A healthy chocolate chip cookie cake made healthier than the classic, higher in protein and easier to make than chocolate chip cookies. This cookie cake is made with pantry ingredients in 20 minutes. It's easy to decorate for a birthday or any holiday.
This chocolate chip cookie cake is perfect for a busy person who loves homemade chocolate chip cookies, although admittedly my applesauce chocolate chip cookies (just like Entenmann's) and my healthy sugar cookies, and my 2 ingredient sugar cookies are awesome. This cookie cake batter comes together with simple ingredients, pressed into a pan and baked. No chilling required.
The ingredients are probably in your pantry right now. They come together fast in one bowl, and a spoon to stir. Bake and cool in under an hour. Decorate it with frosting, and it can even serve as a birthday cake or a holiday cake! For instance, make mini heart cookie cakes for Valentine's Day, or sprinkle with pastel sprinkles for Easter or festive red and green for Christmas.
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Why You'll Love This Cookie
Easy to make. This cookie cake is so easy to make. Just pop the ingredients into a bowl, mix and bake. Dress it up with frosting and sprinkles to make is as festive as a layer cake but without the work.
Healthier cookie cake. My recipe is a healthier because I used nut butter and flax seed. Flax seeds are high in protein and fiber and omega-3 fatty acids which are vital for nearly all your cell processes. Nut butter is a healthier alternative to butter because it has more protein and is made of unsaturated, healthier fats.
Fool-proof recipe. I baked mine in a tart pan with a removable bottom, but this recipe is really forgiving and you can use just about any 12-inch pan.
Ingredients
Chocolate Chips - I used mini chips that are dairy-free and vegan.
Sugars - Use both white and brown. I used coconut palm sugar for the brown but traditional brown sugar works too. I used organic cane sugar for its unrefined nutrition.
Flax seed eggs - Ground flax seed combined with water makes a great egg substitute for a cookie. Or use applesauce.
Flour - All purpose or gluten-free baking flour can be used.
Butters - I used both vegan butter and a nut butter. Any nut or seed butter works.
Leaveners and flavors - baking soda, vanilla and salt.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete and printable recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step 1. Melt the butter in your microwave in a mixing bowl.
Step 2. Add in both sugars, the flax seed egg, and vanilla and stir. No mixer needed.
Step 3. Add in the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour and stir up into a batter.
Step 4. Fold in the chips and spread the dough into a pan. If the dough seems too dry add milk in 1 tablespoon increments. If it seems too wet, either chill 15 to 30 minutes or add flour in 1 tablespoon increments. You have a bit play in the texture - it can be pressable with fingers, or spreadable with a spatula so don't worry too much, just try to get it to look like mine below.
Step 5. Bake, cool and frost.
Tips & Substitutions
1. The pan. This recipe fits a 12-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. You can also use a 9-inch pie pan, just use only ⅔ of the dough for the cookie cake, and refrigerate the remaining dough for cookies at a later date. I don't have one but there are cookie cake pans for sale that are 12-inches in diameter and the correct depth for a cookie cake.
2. To make the cookie gluten-free, use gluten-free baking flour - the light blue bag by Bob's Red Mill works well.
3. I have made this with oat flour and it does not create the cookie-like texture you see here, so I highly recommend sticking with all purpose or gluten-free baking flour.
4. To keep the recipe vegan, instead of butter, use vegan butter.
5.If your brown sugar is dry and hard, put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover it with a paper towel that has been soaked in water and squeezed out, and microwave at 20-second intervals until the sugar is soft and moist.
6. Decorate the cookie cake to fit the occasion. For Christmas, add red and green sprinkles or even mini gingerbread men. For birthdays, use colorful frosting and birthday sprinkles. A number for an age can be frosted on top. I used a 4b star tip to create a row of rosettes and then I added sprinkles and gold stars.
I also made mini Valentine's Day cookie cakes using heart pans with removable bottoms gold and beautiful as well as useful. Just like my Valentine's Day recipe collection, this recipe is healthier and perfect for heart day.
FAQS
A cookie is typically 3-inches in diameter and a cookie cake is anywhere from 7-inch to 12-inches in diameter.
A cookie cake tastes just like a giant cookie, soft and chewy and full of chocolate chip cookie flavor.
Follow this recipe but use gluten-free baking flour instead of all purpose.
Yes! Scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter onto a parchment lined cookies sheet and bake them for 8 minutes at 350 F.
Other Healthy Cookie Recipes
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed or use coconut palm sugar
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter ½ stick, or 4 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon nut butter or seed butter
- 1 flax seed egg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cup all purpose or gluten-free baking flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
Prep
- Make the flax seed eggs by stirring 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed into 3 tablespoon of water.
- Rub butter on a 9-inch or 12-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. You can also use an 8-inch square pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Make the Cookie Cake
- In a large bowl, put the butter and microwave at 15 seconds until the butter is just melted.½ cup unsalted butter
- Add in the nut butter, sugars, flax seed egg and vanilla and stir the mixture. No mixer needed.½ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup organic cane sugar, 1 tablespoon nut butter, 1 flax seed egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Next add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Stir again. If the dough seems too wet, either chill 15- 30 minutes or add flour in 1 tablespoon increments. You have a bit play in the texture - it can be pressable with fingers, or spreadable with a spatula½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt, 1 ½ cup all purpose or gluten-free baking flour
- Fold in the chocolate chips.¼ cup chocolate chips
- Spread the cookie dough into the pan.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Do not over bake or the cookie will be too hard. Remove when the top only slightly has a brown tinge. It will look underdone.
- Press a few chocolate chips on to the top of the hot cookie if you want to have melted chocolate chips on top.
- Set the pan on a cooking rack and wait to remove the cookie cake until it is cool and can be removed without breaking. I used a tart pan with a removable bottom so removal is easy.
Frost
- Choose your favorite frosting, and use a frosting tip to create a circle of rosettes and added sprinkles sparingly.
How to Store A Cookie Cake
- Leftover uncooked dough in a sealed container can be refrigerated for 3 days and frozen for one month.
- Leftover baked cookie cake without frosting can be frozen in a sealed container for three months.
- Baked and frosted cookie cake can be kept in a sealed container at room temperature for 3 days.
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