Indulgent chocolate chip cookie cake is soft in the center, chewy on the edges, studded with chocolate chips, and decorated with chocolate buttercream. This fun dessert comes together quickly—no cookie dough refrigeration or dough shaping needed. This is the perfect (and easy!) cake for cookie lovers.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
One reader, Linda, commented: “Birthday cake? What’s that? This cookie cake is requested for every birthday in my family. I’m making one for my sister today. This has been my go-to recipe for years. And still today the tradition carries on. It’s the perfect cookie cake… the frosting is the perfect addition. Absolutely delicious. This recipe never fails me. ★★★★★”
Today’s chocolate chip cookie cake is adapted from 2 of my most popular cookie recipes loved by bakers around the world: soft chocolate chip cookies and chewy chocolate chip cookies. The result is soft-baked, chewy, chocolatey decadence.
I love baking “giant” cookies that serve only a couple people (looking at you, 1 giant monster cookie), and this cookie cake is no exception. It’s essentially one really big cookie that feeds a crowd!
You’ll love how quickly and easy this cookie cake comes together. We’ll bake the cookie dough in a pan, so no cookie dough chilling required (just like my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars). Garnished with chocolate buttercream and your favorite toppings, it’s a festive dessert recipe perfect for any celebration.
This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Is:
- Soft-baked and chewy, but sturdy enough to eat with a fork
- Quick to make —you don’t have to roll a bunch of individual cookies, and you don’t have to chill the dough
- Baked in a pie dish or cake pan—so it won’t overspread
- Great for small parties or gatherings (serves 8–10)
- Easy to slice and serve
- Topped with the creamiest chocolate buttercream
- Perfect for chocolate chip cookie lovers, and anyone who prefers cookies over cake! (We put together a collection of fun desserts beyond traditional birthday cake!)
Ingredients You Need & Why
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this cookie cake.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch creates an exceptionally soft and thick cookie cake. I add it to my soft chocolate chip cookies—and to this cake, too! This soft-baked cookie cake will melt in your mouth.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookie cake rise.
- Salt: Salt brings out all the flavors and balances the sweet.
- Butter: Use room-temperature butter (remember it’s cooler than you think). You can use this trick to soften butter quickly or take the butter out of the refrigerator about an hour before you begin.
- Brown Sugar: Skip the granulated sugar and use all brown sugar for an ultra soft and moist cookie cake.
- Eggs: Taking what I learned from my chewy chocolate chip cookies, I use 1 egg and 1 egg yolk for the chewiest cookie cake. The extra egg yolk also adds tenderness and richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor. Try homemade vanilla extract!
- Chocolate Chips: This cookie cake is studded with chocolate chips—1 and 1/2 cups (270g) total. Instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, try using dark, milk, or even white chocolate chips. Or swap half of the chocolate chips for M&Ms like we do in these soft M&M cookie bars.
How to Make It
This cookie cake dough comes together quickly with an electric mixer. Start by creaming the butter and brown sugar, then add the remaining wet ingredients.
Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add them to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Finally, add in the chocolate chips.
No Cookie Dough Chilling!
Because we’re baking the cookie dough in a cake pan or pie dish, we don’t have to chill the cookie dough or roll individual cookies. Simply make the cookie dough and spread/press it into your baking dish. It’s really that simple:
The cookie will never overspread because it’s contained in the dish—simple and easy!
By the way, you could absolutely make this cookie cake with the dough from these double chocolate chip cookies. Same bake time as below.
Toppings for Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
While this cookie cake delicious on its own, chocolate buttercream and sprinkles are always a good idea… and turns this giant cookie into a true cake worthy of a celebration!
My favorite chocolate buttercream is far from basic; it’s incredibly creamy, silky, smooth, and rich. Even though it’s wonderfully creamy, it holds its shape beautifully. So it’s perfect for piping even the most intricate designs. I used a simple Wilton 1M tip for today’s cookie cake.
Have fun and get creative with your toppings: instead of chocolate buttercream, try peanut butter frosting, chocolate peanut butter frosting, vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache, whipped cream, or ice cream.
This is the perfect recipe to make when you’re looking for something just as festive as a birthday cake but a little more exciting than chocolate chip cookies! You could also try my sprinkle-filled sugar cookie cake instead.
Yes! You can follow the same instructions on how to freeze cakes: cool completely, wrap in a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the wrapping, then make the frosting fresh the day you plan to serve it.
Absolutely. You can replace some or all of the chocolate chips with M&Ms or mini M&Ms, or try peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, sprinkles… you get the idea!
You can double this recipe, but the layers will be quite thick. Instead, I recommend my chocolate chip cookie layer cake recipe. That recipe uses 6-inch cake pans, but see the recipe Notes if you’d like to use 9-inch pans.
More Favorite Chocolate Chip Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer Cake
- Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizza
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cake with Ganache Drip
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: one 9-inch cake
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
One of the best ways to eat a chocolate chip cookie: when it’s the size of a cake! Use this quick and easy homemade cookie dough and bake it in a cake pan or pie dish. No dough refrigeration required! Decorate with optional frosting and sprinkles, and then slice and serve.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (aka cornflour)*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (270g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- optional: chocolate buttercream for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 9-inch pie dish or 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Add the chocolate chips and mix for about 5 seconds or until evenly dispersed.
