Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

5 from 4 votes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

This Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake has layers of tender chocolate chip cake with edible cookie dough filling and brown sugar cookie dough frosting, all topped with a rich chocolate ganache. It's a show-stopping celebration cake for all chocolate chip cookie lovers who are as likely to eat the dough as they are to ever bake it into cookies! You can make the whole cake in one day or spread it out over two days by making the cakes first, then the frosting and filling the next day.

Prep Time1

Cook Time22

Cooling Time2 30

Total Time3 52

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 1193kcal

Author: Amy Nash

Ingredients

Cake

¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
¾ cup brown sugar (150g)
½ cup oil
¼ cup salted butter, room temperature (57g)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
¾ cup sour cream, room temperature (184g)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled (313g)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup whole milk, room temperature (255g)
1 cup mini chocolate chips (tossed with 3 teaspoons of additional flour)

Edible Cookie Dough

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (188g)
½ cup salted butter, softened (114g)
⅔ cup brown sugar (133g)
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar (38g)
3 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Cookie Dough Frosting

2 cups salted butter, room temperature (454g)
1 cup brown sugar (225g)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (125g)
½ teaspoon salt
6 cups powdered sugar (690g)
3-6 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 ½ to 2 cups mini chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
¾ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper circles and spray with baking spray.
In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and butter on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then add the sour cream and mix well to combine.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt alternately with the milk, mixing on low speed between each addition until combined.
Toss the mini chocolate chips with 3 teaspoons of flour, then add to the cake batter. Stir just until evenly dispersed, then divide the batter evenly between the cake pans (about 2 cups of batter per pan).
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the layers comes out with just a few crumbs. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning the cake layers out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Edible Cookie Dough

Heat treat the flour by spreading it on a baking sheet and baking for 8 minutes in a 300°F oven or microwaving for 1 minute. Let cool completely. *You may want to heat treat the flour for the frosting at the same time to save doing it again later.
In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light, about 2-3 minutes. Add the cream or milk, vanilla, and salt.
Add flour and mix until combined. Add mini chocolate chips and mix until dispersed throughout the dough. Set aside.

Frosting

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light, about 2-3 minutes. Add the heat-treated flour and salt, beating well to combine and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Add half of the powdered sugar and beat well. Add 3 tablespoons of the heavy cream or milk and beat again. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar until creamy, along with enough of the remaining cream or milk to get a nice consistency. Beat for 2-3 minutes until light, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally.
Set aside about 2 ½ cups of the plain frosting for using between cake layers and to do a crumb coat. Stir the mini chocolate chips into the rest of the frosting, then set aside.

Chocolate Ganache

Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a separate, microwave-safe bowl for 60 seconds until steaming and hot.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips, then let them sit for 2-3 minutes without stirring.
Once the chocolate chips have had a chance to melt, whisk or stir until you have a smooth, glossy ganache. Set aside to cool slightly.

Assembly

Level the cake layers, if needed. Place the bottom layer bottom side down on a cake stand or serving plate.
Spread about ¾ to 1 cup of the plain frosting over the bottom cake layer. Divide the edible cookie dough into thirds, then flatten ⅓ of the dough into a circle on parchment paper and place on top of the frosted bottom cake layer. Repeat with the next layer of cake, remaining cup of plain frosting and another ⅓ of the edible cookie dough.
Place the last cake layer bottom side up onto the cake. Frosting the cake with the cookie dough frosting. You may want to do a thin layer first to seal in the crumbs and freeze the cake for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat before frosting the whole thing.
Pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, gently nudging it off the sides to drip down the edges of the cake. Smooth the ganache on the top of the cake with an offset spatula. Crumble the remaining edible cookie dough on top of the cake and sprinkle with a few extra mini chocolate chips.

Notes

Measuring flour: It's important to spoon & level the flour if you aren't using a kitchen scale so you don't add too much flour, which can make for a dry cake.
Room temperature ingredients: Letting the sour cream, milk, butter, and eggs come to room temperature helps them mix together more evenly and results in cake layers that bake up flat instead of rounded in the center.
Storage: Even though there is cookie dough in this cake, you can keep the cake on the counter for a day or two because there are no eggs and there is enough sugar to preserve the milk or cream in the dough. But the cake will keep for about 5 days in the fridge. Be sure to let it sit out until the whole cake comes to room temperature before serving though or the cake itself might taste dry.
Freezing: Cake freezes really well! Freeze the whole cake or slices for 30-60 minutes to set the outside frosting and ganache first before covering with a couple layers of plastic wrap. You can freeze the entire, assembled cake, if needed, then thaw overnight in the fridge, followed by at least 2-3 hours on the counter until the cake comes up to room temperature. Or freeze individual slices wrapped in a couple layers of plastic wrap to protect them.
Substitutions: I have not tried making this cake with gluten-free flour substitutes. But you could definitely sub the milk or cream with dairy-free versions like coconut milk or almond milk.

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