Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

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I’m obsessed with how this chocolate chip cookie cake turned out! It’s definitely one of my favorites so far. Not only was the aesthetic exactly what I was going for, but it was also delicious!

I made this chocolate chip cookie cake for my sons first birthday and had the cutest “ONE sweet cookie” theme. This cake would be great for any age birthday though because it’s so cute but also looks so sophisticated!

I made my son a separate smash cake and kept it very simple, and healthy! We didn’t want to load our one year old with sugar so this was a great way to let him enjoy as much as he wanted without us worrying about the sugar overload. It was essentially a giant muffin with whipped cream frosting – I’ll be sure to share a full blog post in the near future!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I wanted to incorporate the cookie theme throughout so I did a true chocolate chip cookie cake recipe, and it honestly tasted like a chocolate chip cookie! Most importantly, everyone loved it!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake ingredients

  • All-purpose flour
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Unsalted butter
  • Granulated sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Large eggs
  • Sour cream
  • Vanilla extract
  • Whole milk
  • Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Buttercream Frosting

I did a classic American buttercream frosting on this which was a perfect addition to the chocolate chip cookie taste. You really can’t go wrong with American buttercream, especially if you want to get a nice smooth finish when frosting the cake – and the taste is always a win.

Buttercream Ingredients

Check out my full post for this American buttercream recipe!

  • Unsalted butter
  • Powdered sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Heavy cream
  • Salt

Chocolate Ganache Drip

I’ve come to love a chocolate ganache drip on my cakes. I think they look amazing and definitely add that extra WOW factor. I’m also a big chocolate fan, so any way to sneak some extra chocolate in – sign me up!

Ganache can be a little touchy but through some trial and error, it turned out exactly how I hoped!

I’ll add a full blog in the future dedicated to ganache drips where I can share much more detail, but rest assured I’ll share the recipe for this one below!

I will say, my experience with a chocolate ganache drip was much smoother than a white chocolate ganache drip – so if you’re new to it, try chocolate first! It’s more forgiving in my opinion.

Ganache Ingredients

  • Semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips, or a bar chopped up into bits
  • Heavy whipping cream

Building the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Of course I had to decorate the cake with chocolate chip cookies, so I used my fan favorite “Wanna-be Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies”. Check out my full blog post for the BEST chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever taste!

I started by using a bread knife to cut off the domes of my three chocolate chip cookie cake layers to ensure they would stack evenly. 

Add a dollop of your buttercream to the surface you’re building your cake and spread it thin before placing the first layer – this keeps it from sliding around as you frost and decorate.

I added about a cup of frosting between each layer, and then used majority of what I had left in frosting to frost the top and sides. I always start with a crumb coating after all the layers are in place and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before putting a final layer of frosting on. 

Crumb coatings are great for getting a clean finished look without any crumbs showing through. Buttercream is thick and has a tendency to pull crumbs off the cake as you’re frosting it, so the crumb coating gets all of that out of the way before the final coat.

Once the buttercream was on and smoothed, I added my ganache drip. Make sure you do your drips one by one and then fill in the middle of the top with ganache rather than pouring a bunch of ganache over top and just hoping they drip the way you want. 

I just used a spoon to create my drips, but you can use a squeeze bottle as well if you prefer.

Finally, I finished with a piped border around the top, sprinkled some mini chocolate chips, added a mini chocolate border around the bottom and placed some chocolate chips cookies along the top!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Recipe by Anna TymoszczukCourse: DessertCuisine: American
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

35

minutes
Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Delicious chocolate chip cookie cake topped with a vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache and extra chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chips to emphasize the theme inside and out.

Ingredients

  • Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

  • 3 3/4 Cups (400g) all-purpose flour, be sure not to pack

  • 1 Tbsp baking powder

  • 3/4 tsp baking soda

  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

  • 1 1/8 Cup (254g) unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 1 Cup (220g) granulated white sugar

  • 3/4 Cup (140g) brown sugar, packed

  • 5 large eggs, room temperature

  • 1/2 Cup (112g) sour cream, room temperature

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

  • 1 1/2 Cups (355ml) whole milk, room temperature

  • 1 1/2 Cups (283g) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, coated in 1.5 Tbsp flour

  • Vanilla Buttercream

  • 2 1/2 cups (560g) unsalted butter, room temperature

  • 10 cups (1150g) powdered sugar

  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

  • 6–8 tbsp (90ml-120ml) heavy cream

  • Pinch of salt

  • Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 cup (185g) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips, or a bar chopped up into bits

  • 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream

  • Garnish

  • 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

  • 8-10 chocolate chip cookies

Directions

  • Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray and place a wax paper circle fitted to the bottom of the pan.
  • Add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, or hand-held mixer, cream the butter on high for about two minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Add in white and brown sugars and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are mostly incorporated between each one. Add the vanilla and sour cream, turn the mixer to high, and mix for one minute, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
  • With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the whole milk and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps, then fold in the flour-coated chocolate chips. Batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
  • Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans (about 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 35-40 minutes. The cakes are done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Make sure they’re cooled completely before applying any frosting.
  • Vanilla Buttercream
  • In your standing mixer, or hand-held mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
  • Slowly add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  • Add the vanilla extract, 4-5 tablespoons of heavy cream, and salt and mix until smooth.
  • Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional heavy cream, as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.
  • Chocolate Ganache
  • Place chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal). If you’re starting with a chocolate bar, chop it into small pieces until they’re about the size of chocolate chips.
  • In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm heavy whipping cream until it just starts to simmer. I always look for small bubbles forming around the edge and a soft simmer starting in the middle. When it’s reached this point, pour the cream into your bowl of chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds.
  • Whisk it together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk. Cool ganache at room temperature for 10-20 minutes, or until the ganache itself is room temperature or slightly above.
  • Assembling the Cake
  • Using a bread knife, cut the domes off the cake layers to ensure they are all level and will stack straight.
  • Add a dollop of buttercream to a cardboard round, cake stand, or whatever surface you’re building your cake on. spread it thin and place the first layer of cake, right side up, centered on there and press it down gently. This ensures the cake does not slide when you are decorating.
  • Add about a cup of between the layers and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Do the same with the next two layers and make sure you put the final layer upside down to ensure a nice level finish.
  • Frost the top and sides with a thin crumb coating and smooth as much as possible and then chill for at least 20 minutes.
  • Add the final layer of buttercream to cover the crumb coating and smooth it out. Chill the cake again for at least 20 minutes.
  • Add the ganache drip by using a spoon to drip one drip at a time over the side of the cake – if the drip runs too fast then it’s still too hot and needs to cool longer. Once you have your drips the way you want, fill in the remaining top of the cake with a little bit of ganache. Careful not to add too much as that could mess up your drips.
  • Finally, pipe a border around the top, sprinkle some mini chocolate chips on top of the border, press the remaining chocolate chips around the bottom and add some chocolate chip cookies around the top to finish it off.
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