The Best and Irresistible Cookie Dough Cake

Cookie Dough Cake- Chocolate chip cake layers with a dark chocolate cookie crust, filled with an edible cookie dough, and then frosted in a brown sugar buttercream. 

I’m trying to hold on to summer for as long as I can with my new Cookie Dough Cake. This cake is actually perfect for any cookie dough or chocolate chip cookie lover. It has the best of both worlds with a cookie crust and a cookie dough filling. 

If you love this recipe, this you will love these!

• Cookie Dough Brownies
• To Die For Peanut Butter Chocolate Blondies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies 

Why this recipe works:

• Cookie crust- This dark chocolate cookie crust is the thing that pulls this cake together. It gives a nice crunchy texture, and the flavor of the dark chocolate is a nice extra touch. 
• Chocolate chip layers- These chocolate chip cake layers are made with my vanilla cake recipe with the added bonus of mini chocolate chips.
• Edible cookie dough- This edible cookie dough is truly amazing. 
• Brown sugar buttercream- Have you ever had brown sugar buttercream? It’s not quite as sweet as regular American buttercream and it’s the perfect addition to this cake. 
• Layered cake- This is a 3 layer cake. I use three 8-inch cake pans, but you could also use four 6-inch pans. 

Ingredients that you will need:

Here is a list of ingredients that you might not have on hand, but that you will need for this recipe. For a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below. 

• Butter- I always use unsalted butter. It makes it so much easier to control the amount of salt in your baked goods. For this recipe you will need about 2.5 pounds of butter. 
• Egg whites- Room temperature eggs are a must to make a smooth cake batter. I pull my eggs out about two hours before I want to start baking.
• Brown sugar- I always use light brown sugar, but you can, for sure, use dark, if that’s all you have.
• Sour cream- I use sour cream in the cake batter. It doesn’t call for much, but I make sure to pull it out 2 hours before baking so it’s at room temperature. 
• Buttermilk- This also needs to be at room temperature. Pull it out two hours before baking. 
• Cake flour- This is what makes the cake silky smooth. You don’t want to skip out on this one, trust me. I like to use Swan Silk brand cake flour.
• Dark chocolate cocoa powder- I get mine here: You can use whatever you can find, but I really love my dark cocoa powder. 
• Mini chocolate chips-  I love semi sweet. 

Step by step- the crust 

Step 1: Prep your pans. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.

Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with he paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt and mix on low speed until evenly combined.

Step 3: Add the melted butter. Add the melted butter and mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together and forms small ball clusters.

Step 4: Evenly distribute and bake. Put 7 ounces of the chocolate crumbs on the parchment in each of the three 8-inch cake pans. Using the back of a spoon or your finger tips, press the crumbs to form a crust. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.

Step by step instructions- cake layers 

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth, about 4 minutes.

Step 3: Add the eggs and sour cream. With the mixer on medium speed, start adding the whole egg and the egg whites, one at a time, to the bowl, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl between each addition. After all the eggs have been added, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Step 4: Alternate the dry ingredients with the buttermilk. Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Add the rest of the flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk, while mixing on low. 

Step 5: Fold in the chocolate chips. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. 

Step 6: Divide and bake. Using a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the cake batter among the three 8-inch or four 6-inch pans (about 18 ounces in the 8 inch, and 12 ounces in the 12 inch) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it, or until it starts to get a little golden brown on top.

Step 7: Let the cakes cool. Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes before taking them out of the pans and placing them on cooling racks.

Expert baking tips

1. When you are making the cake batter, make sure to really cream the butter and the sugar. I can’t stress this enough! This helps create air pockets in your cake layers that also help it rise. 
2. Use high quality cake pans. This helps prevent your cake layers from browning on the sides. I always use Fat Daddios cake pans. You can find the ones I use here:
3. I say this a lot because I think it’s really important… USE ROOM TEMP ingredients! Making sure all of your ingredients are the same temp is a must!
4. To get a creamy and smooth buttercream, add a Tablespoon of whipping cream once you finish mixing the buttercream. Then beat by hand with a rubber spatula to get all of the air bubbles out. 
5. Do a crumb coat. Don’t skip this step. It helps secure the crumbs onto the cake and makes decorating easier.
6. Use a turn table to help decorate your cake. You can find the one I use here:
7. I love using an offset spatula to help spread the buttercream on the sides of the cake. You can find mine here:

Assembly 

• Spread a small dollop of buttercream on the middle of a cake board. Place the first cake layer on the board with the chocolate cookie crust on the bottom.
• Place prepped cookie dough right on top of the cake layer. 
• Place the second cake layer, chocolate cookie crust on the bottom, and repeat step 2. 
• Place the final cake layer, chocolate cookie crust on the bottom, on top of the second layer of cookie dough. 
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake to lock in any crumbs. This is called the crumb coat. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes to ensure the crumbs get locked into this coat of buttercream.

