photo of my best chocolate chip cookie cake in a white cast iron pan on a marble tabletop

About My Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe

This chocolate chip cookie cake recipe makes a 10-inch chocolate chip cookie with a giant, fudgy center and crisp edges. The cake is then decorated with a classic American buttercream frosting and lots of sprinkles. All in all, it tastes like the chocolate chip cookie cake I remember fondly from my childhood!

Over my many years of blogging, I’ve tried many chocolate chip cookie cake recipes from trusted sources. The recipes were good, but felt short of what I was looking for. The resulting cookie cakes were too crispy, and both used “elevated” ingredients like brown butter and gourmet chocolate.

I wanted a cookie cake recipe more similar to the chocolate chip cookie cake I remembered from my childhood. Specifically, a giant cookie cake made with cookie dough, with a fudgy, rich texture and topped with sweet buttercream.

I’m happy to report that this chocolate chip cookie cake recipe is IT!

@hummingbirdhigh supermarket chocolate chip cookie cake DUPE #bakingrecipe ♬ Sweet Sunset – Tollan Kim & dulai

And for even more fun chocolate chip cookie recipes, check out Hummingbird High‘s full collection!

close up photo of my best chocolate chip cookie cake

Why You Should Make The Recipe

The recipe is delicious and tastes like your childhood.

I mentioned earlier that I was unhappy with the previous chocolate chip cookie cake recipes I’d tried. But this one knocks it out of the park!

The chocolate chip cookie cake results in extremely dense and fudgy slices, all topped off with just the right amount of sweet buttercream frosting. Honestly, it’d almost be too much if it didn’t exactly like the supermarket chocolate chip cookie cakes that I loved so much as a kid.

Be sure to check out the ingredients below for more on how I managed to achieve these flavors!

The recipe comes together quickly.

Most chocolate chip cookie recipes, cake or otherwise, instruct you to bring butter down to room temperature to be able to cream it with sugar for the dough. Good news! There’s no need to do that for this recipe.

Instead, I instruct you to melt the butter instead. Doing so results in the extremely fudgy and dense texture of this giant chocolate chip cookie cake.

It also turns out that baking a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough as one giant cake significantly reduces your Bake Time. Most cookie recipes require you to bake multiple batches of cookies. While it takes only around 10 minutes or so to bake each batch, most recipes make around 4 batches. This significantly increases your total Bake Time to 40 minutes!

However, with this chocolate chip cookie recipe, you’ll only need to bake the cookie dough as one giant chocolate chip cookie cake for 20 or so minutes.

photo of my best chocolate chip cookie cake in a white cast iron pan sliced

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s a secret: it’s actually the chocolate chip cookie recipe from my cookbook, but with a few important ingredient changes! These changes are responsible for making them taste like the supermarket chocolate chip cookie cakes I remember so fondly from my childhood.

Let’s talk about them below:

  • Butter. Based on my experience, either salted or unsalted butter works in this recipe. No need to adjust salt levels if you use salted butter, either!

  • Kosher Salt. I think that kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!

  • Brown Sugar. During my recipe tests, I found that either light or dark brown sugar works in the recipe. Dark brown sugar will give the cookie cake a subtle caramel flavor.

  • Whole Milk. I recommend using whole milk for the best tasting frosting. Skim and low-fat milk won’t taste as creamy. You can also use plant-based milk like almond, coconut, soy, or oat. Just note that they might make the frosting taste like them, too.

Let’s talk about semisweet chocolate chips

If you own my cookbook, you may have noticed that I rail against chocolate chips a LOT. Why? Cheap chocolate chips contain additives like palm oil and paraffin wax that help them retain their shape after being baked. Unfortunately, it also affects their flavor. As a result, I rely on fancy chocolate bars, feve discs, or wafers for most of my baking.

But supermarket bakeries don’t make chocolate chip cookie cakes with that kind of gourmet chocolate. And I’m going for nostalgia with my best chocolate chip cookie cake recipe, remember? The truth is, this recipe just doesn’t taste right with fancy chocolate.

Want to know more about the best chocolate for chocolate chip cookies? Check out all my recommendations in this post on Hummingbird High with links to my favorite chocolate chips and chocolate for baking recipes!

photo of my best chocolate chip cookie cake slices on small white plates on a marble tabletop

How To Make The Cake

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

No! Like I said above, I developed this recipe specifically for a 10- or 12-inch skillet. You can also bake the chocolate chip cookie cake in traditional cake pans or a springform pan.

Traditional cake pans are usually 8- or 9-inches wide, while springform pans are typically 9- or 10-inches. If you make this recipe in a smaller cake pan, your cookie cake will come out thicker than mine. You may also need to increase Bake Time for a few minutes to adjust for this thickness. In general, thicker baked goods take longer to bake.

Alternatively, note that I made this recipe in this 10-inch skillet. If you’re using a 12-inch skillet, your chocolate chip cookie cake will likely be thinner than mine. You may need to decrease Bake Time; check for doneness at 18 minutes instead of the 20 minutes listed in the recipe.

