Ridiculously Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake for Holidays and Parties
This ridiculously easy chocolate chip cookie cake is one of our favorite recipes and my go-to dessert for holidays, potlucks and parties that always gets rave reviews!
I really think this Ridiculously Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe needs its own business card. Anytime I make it for parties, people ALWAYS ask for the recipe.
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may know by now that every holiday, potluck, party and family birthday celebration stars this Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. What started out as a birthday tradition for Superhubby who loves chocolate chip cookies, this cookie cake is now requested by my oldest son (a.k.a He Who Does Not Like Birthday Cake), my middle son (a.k.a. He Who Does Not Like Chocolate) and my youngest son (a.k.a He Who Takes After Me and Eats Any Sweets in Sight) for each of their birthdays too.
You may think we lack variety, but this easy chocolate chip cookie cake is awesome and so easy peasy to make. Why should I bother making anything else? Cooking with Rheumatoid Arthritis is a challenge in itself with my deformed hands and painful feet, so why make dozens of little cookies when I can mix the batter in one mixing bowl, throw it on one big pizza pan and get one GIANT cookie cake in less than 30 minutes total?
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Tools and Special Ingredients for this Recipe
These are the tools and special ingredients I used to make this recipe:
- Kitchenmaid Stand Mixer*
- 14.25″ Pizza Pans*
- Parchment paper*
- Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips*
- spatula*
- good pizza cutter*
- an extra pizza pan to invert on top when done or Cake Caddy* to store it in an airtight container if you want to make it slightly smaller so it fits
Preparation
I usually use a mix of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips* and Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips*. The chips are larger than other brands so it makes the dough more dense. But you get big delicious warm gooey chunks of chocolate and that is a good thing, my friend.
Be sure to line the pizza pan* with parchment paper* (it makes cutting and cleanup a whole lot easier). I spread out the dough as thin as I can using a spatula* to get those chunky chocolate chips to within an inch of the edge of the pizza pan, it will spread out as it cooks. Just look at all that chocolately goodness.
If you decide to use a nonstick or dark coated pizza pan, lower the oven temp to 350 degrees F and you may need to cook it a little longer at the lower temp.
There’s nothing like the smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven except when it’s one giant cookie with extra gooey chocolate. Good luck keeping the family out of the kitchen or in my case, the youngest from trying to sneak a taste.
I originally used Emeril’s Giant Chocolate Cookie Cake recipe and included all the nuts and various chocolate chips required. Over the years, the nuts have disappeared and I just added more chocolate. The more chocolate, the better…am I right?
I ALWAYS keep two bags of chocolate chips and icing in my pantry, in case there’s an emergency cookie cake situation…and yes, they do happen! This past week, Superhubby had his holiday potluck and I was stuck inside waiting for the heat repairman to finish fixing our heat, so I made this holiday cookie cake while I waited.
Decorate
Decorate it any way you choose. I usually buy premade Betty Crocker cupcake icing* and pipe it on once the cookie cake has cooled completely. I usually do pretty simple designs but my oldest son came up with this ingenious solution to get a more complicated, custom design.
We wanted to do with a zombie with a Santa hat for a friend’s holiday party. First, my son drew the design on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Then he used a toothpick to poke holes through the paper and a little through the cake to outline the design and where the colors changed.
When all the lines are poked, remove the paper and fill in the sections with icing. And voila, we got a Zombie Santa!
Store and Serve
Once cooled completely, I cover tightly with foil or if you have two pizza pans*, Superhubby came up with the ingenious idea to invert a clean one on top of the cooked one and then wrap both together in foil. It protects the frosting better from getting squished.
I use a good pizza cutter* to cut through the cake. Once it’s served, cut up the rest and store the cookie in an airtight container*. If you have to stack the cookie in two layers, then put a piece of parchment paper from the pan in between the layers so they don’t stick together. Or try a Wilton Cake Caddy* 
I’m happy to share our family approved tried and true Ridiculously Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe with you. As you can see, I make it a lot! Try it out and tell me how you like it!
