Yep, that’s right. I’m bringing you a chocolate chip cookie LAYER cake! Because a single layer cookie cake just isn’t enough for this cookie lover. I made this cake when I hit 10,000 followers on Instagram because there’s no better way to celebrate than with the ultimate cookie cake.
I’ve always had this idea in my head of creating a chocolate chip cookie layer cake but struggled with the execution. I can’t take all the credit for the construction of this cake because I was heavily influenced by this cake from The Cake Blog. The recipe is still my own but I lend all the cookie smashing to Carrie!
But if you want a birthday cake that WOWs…this is exactly what you need. I mean how often do you see a 10 layer cookie cake?? Plus, it’s way easier to make than a traditional birthday cake. No really…it is!
How to make the chocolate chip cookie cake layers
You’re probably looking at this cake and thinking…how the heck do you get all those layers? It’s actually much easier than you think. It just takes a little extra work than your standard chocolate chip cookie.
You start by making the cookie dough just like any other. The magic is how you prep the cookie dough for baking. You scoop out a large portion (weighed for consistency) and place it on your baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Using something heavy and flat, place another piece of parchment paper on top of your cookie dough mound and press to flatten. You know when to stop pressing when the chocolate chips don’t allow you to push any more. They’re a nice guide so you can’t make your cookies too flat.
Now, bake! Since they’re so flat, they bake around the same time as a standard cookie. The trick is to bake as many as you can at once so that you get consistent color and spread. The longer your cookie dough sits out, the thinner and darker you cookies will get as they bake.
How to construct your cookie layer cake
Now that the cookies are baked, it’s time to assemble your cookie layer cake. It’s essential to use a buttercream that is thick enough to hold the weight of the cake. I used a traditional American buttercream that tightens up as it dries. Tightens? Hardens? It just becomes a bit stronger as it sits.
Start by stacking your cookies in an order that looks best as you might get some slight variations in sizes. Also make sure your cookies are COMPLETELY cool. If you use warm cookies, your cake will just fall apart. Then you just stack and spread, stack and spread, stack and spread.
No need to refrigerate it. Let it sit out for a few hours, or overnight, so that the stack becomes more solid. The buttercream will also start to moisten the cookies, giving it a more cake-like texture.
When you set it out, either put it in a tall cake container or cover it in plastic wrap. You don’t want it to dry out!
C’mon! Just look at that slice! If that hasn’t sold you then I don’t know what will.
If you’re a cookie addict like me, you should also try out my:
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram if you make this chocolate chip cookie layer cake. I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 layer cake
Description
This chocolate chip cookie layer cake is PERFECT for the cookie lover in your life! Ditch the birthday cake and go with this 10 layer stack of delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips
Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tbsp milk
Instructions
Chocolate chip cookies
- Start by weighing the bowl (in grams) in which you are going to mix your cookie dough in. Write that number down so you can subtract it from the total weight later on so you can get the true weight of the cookie dough.
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a very large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Then mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in a couple batches so you don’t get flour all over your kitchen. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Weigh the bowl again (in grams) with the cookie dough inside. Subtract the weight of the bowl that you took earlier so you know exactly how much dough you have. Divide that number by 10. This ensures all of your cookies are uniform.
- Place the cookie dough in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Weigh out the amount of cookie dough needed for one cookie and place it on your cookie sheet. Try to fit two cookies on one sheet to speed up the baking process. Place them about 2-3 inches apart.
- Place another piece of parchment paper on top of your scooped cookie dough. Take something flat and heavy (I used a small cake stand) and press down until the chocolate chips stop you from pushing anymore. They’ll be about 1/8 inch thick.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the center is set. Take a large spatula and carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Repeat 4 more times.
- While each batch bakes, place the dough in the fridge. You don’t want the dough to reach room temperature as it will affect how the cookies bake.
- Let the cookies cool COMPLETELY before assembling.
Buttercream
- Start by sifting the powdered sugar in a bowl.
- In a larger bowl, cream the butter then slowly mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Halfway through, mix in the vanilla and 2 tbsp of milk.
- Once all of the powdered sugar is mixed in, add in another tablespoon of milk if your buttercream is too stiff to spread.
Assembly
- Spread an even layer of buttercream between each cookie.
- Let the cake sit out at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight. This allows the cookies to soften and the buttercream to strengthen the cake. Place it in a cake container or wrap it in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.
- Now cut a big slice and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
Keywords: cookie cake, cookie layer cake, giant chocolate chip cookie
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These cakes are definitely crunchy, they look so good
★★★★★
Thank you!!