Storing

How to store this Cookie Dough Cake:

If I am dividing my cake making into multiple days, I bake my cake layers, cool them, and wrap them with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge or freezer. This help reduce crumbs and makes it so the layers don’t slide around while decorating. They can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days. 

Remember to follow me on Instagram for more tips and videos!

For more cake recipes here are my favorite:

• Graham Cracker S’mores Cake
• Gooey Cinnamon Roll Caramel Cake
• Season’s Best Triple Berry Cake

Recipe

Cookie Dough Cake

Molly Murphy

Chocolate chip cake layers with a dark chocolate cookie crust, filled with an edible cookie dough, and then frosted in a brown sugar buttercream.

5 from 20 votes

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

FOR THE CRUST

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ cups dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted

For the cake

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large whole egg room temperature
• 5 large egg whites room temperature
• ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour spooned and leveled
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1¼ cups buttermilk room temperature
• ¾ cup mini chocolate chips

For the Cookie Dough

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar lightly packed
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Brown Sugar Buttercream

• 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 cups powdered sugar measured and sifted
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

 

For the crust

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt Mix on low until evenly combined.
• Add the melted butter and mix on low until the mixture starts to come together and forms small ball clusters.
• Spread 7 ounces of the chocolate crumbs on the parchment in each of the three 8-inch cake pans. Using the back of a spoon or your finger tips, press the crumbs together to form a crust. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.

For the cake

• Keep your oven at 325 degrees.
• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth, about 4 minutes.
• Beating on medium speed, start adding the whole egg and the egg whites, one at a time to the bowl, scraping the bottom and the sides of the bowl between each addition. After all the eggs have been added, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and vanilla, beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Turn the mixer on low and add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Repeat by adding the rest of the flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk, while mixing on low.
• With a rubber spatula, fold in the mini chocolate chips.
• Using a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the cake batter among the three 8-inch or four 6-inch pans (about 18 ounces in the 8 inch, and 12 ounces in the 12 inch) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it or until it starts to get a little golden brown on top.
• Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes before taking them out of the pans and placing them on cooling racks.When the cakes are completely cooled, wrap each cake layer individually with plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready to frost.If your cakes have a small dome, level them when they are cool, but before you place them in the fridge.

For the Cookie Dough

• With an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add the vanilla extract and mix on low until combined.
• Add in the flour and salt, mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
• With a rubber spatula, mix in the mini chocolate chips.
• Set aside ⅔ of the dough for the cake filling and use the remaining ⅓ to roll into small balls for decorating (I rolled mine into 1 ounce balls and dipped the balls in melted chocolate).
• With the other ⅔s of the cookie dough, divide it into 2 even parts. Place a generous layer of plastic wrap inside an 8 inch cake pan. Take one of the pieces of cookie dough and evenly spread to it the edges of the cake pan, making a cookie dough layer to use later. Repeat 2 more times and set aside.

For the brown sugar buttercream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high until creamy, about 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Once the butter is creamy, add the brown sugar and beat on medium-high until combined, about 1 minute.
• Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Turn the mixer to low and mix just until combined, about 30 seconds. Turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat until completely combined and creamy.
• With a rubber spatula, beat out the air pockets by hand until smooth and creamy.

Assembly

• Spread a small dollop of buttercream on the middle of the cake board. Place the first cake layer on the board, with the chocolate cookie crust on the bottom.
• Place prepped cookie dough right on top of the cake layer.
• Place the second cake layer, chocolate cookie crust on the bottom, and repeat step 2.
• Place the final cake layer, chocolate cookie crust on the bottom, on top of the second layer of cookie dough.
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake to lock in any crumbs. This is called the crumb coat. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes to ensure the crumbs get locked into this coat of buttercream.
• Frost the cake with the remaining brown sugar buttercream and top with the chocolate dipped cookie dough balls.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!