Why make dozens of cookies when you can make one EASY GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP #COOKIE CAKE? #recipe Share on X
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use Kosher)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups chocolate chips (I mix Ghirardelli semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips)
- Icing and decorations
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cover a 14-inch light colored pizza pan with parchment paper.
- In mixer bowl using paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together at moderately high speed. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt and mix with a whisk or a fork.
- Add dry ingredients slowly to butter/sugar mixture in mixer bowl and beat at a slow speed to mix.
- Add vanilla extract and mix again at a slow speed.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Use a rubber spatula to spread cookie dough on pizza pan covered with parchment paper. Spread as evenly as you can and to within about an inch of the pan edge.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until cookie is a little soft in the middle but toothpick comes out clean, edges will be crisper (mine takes just 20 minutes).
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, transfer to a wire rack if possible to cool complete.
- Decorate as desired once cookie cake is completely cooled.
- Store in a cake container or cover tightly with aluminum foil before serving.
More Cooking Tips, Menu Plans and Easy Recipes
Dairy, Refined Sugar and Gluten Free Recipes that Will Make Your Tastebuds Sing!
My 8 Must Have Kitchen Gadgets for Cooking with Rheumatoid Arthritis
The Secret to Easy Rotisserie Chicken You Can Make at Home
Pin for Later
Have you ever tried to make a cookie cake? What is your favorite birthday treat?
This post is linked up with these fabulous linkup parties.
This looks so good, I can’t wait to make it, Did I understand that you use the T-Fal Airbake non-stick pizza pan for this? Thank you.
My kids love a cookie cake. I will definitely have to try this recipe. I will be featuring this tonight at my Swing into Spring party that opens at 8pm EST. Please stop by and pick up an I’ve Been Featured button. Thanks. http://diybydesign.blogspot.com
Thank you sooo much for the feature Judy! It’s such an easy recipe, I hope you’ll let me know if you try it!
This is a great Birthday Cookie Cake! Hope you have a very special holiday and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
Miz Helen
Thank you for hosting Miz Helen and taking the time to stop by!
This looks delicious – I recall when I first made one for a party over 20 years ago everyone kept asking where I had bought it from! I love your toothpick template idea – I will try that! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday.
Thanks for stopping by Laurena! I get asked that same question too. I’m not a baker but I can make this!
My grandson loves cookie cakes instead of regular cakes for his birthday. I’ll be Pinning your recipe, now he can have a cookie cake whenever he wants it. Perfect ideas for sleepovers too! Thanks joining Sunday’s Best.
yes, sleepovers are a great idea too. I always keep chocolate chips and brown sugar in my pantry for anytime we need a quick cookie cake or something to take for teacher’s appreciation, a bake sale or a potluck. I hope your grandson enjoys this as much as my boys do! Thanks for stopping by!
Nice & Yummy :))
Happy Easter!
Thank you Rita. Happy Easter to you and yours also!
That looks so delicious! Pinning for my husband’s birthday; he just loves chocolate chip cookies. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Encouraging Hearts and Home.
My chocolate chip cookie loving husband is the one who started my hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie cake recipe. Now I’ve got all my boys hooked on it too. I hope he enjoys it! Thanks for hosting Joanne!
What would I use if i don’t have a pizza pan? I just went through liver failure due to an auto immune disease and went from three jobs to not being able to work and my savings went to bills while I was in the hospital for three months so I have no money to even pop over to the Family dollar and purchase a cheap one. I have been making cookies and fudge and homemade dog treats for my loved ones as presents and want to make my cookie addicted ( were talking a big batch of crispy chocolate chip cookies a week) somehing for his bday coming up and I know he would just go bonkers for this cake! If there is any thing I can use instead I have my large cookie sheets even if I had to make two maybe. Thank you for any advice you could possibly help me with.
