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For over 25 years I have been making happy birthday desserts for family and friends and this Birthday Cookie Cake is always a huge hit. I love making it because the dough comes together in minutes and without any special equipment. Everyone else loves it because it is the perfect combination of birthday cake and soft chewy cookie.
Table of Contents
Reasons to Love this Easy Birthday Cookie Cake
- It is like a cake, only better! The combination of a soft cookie and traditional cake is amazing.
- It is loaded with sprinkles and white chocolate chips which are perfect for celebrating.
- This cookie dough starts with melted butter. This makes it super simple to mix. In fact, you don’t even need a mixer, just a wooden spoon. Like this chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Adding frosting to a loaded sugar cookie only makes it tastier and perfect for special occasions.
- All this giant cookie cake needs is a birthday candle to be complete.
What Goes Into this Recipe
- Butter: I like to use salted butter when baking but if you prefer unsalted butter, use that.
- Granulated Sugar: To give this cookie more of a sugar cookie base, white sugar is used instead of brown sugar or a combination of both like other cookie recipes.
- Vanilla Extract: Lately vanilla bean paste is what I turn to but a good pure vanilla extract can also make a big difference in flavor.
- White Chocolate Chips: Using white chocolate chips in this recipe gives the cookie a nice touch but any kind of chocolate chip would work well. I love adding white chocolate chips to desserts, especially this Red Velvet and White Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.
- Rainbow Sprinkles: Adding sprinkles to anything instantly makes it festive and so it is the perfect addition to a birthday cookie cake.
See recipe card for more information, a full list of ingredients and quantities.
Variations
Chocolate Chips: Try adding semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips or a combination of chips to get even more color and flavor.
Sprinkles: If you prefer to not use sprinkles, try adding candy. M&M’s, chopped Snickers, caramels or malted milk balls would all be amazing.
How to Make a Birthday Cookie Cake
- Begin with a stick of melted butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Stir it together until you have a creamy mixture. Add the egg and the vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and stir. Do not over mix at this point or the mixture might get too stiff. Once the egg and vanilla are mixed in, add the all purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until it is totally incorporated.
- Once all of the flour mixture is mixed into the dough, add the sprinkles and white chocolate chips. Stir them in until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Spray a 8 inch or 9 inch springform pan with non stick spray and put the dough into the prepared cake pan.
- Using your fingertips, press the dough out into an even layer and to the outer edge of the pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cookie is golden brown. You do not want to over bake the cookie. Be sure that it is just starting to brown. It will continue to cook from the heat of the pan once you remove it. Once the cookie has cooled, remove the outer ring from the pan.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cookie is golden brown. You do not want to over bake the cookie. Be sure that it is just starting to brown. The residual heat will continue to cook from the heat of the pan once you remove it. Once the cookie has cooled, remove the outer ring from the pan.
- Then add some store bought {or homemade if you prefer} frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star piping tip. Using a short squeeze, make a star shape on the outer edge of the top of the cookie and pull up. Continue to make stars around the entire outer edge of the cookie. Add additional sprinkles and a few additional white chocolate chips to the frosting. Then the cookie is complete.
Expert Tips
- If you don’t have a springform pan, use a 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Spray the round pan well with nonstick cooking spray to ensure that it releases from the pan.
- Don’t over bake the cookie. In order to get a nice soft middle, pull the cookie from the oven once the cookie is golden brown.
- To make the birthday cookie cake extra special, make homemade buttercream frosting. Canned frosting is a time saver but cream cheese frosting or cookies and cream buttercream would both be super tasty.
- Skip the frosting and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the cake instead. A drizzle of salted caramel or chocolate sauce with additional sprinkles is also a great option.
- Add a special message to the middle of the cookie with more frosting. This will help to personalize the cake and make it perfect for a celebration.
Storage and Freezing
Store: Store this birthday cookie cake recipe in an airtight container or wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. It can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, keep the cookie cake in the refrigerator.
Freeze: This giant cookie freezes well for up to 3 months. I like to make it ahead and freeze it. Then thaw it at room temperature and add the vanilla frosting.
Recipe FAQS
The actual dough is a lot the same, the biggest difference is how the cookies are baked. While traditional cookies are baked in small individual portions, a cookie cake is baked in a large cake pan and cut into individual slices.
A pizookie {like my Chocolate Chip Skillet Pizookie} is like a cookie cake because they are both a large cookie. The difference is that a pizookie is normally made and eaten from the skillet. A cookie cake is removed from the pan and decorated to look more like a cake.
Do you love birthday desserts? Try one of these recipe…
Did you try this recipe?
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A Super Easy Birthday Cookie Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter , {melted}
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips
Toppings
- ½ cup canned vanilla frosting
- 1 Tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
- 1 Tablespoon white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 8 or 9" spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Melt the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds {there may be a little butter left that is unmelted but stir until it is completely melted}. Add granulated sugar to the melted butter and mix until creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla until just incorporated. Be sure to not over mix or the cookie dough might get too stiff.
- Then add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until incorporated. It should form a ball of dough. Add the sprinkles and white chocolate chips to the dough until they are evenly distributed.
- Put the dough into the springform pan and press into an even layer that goes to the outer edges of the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cookie is just starting to turn golden brown. We do not want to over bake the cookie {it will continue to cook from the heat of the pan}. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan completely.
- Once cooled, remove the outer rim of the springform pan. Put frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Applying even pressure, pipe stars around the edge of the cookie. Sprinkle frosting with additional sprinkles and white chocolate chips {if desired}.
- Serve in wedges immediately or wait until the frosting is set up and cover with plastic wrap. The cookie cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookie cake will freeze for up to 3 months without frosting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This saved the day when the store was out of cookie cakes – and it was so easy to make!
A cookie cake! BRILLIANT
Thanks
AWWW, thank you! 🙂