Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

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.

A slice of chocolate chip cookie cake on a white plate with a fork

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.

  • 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.
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chocolate chip cookie cake
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4.65 from 62 reviews

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

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.
Prep Time: 3 hours
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
16 servings

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, see note)
  • 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

Assembly

Instructions

Make the cookie layer

  • Line an 8" cake pan with a parchment round. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Cream 4 ounces butter with 2 ounces granulated sugar and 4 ounces brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add 5 ounces all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt. Add 6 ounces mini chocolate chips all at once and mix until combined
  • 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" cake pans with parchment rounds or butter and flour the bottom of the pan only. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Toss 8 ounces mini chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon water until moistened. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon all purpose flour over the chips and toss to distribute the flour. Set the chips aside while you make the cake batter.
  • Mix 1 recipe Vanilla 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.
  • 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 1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream according to the recipe. Mix 2 tablespoons molasses into the finished buttercream. Divide the buttercream in 1/2, reserve one 1/2 for icing the cake, use the remaining for filling.

Assemble the Cake

  • Make 1 recipe simple syrup (with rum) 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.
  • Place the chocolate chip cookie layer on a serving platter or cardboard cake circle. Spread 1 cup Dark Chocolate 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.
  • 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.

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Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
You can use the cake as soon as it cools to room temperature, but it’s easier to trim and split when it’s cold.
To make an alcohol-free cake flavor the syrup with vanilla extract to taste.
All the components of the cake can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to assemble.

Nutrition

Serving: 16g | Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 243mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 248IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
4.65 from 62 votes (60 ratings without comment)

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81 Comments

  1. Bonjour
    Savez-vous à quoi correspond le brown sugar en france? (cassonade ou vergeoise brune?)
    Sinon j’ai touvé ceci sur un site qui vend des produits américains : SHOPRITE BROWN SUGAR CASSONADE BRUNE A LA MELASSE ou alors celui-ci SHOPRITE BROWN SUGAR CASSONADE BLONDE A LA MELASSE. Qu’en pensez-vous?

    Et pour les pépites de chocolat pour le biscuit et le gâteau, lesquelles faut-il utiliser car c’est écrit “mi-sweet” et sweet? (chocolat noir?)
    Cordialement

    1. Hello Vanessa, I ran your comment through a translator, so hopefully I’ll answer your questions correctly. I believe you’re asking what “brown sugar” would be in France. Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added. To replace the 1/2 cup of brown sugar in the cookie recipe you can use an additional 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and a tablespoon of molasses. The translation regarding the chips wasn’t great so I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking. I use “mini” (small) chocolate chips, but any chocolate chips will work. Here in the US chocolate chips are generally made with dark chocolate.

  2. I just made this for my husbands birthday tomorrow. I don’t have a cake box to store it, so I hope it won’t fet dried out overnight!

  3. If baking this in 2 pans with unequal amounts, will the layers get done in different amounts of time? Like should I check the 1/3 full pan before the 2/3 full pan?

    1. Hi Khola, thanks for asking that. I usually give alternate non-alcoholic instructions and forgot in this post. I’ve added a note to the recipe. You can make a simple syrup and flavor it with a little vanilla extract instead of the rum. Just add vanilla until it tastes good to you. You can also eliminate the syrup all-together, but it does add another layer of moistness and flavor.

  4. Love the idea of this cake! Can’t wait to try it. Can it be covered with fondant? After I cover the cake with fondant I ll leave it at room temperature for a day, will this work? Thank you!

    1. Hi Rania. Yes, you can cover the cake with fondant. I used to do it all the time for wedding cakes with this flavor. Just ice the cake with a good layer of buttercream first and then the fondant. Yes, it can be kept at room temperature for a couple of days. Enjoy!