Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

I want to start off this post with saying how saddened I was to learn of the bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday. We live in such a dangerous world these days. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this horrific event. In times like these, it is especially important to be thankful for what we have in our lives.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

One person I am thankful for every single day is my amazing husband. And yesterday was his birthday.

I have been dealing with some kind of sickness since Friday evening and haven’t really been able to stomach much food lately. But, what does one do when it is your husband’s birthday? I had to be strong. I had to bake the cake I promised I would make for him. He told me a million times not to worry about it, but how could I not? So this cake came together in baby steps.

My husband has told me many times that his most favorite cupcake in the whole wide world are my Chocolate Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Frosting. I told him awhile ago that I would turn his favorite cupcakes into a cake. So that is what I did!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

This cake has a few steps, but it is really pretty easy to put together. I used the same recipe for the cake. The frosting for the cupcakes is just so good, but it’s not easy to spread so I knew it wouldn’t work on a cake. So in this recipe, the cupcake frosting became the cake filling and then I came up with a cookie dough buttercream for the frosting. If you decide to make this recipe (and I totally think you should!), keep in mind that the frosting does have a gritty texture due to the sugar and it does contain flour which you do not usually see in frosting, but this is supposed to be like actual cookie dough so it’s all good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Chocolate Cookie Dough Cake
Yield: 10-12 servings

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake - Rich, chocolatey cake stuffed with cookie dough filling and topped with cookie dough buttercream icing!

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 box devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cookie dough filling:

  • 1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Milk (about 2-3 tbs. to thin out, add as needed)

For the cookie dough buttercream frosting:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • milk (about 2 tbs. to thin out, add more as needed)

Instructions

For the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
  2. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together until everything is well-combined, but try to avoid over-mixing the batter.
  3. Divide the batter evenly amongst the two cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  4. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

For the cookie dough filling:

  1. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy with a hand or stand mixer.
  2. Mix in the vanilla extract, flour, and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

For the frosting:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and the brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
  2. Add in the flour, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat together until everything is well-combined and the frosting is smooth and spreadable. If it is too thick, add milk, one tablespoon at a time to thin it out (I just needed about 2 tbs.).

To assemble the cake:

  1. Remove the cake from the pans. Place one of the cakes down onto a cake plate (or whatever you will use to store and serve it), Using a large serrated knife (bread knife), carefully skim off the top of the cake with the knife until the top is level. Discard the scraps (or you know, eat them, whatever…)…
  2. Spoon the filling on top of the bottom cake layer and spread evenly. You may find that you don’t need/want to use all of the filling you made. That is fine, use as much or as little as you’d like.
  3. Place the top layer of the cake on top of the filling and bottom layer. Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the cake!
  4. Feel free to garnish the cake however you’d like. I just threw a bunch of mini chocolate chips on top of mine.

Notes

You can really use whatever cake recipe you prefer to use for this cake. If you have a favorite chocolate cake recipe, go for it! Or if you would rather do a white cake, do it!!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 578Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 115mgSodium: 410mgCarbohydrates: 98gFiber: 2gSugar: 56gProtein: 9g

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake