My girls just love cookie cakes but very few are safe for their peanut/tree-nut allergies, so I make my own. Little Sis has requested one for the past 3 years, so I’d say they’re a hit!
They’re also SO easy to make – way easier than cookies! You can make them a little healthier AND they’re cheaper than the store-bought ones. It’s a win-win in my book!
I always use my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe from Ghirardelli. Why re-invent the wheel? Sometimes I follow the exact recipe. But, more often than not, I make it a wee bit healthier and they never seem to notice. Here’s that recipe:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, a wee bit healthier
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups unsifted flour I often do: 1 1/2 cup white flour + 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2-4 Tablespoons ground flax seed optional
- 2-4 Tablespoons wheat germ optional
- 2-4 Tablespoons protein powder optional
- 11 1/2 ounces Ghirardelli chocolate chips I like to do half semi-sweet and half 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
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Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Stir flours, flax seed, wheat germ and protein powder with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color.
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Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
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Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
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Place dough into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan for a thicker cookie or as large as ~15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan for a larger, thinner cake. Spread dough into prepared pan.
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Bake for 15 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let sit and frost and decorate when it is completely cooled. Have fun!!
Recipe Notes
Check out the technique I always use: Cooking Tip #1: Smushing sticky stuff like cookie dough into a pan.
This year Little Sis just had a friend over for a sleepover so I made her a smaller cake in a round 9″ baking dish using only half of the recipe. It was actually the perfect size. Because, as much as you love having cookie cake leftovers, you hate having cookie cake leftovers. You know what I mean? There are other variations I’ve made as well. This pirate themed one appeared on her 7th birthday. It’s not very fancy, but that’s sometimes what happens when your birthday is so close after the Christmas holidays. lol. This one was baked in a jelly roll pan using parchment paper to easily remove from the pan and place on this melamine platter.
Last year’s was a Minecraft-themed birthday party which meant Little Sis NEEDED a Minecraft cake. Not a Minecraft THEMED cake but the actual type of cake they have in the game itself. We were able to embellish it further with some figures she got for her birthday. This cake was made using the same jelly roll, but cut into squares then placed in a 3 layer square, with frosting between each layer, using 27 smaller square cookie pieces. Caution: when serving the lower layers, kids may whine and complain that they are not as nice as the top layers so some touching up may be required. Yes, I speak from experience.
Happy cookie cake-making to you and have fun with it!
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Christine, aka happyvballgirl : )
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Hi Nancy! I used Betty Crocker's Whipped Fluffy White Frosting. It's a family favorite because it tastes so darn good. Thanks so much for stopping by! You made my day! 🙂
nancy mccoy
My son is very excited about this Minecraft cake! What type of icing did you use? It looks like whipped cream but I wasnt sure. Thanks for sharing!
Unknown
My son is very excited about this Minecraft cake! What type of icing did you use? It looks like whipped cream but I wasnt sure. Thanks for sharing!
Mamabelly
This is such a great idea! One of my kids is not a big cake fan and this is a funalternative!!
Sarah Paterson-Farrand
I've never had a cookie cake but this looks so yummy and so fun. Totally keeping this recipe.
Caren
Thank you for posting! When you made the smaller size, did you adjust the cooking time at all? I'm planning to make this tomorrow night for my daughter's birthday. Her party is this weekend but I wanted to make something on her actual day to celebrate!
happyvballgirl
Hi Caren! The baking time should be about the same since it ended up being a little thicker than the jelly roll sized pan. With that said, I never trust baking times, so I usually check it first at around 15 mins to see how it's going and then again every 3-5 mins until it starts to reach that golden brown color and that toothpick comes out clean-ish. 🙂 It's better to have this cookie cake on the softer side because otherwise it can get too hard and crunchy. After letting it sit for a bit to cool, it will harden/set a bit more. Hope that helps and good luck! Happy Birthday to your daughter! 🙂