Here’s the thing: although I instruct you to use salted butter for the cookie dough in this recipe, it’s always a little bit risky to do so. Why? Different brands add varying levels of salt to their salted butter. That means that the flavor of your dessert will vary widely depending on whatever brand of salted butter you happened to use. And if you found this chocolate chip cookie cake too salty, it’s likely because you used an extra salty type of salted butter.

If you want to try making this recipe again with the same type of salted butter you used, I recommend decreasing the amount of kosher salt in this recipe to a ½ teaspoon. Alternatively, you can also avoid this sort of risk in the future by baking the recipe as is but with unsalted butter instead. Baking with unsalted butter will give you more control over the final taste of the product since you’ll be adding all the salt in the recipe yourself.

Can I freeze the unbaked chocolate chip cookie cake?

Yes, you can! To freeze the unbaked cookie dough, follow the recipe to make the dough as instructed. Instead of pressing the cookie dough into the skillet, mold it into a rough ball and press down to make a disc. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake into a cookie cake, thaw the disc overnight in the refrigerator and follow the instructions in the recipe to press it into the skillet and bake.

Can I freeze the baked chocolate chip cookie cake?

Yes, you can! To freeze the baked cookie cake, follow the recipe’s instructions to cool the chocolate chip cookie cake completely and decorate. Once the frosting has “crusted” (it should harden to the point that your finger won’t leave an indent in the frosting when it’s gently poked), slice the cookie cake into wedges. Tightly wrap the individual wedges in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. To enjoy, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then for a few hours at room temperature.

Best Recipe Tips

Ingredient Tip

  • Note that while the chocolate chip cookie cake dough instructs you to use salted butter, you’ll need to use UNSALTED butter for the frosting. In general, it’s not a good idea to use salted butter for frosting. Frosting recipes usually require a LOT of butter. Using salted butter at that volume will definitely make your frosting taste salty.

    In a pinch, if you only have unsalted butter on hand, don’t worry! Simply follow the recipe. There’s no need to increase the amount of salt in the cookie dough. If you only have salted butter on hand, feel free to use it in the frosting recipe. But don’t say I didn’t warn you if you find it to be too salty and weird! You may also want to skip the “pinch of salt” I instruct you to use.

Technique Tip

  • The easiest way to spread the cookie dough across the skillet is to use a stiff rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, or even your hands (like I did!) to press the dough into the pan. Don’t dump the cookie dough all at once into the center of the pan! Instead, transfer the dough bit by bit, pressing it into the pan as you go. Doing so will make it easier to get it across the pan, I promise.

Decorating Tip

Get the Recipe: My Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Recipe

My best chocolate chip cookie cake recipe makes a giant, 10-inch chocolate chip cookie with a fudgy center and crisp edges. The chocolate chip cookie cake is decorated with a classic American buttercream frosting and lots of sprinkles. All in all, it tastes like the chocolate chip cookie cakes you remember from childhood!
Readers say: “This cookie [cake] is incredible! The sweet and salty combo is so tasty and such a nice surprise. Both of my boys have asked for this cookie in lieu of a birthday cake. Thanks so much!”
(4.90 stars) 69 reviews
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Ingredients

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

  • 1 ⅔ cups (7.5 ounces or 213 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) salted (preferred) OR unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for pan
  • ¾ cup tightly packed (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) dark OR light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (1.75 ounces or 50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (8 ounces or 227 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Icing

  • 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 1 ½ teaspoons whole milk
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • pinch kosher salt
  • food coloring

Instructions
 

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

  • Prep the oven and pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt.
  • Mix the butter, sugars, egg, and extract. In a medium bowl, use a rubber spatula to mix together the butter and sugars until moistened, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  • Add the dry ingredients and chocolate. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Add the chocolate all at once and mix until the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout, about 1 minute.
  • Assemble the cookie dough in the pan. Transfer the cookie dough into the prepared skillet by scraping a small portion of the dough into the pan and using a wooden spoon, stiff rubber spatula, or your hands to press the dough down into the skillet. Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan.
  • Bake the cookie cake. Bake the chocolate chip cookie cake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the edges are set but the center is still gooey. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting. The cookie cake can be stored by slicing it into wedges after frosting. Store the wedges in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Icing

  • Make the icing. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-low until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer to low and add the confectioners' sugar ¼ cup at a time, beating until combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the milk, vanilla, and salt all at once and beat on low just to incorporate the liquid. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, then beat on medium-high until the frosting is creamy and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Decorate the cake. Use immediately by scraping into a piping bag fitted with the piping tip of your choice. At first the frosting will be creamy and smooth, but will harden the longer it sits. The frosting can also be made for up to 1 week in advance. Transfer to an airtight container with a lid and refrigerate. Before using in a recipe, bring to room temperature and beat on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
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Michelle holding Weeknight Baking cookbook covering her face.

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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule

Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.