Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake! Everyone’s favorite cookie turned into a show stopping layer cake made with rum syrup, dark chocolate ganache and brown sugar buttercream.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe Ingredients
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cake Flour
- Sour Cream
- Baking powder/soda/salt
- Mini chocolate chips
- Semi Sweet Chocolate
- Cream
- Molasses
Why people go crazy for this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
First of all, there’s a giant cookie layer at the base of the cake. That alone would be enough to make anyone love this cake. But the best part is the brown sugar buttercream. The butterscotch/cookie dough flavor is completely irresistible.
What’s the difference between white sugar and brown sugar?
A little molasses! Granulated sugar is just sugar that’s had all the molasses removed. Dark brown sugar has a little more molasses than light brown sugar.
The easiest way to make Brown Sugar Buttercream
To make brown sugar buttercream just had to add molasses to Italian Meringue Buttercream, Swiss Meringue Buttercream or even American Buttercream.
Pastry Chef Tips for making Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake:
- This is a complicated recipe with lots of ingredients. But all the components can be made ahead of time and the cake can be assembled the day you’re ready to serve.
- Make the cake the day ahead and refrigerate it over night. It’s much easier to trim the edges and stack the cake when it’s chilled.
- The recipe specifies Italian Meringue Buttercream, but you can use your favorite buttercream recipe flavored with molasses.
- Use mini chocolate chips because they disperse better in the batter.
- Once the cake is assembled it can stay at room temperature for a couple of days. It’s best served at room temperature.
- If you don’t like to use alcohol in your cake flavor the syrup with vanilla instead.
Watch the recipe video to see how-to put together and perfectly ice a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
- 4 ounces butter (room temperature)
- 2 ounces granulated sugar (¼ cup)
- 4 ounces brown sugar (½ cup)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 ounces all-purpose flour (1 cup)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 cup)
Chocolate Chip Cake
- 8 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 ¼ cups)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
- 1 recipe Vanilla Cake
Brown Sugar Butterceam
- 1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream
- 2 tablespoons molasses
Assembly
- 1 recipe simple syrup (flavored with 2 tablespoons rum)
- 1 cup Dark Chocolate Ganache (room temperAture)
Instructions
Make the cookie layer
- Line an 8″ or 9″ cake pan with a parchment round. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream the butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the chips all at once and mix until combined4 ounces butter, 2 ounces granulated sugar, 4 ounces brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 5 ounces all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 6 ounces mini chocolate chips
- Spread the dough into the cake pan. The dough should be about 1/2″ thick (if you have excess dough use it to make cookies).
- Bake until the middle of the cookie puffs up a little and then collapses, about 20 minutes.
- Cool completely in the pan. Flip the pan over and bang one edge of the pan a couple of times. The cookie should loosen and fall out. Set aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake
Bake the Cake
- Line two 8"x3" or 9"x3" cake pans with parchment rounds or butter and flour the bottom of the pan only. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Toss the chocolate chips with the tablespoon of water until moistened. Sprinkle the all purpose flour over the chips and toss to distribute the flour. Set the chips aside while you make the cake batter8 ounces mini chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
- Mix the Vanilla Butter Cake according to the recipe, folding the chocolate chips into the batter just before the whipped egg whites. Pour 1/3 of the batter into one pan and 2/3 of the batter into the other pan. Spread the batter evenly and bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes depending on pan size.1 recipe Vanilla Cake
- Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a small spatula around the cakes and remove them from the pans. Cool the cakes completely. Wrap each cake in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight (see note 1)
Make the Brown Sugar Buttercream
- Make the Italian Meringue Buttercream according to the recipe. Mix the molasses into the finished buttercream. Divide the buttercream in 1/2, reserve one 1/2 for icing the cake, use the remaining for filling.1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream, 2 tablespoons molasses
Assemble the Cake
- Make the rum syrup according to the recipe. Trim the sides of the cake to remove excess brown edges. Split the larger cake in two, horizontally, you will now have a total of three cake layers.1 recipe simple syrup
- Place the chocolate chip cookie layer on a serving platter or cardboard cake circle. Spread the ganache evenly over the cookie. Place one of the cake layers on the cookie. Brush the layer generously with rum syrup. Spread 1/2 of the buttercream reserved for the filling onto the cake layer.1 cup Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Place another cake layer, sprinkle with syrup and spread with remaining filling. Top with the last cake layer and sprinkle that layer with syrup.
- If the cookie base is bigger than the cake layers you can trim the cookie so its even with the cake layers.
- Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and chill until the crumb coat is set. Ice with a final coating of buttercream, reserving a little buttercream for decoration. Pipe a border around the top edge of the cake and decorate with mini chocolate chips.
- The cake will keep at room temperature for several days
Equipment
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Alia
Tuesday 7th of June 2022
Hi The cake looks amazing. Thanks for posting.
Just wondering if made 24hrs ahead - would the biscuit / cookie base layer dry out the cake sponge while being stored?
Thanks
Eileen Gray
Tuesday 7th of June 2022
Do you mean if it's made ahead, assembled? That would not be a problem. There's a layer of ganache between the cookie and cake layers. If you refrigerate the cake bring it back to room temperature before serving. The cake can be held, unrefrigerated (not in a super warm room) for a day.
Anjuli
Tuesday 4th of January 2022
Hi, can the cookie layer be frozen as well and thawed before assembling? Thanks :)
Eileen Gray
Tuesday 4th of January 2022
Yes!
Mobasir hassan
Thursday 24th of December 2020
Truly appreciate the way you made this beautiful cake. Everything is so nicely described that really helped me. I am sure to make it. Thanks for the lovely treat for this Christmas.
Jb
Thursday 31st of October 2019
Trying the cake layer today and will do the icing tomorrow. Have already done the cookie layer which came out great. However I think I had cake pans from my Mom (70s version, 8 in) and so they weren’t quite tall enough to completely contain 2/3 of the cake batter, as it spilled over. The 1/3 pan is fine. I’ll trim it of course and see how the whole thing turns out but you might want to give folks a heads up. Also, how can a 2/3 pan possibly bake in the same time? My 2/3 pan is still liquid while the 1/3 is cooked. I guess I’m a disaster of a baker, or at least I need better pans. The 2/3 layer still going at 33 mins....anyway, I love the idea of this cake, just hope it all works out.
Eileen Gray
Friday 1st of November 2019
Yes, the exact baking time will probably be faster for the 1/3 cake pan. That's why I say in the recipe "about" 25 minutes. I always prefer not to be exact with baking times since they always vary based on oven temp, batter temp, type of pan, etc. Go more by the look of the cake than the exact time. Good luck with the rest of the recipe.
Susan LaCroix
Monday 25th of February 2019
I’m not a fan of rum, but I love Bailey’s Irish Cream and Kahlua. How do you think these would work? Do you think one of these would be better than the other? Also, I have a slew of regular chocolate chips. I think I read above that it would be fine to use them. Is that correct? Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Eileen
Monday 25th of February 2019
HI Susan, either Kuhlua or Baileys would work. I'm particularly a fan of Baileys with anything chocolate. You can use regular chips, they may sink a little more in the cake batter so make sure you toss them in the water and flour before adding them to the batter.