How big is the scoop you are using? What is the width of the final product?
I used about 1 tbsp to scoop the cookie dough and the cake is a 3 layer 8″ cake
Jenna,
I’m needing to make a cookie cake(s) for about 30 people. In part of your recipe, you state about 10 layers, but in your comments from February 2020 above, you stated 3 layer 8″ cake. Was your 10 layer cake significantly smaller?
Beautiful job!
Thanks,
Krista
Oops that’s because I thought they were asking about a different post! This does make a 10 layer cake that’s about 7″ round.
Thank you!
We will be making this in late June for the smaller venue wedding. We will then be able to figure out how to scale it for the larger reception when COVID clears.
Stay safe!
Hello! Can I turn this into a gingersnap cookie? It looks so good!
Hi! Unfortunately I would have to test a gingersnap cookie recipe as this is a very unique way of baking a cookie.
CAn I ice the cookies 2 days before event
Hi Donna, to make ahead: made the entire cookie cake and then chill it for 1 hour or until firm. Then, wrap in plastic wrap or place into a air tight cake container and store in the refrigerator for 2 days. To serve, let it come up to room temperature.
Hey Jenna –
Not sure if my first comment made it through, I’m trying to make this for our wedding and wanted to prepare the cookie part ahead of time, could I freeze the dough then thaw out and make in the future? I was only going to freeze in freezer bags for 1.5 weeks.
★★★★★
You could try this, but the cookies may not spread as much in the oven so you’ll have a more tall and narrow cake.
What you could do is bake the cake, assemble, and then wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze the entire cake. Then on the day of, just let it thaw and it should be good to go.
Hi Jenna!
Want to make this cake for my boyfriends birthday, he’s a big fan of soft chewy cookies, does this cookie dough recipe produce a softer or crunchier cookie?
Thanks!
-Kathy
Hi! It’s more of a soft and chewy cookie 🙂
I made this for my sons birthday, he wanted a 10 layer cookie cake for his 10th birthday. It came out amazing! Huge hit & your recipe went exactly as you said!
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks for sharing!
Just made this for my husband’s birthday. Like your husband, he loves chocolate chip cookies more than anything, so this was perfect. And beautiful. I followed the recipe exactly and it was trouble-free. The only thing that I might change is the frosting. We found the buttercream to be too sweet (but really, any frosting ON TOP OF 10 CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES is going to be sweet). If I make this again, I might try a cream cheese frosting, just to break up the sweet a bit. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
I just made this cake and agree that the frosting was too sweet. I would have preferred thicker cookies as well. I might try the cream cheese frosting next time, as you suggested. And I might make thicker cookies and less layers as well.
Made this for my step daughters 24th bday, she hates cake, so she requested a traditional cookie cake from the mall. I stumbled across this and had to give it a try. She LOVED it!!! We are having a family bday dinner for her tomorrow night and this was her request. I’d say it was a huge hit!!
★★★★★
Aw yay! So happy she loved it!
Hi!
How would you reccomend cutting a cake like this? 🙂
Just like any other cake! Just make sure it’s chilled and use a large sharp knife.
What type of brown sugar do you use, light or dark? I really love how you recipe came out and don’t want to mess anything up.
Light!
I’m going to make this for my sons bday this weekend as he’s not a fan of cake!! It does have to feed a crowd so I was wondering if you’ve ever made it with less layers and a larger diameter cookie? Love all of your recipes ❤️
Hi! I was wondering how big of a scoop you made the cookies with or how many grams each is?
It’s however many grams the entire batch is divided by 10 🙂
Trying different recipes as baking one for a wedding next month. Liked this recipe the best so far. Made different sizes as starting at 10 inches for 4 layers, then 8 inches, then 6, then 4.
So good to know!
Could you please let me know how many servings did you get?
Hi Jenna- I want to try your cookie cake recipe and need to know about how many servings do you get from his cake? Is it basically the same a cutting a regular cake in wedding slices?
Thanks so much. Cant wait to try it!
Yep just like a cake! It will give you about 12 thin slices
Hi Jenna,
Making this for a friends daughter’s Boho wedding. I have done many ‘regular’ birthday and anniversary cakes for family. I love being creative with baking..so I am excited to do this cake. I noticed it says mini chocolate chips. What posshappens if I use regular chocolate chips? Will it change the baking of the cooking? Not sure why this one has me a little on edge!
You got this! Mini chips are just much better for an even spread without the disruption of larger chunks of chocolate.