By now, I’m sure you are familiar with the cookie cake. Popular a few decades back, these giant decorated cookies are making a comeback and for good reason…
Many of us prefer the texture of a great cookie to the texture of your typical cake, so why not have the nostalgic enjoyment of your favorite cookie in the easily shareable, sliceable, decorate-able shape of a classic cake?
I could find zero reasons why this shouldn’t happen.
Plus, baking cookies is often times a bit easier than baking a great cake, as the recipes can be a little more forgiving. So, as the list of reasons why we should all love the idea of a cookie cake grows, let’s just get started on making todays “everything” cookie cake, because I just know that you are going to absolutely love it.
Let’s go…
Begin by gathering 10 tablespoons of room temperature butter, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup of mini M’nM’s, 1/4 cup of toffee bits, 1/4 cup of roughly chopped pretzels and a pinch of flaky sea salt.
Combine 10 tablespoons of room temperature butter with 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in a large bowl and mix, whisk, beat or whip until creamy. You can make this batter in a stand mixer, with an electric hand mixer, a stiff whisk or even just a silicone spatula and a strong mixing arm.
Note: If you are disappointed to see that you need room temperature butter, because you want to make this cookie cake now and only have cold butter, do not fret! Simply place the butter in a microwave safe bowl and set the microwave to defrost for 30 seconds or so. Every microwave is different and you don’t want to actually melt the butter (it will change the texture of your cake… and not in a good way...), so watch it carefully and as soon as it softens to the point that will dent when you touch it, you are ready to proceed.
Once the butter and sugars are creamy, add 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour and mix until just combined.
Now for the fun stuff…
This “everything” cookie cake is like a giant version of my everything cookies, which are a take on Panera’s kitchen sink cookie… aka a big chocolate chip cookie with tons of fun things inside. So, today we are folding 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup of mini M&M’s, 1/4 cup of toffee bits and 1/4 cup of roughly chopped pretzels into the cookie dough. If there is something you want to add to this cookie cake, do it! You have my blessing…
Fold everything in and then prepare a round cake pan by generously greasing or buttering the interior and lining the bottom with some parchment paper. Today, I am using an 8 inch cake pan, but you can use anything from an 8″ to a 10″, just be sure to adjust your baking time if you end up using a larger pan.
Note: The easiest way to trim your parchment paper to fit your pan is to fold your sheet of parchment in half length wise and then in half again width wise. Flip your pan upside down and place the corner of your folded parchment in the center of the bottom of the pan (see photo above). Use a sharp pair of scissors to follow the edge of the pan. Once you are done cutting, unfold the parchment and you will have a nice circle that should fit nicely into the bottom of your round cake pan!
Press the cookie dough evenly throughout the cake pan and toss a few extra pretzel pieces and maybe a few more M&M’s over the top…
… and bake your beautiful cookie cake on the center rack of a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes. I suggest rotating your pan a few times during the baking process just to make sure that the cookie bakes evenly. You will be able to tell this cookie cake is done in the same way you’d tell that a regular cookie is done… the outer edge will be golden brown and set and the center of the cookie cake should be soft, but not wet to the touch. At this point, transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow the cookie cake to cool fully before transferring it out of the pan.
The reason you want this cake to cool fully before popping it out of the pan is that it will crack if you remove it while still warm.
Once it has cooled, I like to place a clean kitchen towel over the cookie and flip the pan upside down leaving the cookie on the towel. You can then transfer the cookie cake onto a cutting board, plate or back onto the cooling rack for decorating.
Decorating, you say? Yes! You can decorate these cookie cakes just like you decorate a classic cake!
Today, I am decorating this everything cookie cake with my creamy chocolate buttercream. It pairs so perfectly with this fabulous cookie cake, but you can definitely use your favorite frosting. You can pipe some around the edges, like I did, or you can put some frosting over the entire cake!
Then sprinkle some of your favorite sprinkles or edible glitter over the frosting and you have one super delicious, really fun cake to enjoy… or maybe share with some friends!
The texture of this cookie cake is simply wonderful. The edges are chewy with the slightest bit of crispiness on the very outer rim and the center is soft and perfect. The chocolate chips are all melty, the M&M’s and their candy coating are amazing, the toffee is buttery and the pretzels are salty and crunchy. Its everything you would ever want out of a cookie and thats why I fondly refer to this cake as the “everything” cookie cake.
You are going to love it….
Everything Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup of brown sugar
- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup of mini M&M's
- 1/4 cup of toffee bits
- 1/4 cup of pretzel, roughly chopped
- a pinch of flaky sea salt
- chocolate buttercream (optional garnish)
- sprinkles (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Generously butter a 8” or 9” round cake pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper
- In a large bowl, combine 10 tablespoons of room temperature butter with 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and mix until creamy
- Add 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour and mix until just combined
- Gently fold in 3/4 cup of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 cup of mini M’nM’s, 1/4 cup of toffee bits and 1/4 cup of roughly chopped pretzels
- Press the dough evenly throughout the prepared pan
- Bake on a center set rack of a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes or until the center of the cookie no longer feels sticky to a light touch
- Transfer the pan onto a cooling rack and allow the cookie to cool fully before removing from the pan
- Garnish with a pinch of sea salt, some chocolate buttercream and sprinkles
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature or wrap tightly and freeze
