely more of a cake consistency.
ali raza says
very informative post I like such these types of post!
Thank you very much for this sharing!
Olivia says
Thanks Ali!
Yulia says
Hi Olivia, I love your recipes and was looking forward to making this cookie dough cake for my son’s 3rd birthday. Unfortunately it turned up being a bit of a disaster. First of all I think it’s the sugar, I’m not used to working with soft brown sugar, and secondly I think there is too much batter for 6” cake tin so it doesn’t have enough time to bake through. Basically I’ve been baking mine for a second hour now and it looks raw in the middle…😕 any advice?
Olivia says
Hi Yulia! It sounds like something is very off there — the cake should NOT be baking for that long! Did you make any substitutions to the ingredients? Did you use three 6″ tins as the recipe calls for?
Ali says
This cake looks amazing but do you have a recipe to half it?
Olivia says
Hi Ali! You can adjust the Servings slider to 6 to give the ratios for half of a recipe.
Ally says
Hi! I made this for my cookie loving 2 year old this past weekend. It was amazing! Seriously the cake for any chocolate chip cookie lover. I found the whole recipe a little butter heavy. I mean, I get it. Butter is delicious. Do you think the icing would work as well with less butter? I know baking is very specific but I’d totally make this again omitting the cookie dough part and making a less heavy icing. It was definitely a treat!! Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Ally! So glad you liked it. You could definitely use less butter in the frosting if you prefer. I would start with half the amount and see how the frosting looks/tastes and add more if needed. Let me know if you try it!
Jade says
Hi Olivia, I noticed you no longer have the option to view the recipe in weight measurements rather than cups. I’ve had great success following your recipes using weight measurements. I find measuring with cups difficult because we don’t use them in the UK.
Olivia says
Hi Jade! There was a slight issue with my site this morning that caused that to disappear. It should be back now!
Caity says
Does this cake need to be refrigerated until served?
Olivia says
Hi Caity! If you’re serving same day it should be fine, otherwise yes. Take out 2-3 hours before serving so that it can come to room temp.
Ashley says
This cake looks incredible! I’m going to attempt it for a baby shower this weekend!
What would your recommended cooking time be for 9″ cake pans? I was thinking of doubling the recipe for 2 9″ pans, and baking for about an hour?
Happy Birthday!
Olivia says
Hi Ashley! Thank you! I’ve never baked in 9″ pans so I can’t say for sure. How tall are the pans you have? If they’re only 2″ tall I worry about the batter overflowing if you double the recipe. Baking time is always tricky to judge. The first test I do is to look into the oven and see that the layers are a nice golden color, if they are, I open the oven and very gently nudge one of them — if there is any jiggle at all, I close the oven back in and leave them alone. Once there is no jiggle I test with a skewer until it’s mostly clean. I hope that helps!
Sonia says
Are the egg whites heated enough so there is not danger of them being harmful?
Olivia says
Hi Sonia! If you cook them to 160F they will be safe to eat.
Lori says
Found you through Pinterest and quickly followed you everywhere else — no, I assure you I’m not a stalker. I just really like dessert :-p This cake is calling my name and I will try to bake it. Sure hope it turns out as well as yours did. Happy birthday, Olivia!
Olivia says
Hi Lori! Thanks so much, I hope you like it as much as I do 🙂
J says
Happy Birthday Olivia! 🎂
What a beautiful cake you made! Actually all your cakes are beautifully made!
I hope you had a great Birthday today!
Olivia says
Thanks so much J!
Sara says
Happy birthday! I can’t wait to make this one.
Olivia says
Thanks Sara! I hope you like it 🙂
Andrea says
Happy birthday Olivia! My birthday is tomorrow, but I celebrated today. When I saw this cake, I knew I had to make it for my birthday cake as well. I ran to the grocery store and quickly threw it together. It was delicious! Everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Olivia says
Thanks Andrea, and Happy Birthday to you! I can’t believe you whipped it up so quickly! Amazing. So glad you liked it!
Amanda @ Naturally Sweet Kitchen says
Omg, I love this! This looks over-the-top incredible – what an amazing cake to celebrate! Happy birthday, Olivia!! 🙂
Olivia says
Thanks so much Amanda! xoxo