- Press the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 22–26 minutes or until the cookie cake is lightly golden brown all over the surface (could be up to 30 minutes, depending on your oven). Use a toothpick to test for doneness; if it comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs, it’s done. You may want to cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil after 15 minutes to avoid heavy browning around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and set the pan on a cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookie cake is still warm, you can press a few more chocolate chips into the surface of the cake. This is optional and only for looks!
- Once cooled, use a sharp knife or metal spatula to loosen the sides of the cookie cake from the pan and transfer to a serving dish. (Or serve directly from the pan.)
- Make the chocolate buttercream, if using.
- Decorate the cooled cookie cake with frosting. Depending how much frosting you use, you may have some leftover. I used a Wilton 1M tip.
- Cookie cake remains fresh covered tightly at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Pie Dish or 9-inch Round Cake Pan | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Tip
- Eggs: Make sure you don’t use 2 full eggs, which will result in a cakey texture—think more of a cake than a cookie. 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk is best. Room-temperature eggs incorporate evenly into your cookie dough, which guarantees a uniform texture in each bite of the cookie cake. Simply set out the eggs when you set out the butter to come to room temperature. If you forget to set out your eggs ahead of time, place them into a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes, then use.
- Cornstarch: The cornstarch (aka cornflour) helps thicken the cookie dough and promises a softer cookie cake. If you don’t have cornstarch, you can leave it out. No need to replace with anything.
- The chocolate buttercream topping is optional. You could also decorate with whipped cream or top with vanilla ice cream.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi sally! I’m planning on baking these for a birthday, will it be soft and gooey if i bake it on day earlier? I’m giving it on a Monday and i’ll be making it on a sunday night
Yes– just leave it at room temperature overnight. And cover it tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
This was a cinch to make and that Milk Chocolate Frosting tastes like a “liquid Hershey’s Bar” —— gooooo good! Thanks for sharing.
This recipe is ON POINT! It turned out perfect. I love the frosting too. I’ve made frosting from scratch from another recipe and it was no where near as good as this. Made it for my sister’s birthday and she loved it. THANK YOU!!!
Great Recipe made for block party… Everyone loved it now everyone is asking for me to make it again
Just made this for my boyfriend’s birthday! Added butterscotch chips too (he loves them lol!) It came out awesome, he’s alright ate three pieces & it’s not even 10 am! Thanks for a great recipe, will definitely make again.
I absolutely love your recipes! I have tried many of them and they have all been a success. I always tell people about you and your recipes. You are my go-to with recipes. Thank you!!!
OUTSTANDING. I made this for my friend’s birthday at the office and everyone devoured it and raved about this pie/cake.
This is incredibly easy to make and the corn starch really does keep it soft! Sometimes it’s nice (and easier) to bake something special that’s not a traditional cake, but feels fancier than cookies. My coworkers seriously fell in love with this. Also, I’ve been training for a crossfit competition and this is easier to bake and carry somewhere versus cookies b/c it’s so easy to overdo it on the cookies once you bake them BUT it would be way tacky to cut into a cake/pie before taking it. Ha, just a tip for others who are training or working towards fitness goals. This one is going into my repertoire for sure. Thanks, Sally!
I just made this for my son’s birthday. It was a PERFECT recipe. No seriously. I used a 9 inch spring form pan. It didn’t poof then fall leaving high sides in the pan. It tasted great. It had great texture and crumb. NICE JOB! People don’t realize that you can’t just throw some cookie dough in a spring form and expect it to turn out nice. You have to have a proper dough for a cookie cake application. This is it!
I’ve made a few cakes/cupcakes from your site before and wanted something a bit different since we’ve had cake coming out our ears recently. The little one decided on a giant cookie. It came out looking great, not so much tasting great. I have no idea why. Followed directions exactly except for splitting the batter between a couple smaller pans. If you get a bite with the chocolate chips or frosting every thing is good. However, just cookie is bland, and disappointing. Wish I knew what went wrong.
Absolutely amazing! Made this for my fiancé for as a valentines gift and he said it was the best thing ive ever made him! I only had one problem, after combining the wet and dry mixtures, it got sorta crumy and clumpy and didn’t grab. I added about a tablespoon of milk and it fixed it right up! I also used a smaller cake pan (width wise) so it would be thicker, and left the foil on most of the time.
Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be using it again!
My son asked for a big cookie cake for his birthday from Mrs. Field’s at the mall. When I saw how much it cost ($45, no thank you), I went in search of the perfect recipe. I made this two days in advance for my son’s 6th birthday party (It was held on a Friday evening and since I work I needed to give myself time for doing other things; baked on Wednesday, decorated on Thursday, devoured on Friday). I used a huge 18” round Wilton baking pan and doubled the recipe. The cake turned out great! Everyone loved it and since the pizza style slices were so big, guests were taking portions of their slice home to heat up and eat later with ice cream (such a great idea, too!). This recipe is a keeper! We will definitely be making it again in the future. Thank you so much for such a great recipe.
BEST COOKIE CAKE EVER!!! Nothing else compares!! It is THE most versatile recipe I’ve ever used and is basically klutz proof (really though. in college, I was lazy enough to leave it in the 9×13 pan covered with foil for a week. Another time, I forgot to add the eggs and vanilla, and both times it still tasted good).
I kid you not- I’ve made this cookie cake (without the frosting) for co-workers, the military (a group of Marines), friends, family, and college roommates on their period. I’ve made it for Christmas parties and a post-funeral dinner. I’ve never gotten so many compliments on a recipe, and every single person has devoured it clean. And for the gluten free folks, it tastes just as good!!
Alterations: lowered baking time to 15 min (comes out soft & gooey!)
GF: substituted GF flour at 1:1 ratio (I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour and Almond Meal Flour) & added xantham gum (1/4 tsp for every cup of flour used).
THANK YOU SALLY!!
I’ve made this twice in a 9 X 13 and was great thickness The kids love it
Well I made this last night and I did everything and used all the ingredients said but it came out hard
Hi Sally, I need to make this as a 12 inch cookie cake. Should I double the recipe and do you have any idea on the baking time?
Thank you!! I’m anxious to try this!
I’m unsure of the baking time; it will be longer. I would double the recipe and press into your baking pan.
This was the best recipe ever!! I have made several of your recipes and this is officially my family’s favorite!! I made it for my brother’s 8th birthday and he loved it! My mom was eating the frosting out of the piping bag and my aunt requested the frosting for her birthday cake! Btw I made your chai spiced apple pie for Christmas and it was delish! Thanks for another incredible recipe Sally! You’re the best!
Hi Sally! I made this fantastic cookie for Hungry Hubby’s boss’s daughter’s 21st (lol – no pressure right?!) and it was a huge success! She’s extremely allergic to nuts so have never been able to have a giant cookie off the shelf and she so wanted one for her birthday. Home made is always best and this recipe worked an absolute charm – just like every one of your small cookie recipes I’ve tried before now 😀 THANK YOU!
I wish I could share a picture! We made this tonight for our Thanksgiving tomorrow, and it looks amazing!!
This recipe IS perfect!!! I’ve made it several times and everyone loves it!!
I didn’t have any cornstarch so I used custard powder.
Thank you for this recipe and this wonderful site.
This is fabulous. My dough was thin and runny and just didn’t seem right. I added a little more flour till I got it nice a thick. It came out perfect, it’s thick like cake, but has that soft delicious cookie taste. I love it! Thanks. 😀
best chocolate chip cookie ever !!! my son absolutely love it thanks!!
For his birthday, my husband requested a two-layered chocolate chip cookie cake with buttercream in the center and chocolate frosting on top. I used this as the base recipe, and it was fantastic. Thanks SO much for this great recipe!
This recipe is great! It is everything I would want a cookie cake to be. It’s definitely a repeat recipe.
Writing this as I eat my freshly baked cookie cake. I’ve been dreaming of cookie cake ever since I tried it when an elementary classmate brought one to share with everyone on his birthday. I haven’t eaten it since then (13 years ago) because my family is filled with cake maniacs and those store bought ones are so expensive. I never thought to make my own until recently when I started baking at home.
I was planning on making the frosting later, but after eating a slice, I think it’s so good that it doesn’t need any. Just had to jump on the computer and say thank you for the amazing recipe. I’m especially glad that I now have another purpose for cornstarch. I bought some recently to use in a dish, but feel strange having a whole container of it when I don’t use it for many things.
Wonderful. So glad you loved it!
This Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe is perfection. I doubled it and baked it in a 9×13 – it was just the right amount of chewy but had enough substance to be able to slice and serve. thanks!
FANTASTIC! Rave reviews from a family that doesn’t like desserts on the whole. Turned out just as you said. Professional style dessert that really is little hassle. Thanks for sharing all the tips…. like why you add cornstarch, etc… i’m sure I’ll be back for more recipes like this one. Thanks again.
I was thinking about making an ice cream pie with this as the base, but it occurred to me that it might get soggy. I thought of coating the top of the cookie with melted chocolate and putting the ice cream over top of the hardened chocolate, but I dunno…what do you think?
I made this recipe today and it turned out great. I didn’t use the icing, the we’re perfect without it. Unless you have an extra sweet tooth.
Our Harmony has her 8th birthday party today with her friends. I followed the directions exactly and baked for 30minutes, i did cover them with aluminum foil at the 15minute mark. I made four of these since she has about 30 kids coming. We placed two on a baking sheet, made the frosting anddecorated it in the shape of the number 8…which then somehow ended up with a face. 🙂 the other two we left in the pans incase we don’t need them. These were so fast and easy to make. I am sure this will become a staple in our house. Easiest cake ever. Thank you
This was delicious… I made two since it was for a larger crowd. I made the frosting but didn’t have a frosting bag so just put a light layer of frosting on both. It was very good that way… not too sweet. Just sweet enough. ;o) Will make this one again. Thanks for another great recipe!