🍪 cookie cake issues,
Tricia
Hi Tricia, I’m so sorry to hear of your liver failure. You could certainly make these into cookies if all you have is cookie sheets. Or if you have a jelly roll pan (something with a short edge), you could make cookie bars instead. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time and check it more often if you change the pan. The individual cookies (check after 12 minutes or so) will cook,quicker than the cookie bars (which might be closer to 20 minutes). Hope that helps.
Thank you, but make cookies for the cookie jar every week so doing just a batch of cookies is not something that I want to do I was looking more for a cake like maybe three small circles with frosting in between if I couldn’t find a pan large enough too this. But this cake will definitely be kept in my arsenal for a time when I have a proper pan. Thank you for the amazing recipes.
You could certainly try putting the batter in 3 smaller cake pans if that’s what you have, I just suggested the cookie sheets since that’s what you told me you had. It’s worth a try to see if the smaller cake pans works, it will probably work in any pan, you would just have to watch it and adjust cooking time. I had pizza pans already so it’s the only thing I’ve personally used. 😃
I used 3 small cake pans to make a tiered cookie cake for my son that does not do regular birthday cake. The bake time was around 15 mins (I did 10 first, checked them, then added 5 more) . They turned out great, and with tiers I was able to put peanut butter frosting as a filling in between. 🙂
AnD you’ve given me a great idea to try and make a smaller tiered cake like that. Maybe for my teenagers birthday coming up. Let me know if you try it and if it works!
Tanya, this looks AMAZING! We have one friend who makes this for his son every birthday because he also doesn’t like cake. It’s obvious that you guys love this cookie cake – so many pics of various occasions. I love how versatile it is! That zombie cake is awesome. I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you for sharing this. I have been making this with Emeril’s recipe for years. It is enjoyed even more by my family than the expensive mall cookie store cakes. It’s a huge hit & you are right, it is easier than it looks. The Emeril recipe has been removed from Food network’s site and I was about to panic until I found your recipe. It looks the same. My family will love this for Valentine’s Day. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, I took out all the nuts, white chocolate chips and macadamias and replaced with all chocolate chips and icing instead of fancy topping 🙂 I made it easier 🙂 my boys love this too, I contemplated making one today too! Enjoy!!
Oh my goodness! I always thought the big cookie cakes would be way harder than this. Thanks for linking up with us at Share the Wealth Sunday!
Cookie cake is one of my favorite foods – yum! (I’m eyeing up the last slice of cookie cake in my kitchen right now…mmmm….)
This looks like a delicious recipe to try. I like this idea over a regular cake any day.
I was secretly hoping for these ingredients not to be available in Spain, and they are lol That’s not fair!!!
I guess I have no choice but to try this recipe, and then hate you forever 😛
Well I would love for you to try my recipe but certainly not to hate me forever! It’s definitely meant to be shared, I only make them for parties and special occassions and we usually end up taking about half of it to Superhubbys work or family gatherings to help us finish it! Share the chocolate! 🙂
Mouth-watering chocolate chip cookie cakes! This made me grab my tiny chocolate chips at the cupboard.
Thanks Sammy!
This looks delicious!
Thanks Bethany! Very easy, hope you give it a try someday. I appreciate the visit and comment.
Giant cookie cake…yes please!! This is my favorite way to eat cookies! Thanks for sharing it with us at #FoodieFriDIY!
Hey girl!!! Thanks for linking up to Creative K Kid’s Tasty Tuesdays Linky Party. I’ve pinned your post to the Tasty Tuesday’s Pinterest board!!! Have a great week!!
Well then. This looks like heaven. What’s better than one giant cookie?!?! (Hint: nothing).
cominguprosestheblog.com
My kids would LOVE this! (And it’s so much faster.) Totally trying this next time I make cookies!! 🙂
I love this! It’s easy and who doesn’t like giant chocolate chip cookies?
Exactly! Thanks for stopping by Herchel!
that looks great! I’d rather have that then cake any day 🙂
Hi Tanya,
I am stopping by from our new Face Book Group. Your Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake looks like a great way to celebrate a birthday! Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!
Miz Helen
My sister always buys cookie cakes for family parties. What a great way to save money – I bet it tastes better too.