10 Tips to a Scrumptious Cookie Cake

It’s clear from all the posts we’ve written over the years that we love desserts. We don’t play favorites either:  Pie and cobbler are just as popular as cake and ice cream in our kitchens. Of course, some desserts are a bigger hit than others where it comes to kids. It’s kids we have in mind today, with this post on cookie cakes. We can’t think of an easier, tastier way to turn a kid’s favorite treat into a crowd-pleasing dessert. Here’s how to create cookie cakes at home, with ingredients that are probably already in your pantry

Tip 1: Use a Pan

Even though cookie dough is solid enough to hold its shape while baking, you’ll get better results if you bake it in a pan rather than forming a giant cookie on your baking sheet. Sally’s Baking Addiction -- one of our go-to resources on all things related to baking -- reminds us that cookie dough spreads. Baking it in a pan helps ensure your cookie cake layers have a uniform shape. This is especially important if you plan to bake multiple layers and stack them.

What sort of pan should you use? Your recipe may call for a specific size pan based on the quantity of dough. Otherwise, you can use what you have on hand. Both 8-inch and 9-inch round cake pans will work, as will pie dishes. We also recommend a springform pan, which will make it easy to remove your cookie cake from the pan.

Tip 2: Parchment Paper

No matter what pan you choose, line the bottom of each one with parchment paper. Sally’s Baking Addiction recommends greasing both the pan and the parchment paper. This strategy will ensure your cookie cake pops out of the pan and stays in one piece.

Tip 3: Room Temperature Ingredients

We’ve written before about the importance of temperature when baking, and we don’t just mean the oven temperature. Not only should your butter be at room temperature, but your eggs ought to be too. Sally’s Baking Addiction suggests taking the eggs and butter out of the refrigerator at the same time. Of course, there are ways to soften butter faster, and eggs are even easier to manage. Put them in a bowl of warm water -- not hot, and certainly not boiling -- to speed up the process.

Tip 4: Dark Brown Sugar

Multiple sources advocate for using dark brown sugar in cookies, but especially in cookie cake. Both Sally’s Baking Addiction and Baker Bettie note that brown sugar makes cookies softer and chewier. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown, which adds moisture and a rich molasses flavor.

Tip 5: Egg Yolk

Another ingredient tweak recommended by bakers we respect is to add another egg yolk to the mix. Baking a Moment and Sally’s Baking Addiction vouch for the richness an extra egg yolk offers, and it helps add to the softness of your cookie cake.

Tip 6: Cornstarch

Cornstarch is one more ingredient that comes in handy more often than you might realize. Baking a Moment explains that cornstarch is a great way to add structure to cookies without compromising tenderness. In fact, cornstarch is yet another way to make your cookie cake as soft as it can be. But take care not to overmix your dough once you add the dry ingredients, or you’ll lose softness as the gluten develops.

Tip 7: Bittersweet or Semisweet Chips

We already use semisweet chocolate chips in our cookies, but if you’re accustomed to using milk chocolate chips, we’d encourage you to try semisweet or even bittersweet chips. Baker Bettie notes this substitution helps balance the sweetness, just like adding a dash of salt to sweet recipes. Bittersweet is an excellent choice if you’re planning to stack layers and spread frosting between them. Too much sweetness will overwhelm your taste buds.

Tip 8: Underbake

Across the board, every source we consulted cautioned against overbaking your cookie cake. It will bake a bit more as it cools on top of the stove. Take it out when the edges are set but the middle is still underdone. If you fully bake it, your cake will turn out too hard to slice neatly.

Tip 9: Star Frosting Tip

If you don’t already own a star frosting tip and pastry bags for making churros, you’ll want one for frosting your cookie cake. You can spread frosting with an offset spatula between layers, but a star tip will allow you to pipe frosting around the edge and create rosettes.

Tip 10: Decorations

Because it’s so easy to make a cookie cake, take a little extra time to decorate it. After you’ve frosted the top, sprinkle it with candy confetti, or add crushed bits of candy bars and chopped cookies.

Cookie Cake Recipe Ideas

You can follow any of the links from the above tips, or you can browse this fantastic collection of cookie cakes assembled by Brit.co. Quite a few of them caught our eye, including these:

• Sugar cookie layer cake, with three layers of sugar cookie cake and confetti buttercream frosting;
• Neapolitan chocolate chip cookie cake, because there's no need to choose between chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry when you have all three flavors in one cake;
• Italian rainbow cookie cake, which takes expertise to make your cake look like the one in the picture, but it will be fun trying.

But the one we’re going to try first is the Oreo Brookie Layer Cake from Life, Love, and Sugar. This cake is going to be an undertaking compared to a single layer chocolate chip cookie cake, but the results look both impressive and delicious.

Get ready to add a few unexpected ingredients to the grocery list. The chocolate chip cookie layer is straightforward, as long as you paid attention to the ingredients noted above. Be sure to have cornstarch, brown sugar, and semisweet chocolate chips on hand. Given the sweetness in the other two layers, we’d be inclined to go with bittersweet chips.

For the brownie layer, have both semisweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder on hand. Brownies often use one or the other, but this recipe includes both. We’d also suggest adding  espresso powder to the brownie layer. Finally, the Oreo layer calls for baking powder (not baking soda) and sour cream, in addition to Oreos. The whole cake is heavy on butter, eggs, and white sugar, so be sure to stock up on these.