Now you can have your cake AND your cookies too! This Neapolitan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is made with three layers of thick chocolate chip cookie cake sandwiched between chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry buttercream.
I receive a lot of press releases in my inbox. They usually start with a chipper greeting and an assurance that “I know your readers will love this!” before seguing into a pitch about gluten-free dog biscuits, or fat-burning pumpkins from Peru, or my personal favorite, a man who invented a new form of psychological therapy that takes place on a skateboard. (I mean, it doesn’t have anything to do with dessert, but all snarking aside, how fun does that sound?)
Either those PR pros are out of touch with what my readers actually love, or I am, because if I had to estimate the number of times those pitches actually seemed relevant to SugarHero, the answer would rhyme with “shmero.”
…until now.
Recently, I received an email telling me that May 15 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Unfortunately, I don’t actually know what the email was trying to promote, because I stopped reading after that and sprinted to my calendar to make sure that I had this important holiday marked down. (However, if other pitches are any indication, the email probably took a left turn and was about chocolate chip-flavored steak sauce or cookie-scented perfume.) **
**Update: the day after I wrote this blog, I got a press release about chocolate chip flavored salad dressing. Not joking! I think I should win some sort of Most Psychic Blogger prize.
No matter—it had accomplished its mission. I love cookies, and I love made-up food holidays, so you know that I’m going to be celebrating National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day tomorrow, and I hope you will too. Hang the cookie wreath and play the cookie carols! I’m bringing this Neapolitan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake to celebrate.
This might look like a typical cake, but the layers are actually made from chocolate chip cookie dough, baked in 8-inch cake pans. I tweaked the dough to produce extra cakey cookies, so the layers bake up soft and fluffy—you don’t want to be sawing through chewy cookie layers when you’re trying to serve it! They still have the familiar brown sugar taste of chocolate chip cookies, though, and are still packed with (you guessed it) lots and lots of chocolate chips.
In between each giant cookie is a thick layer of frosting, because I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t want to frost, or a cake I didn’t want to embiggen. If you’re less of a frosting fan you can easily cut the recipe by a third to make a more reasonable portion, but the cookie layers were substantial enough that I found they stood up well to a big ole scoop of frosting.
Besides, this cake is as much about the frosting as it is about the cookies. The layers of chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla frosting are what make it special, and Neapolitan-ish, and they elevate it from the typical giant cookie cakes you can get at the mall. I used unsweetened chocolate to give the chocolate layer a deep, rich taste, while the strawberry layer gets its light and tangy flavor from freeze-dried strawberry powder. Be sure to try this delicious Cookie Dough Frosting next!
I’m not saying you have to make this cake for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, but I do think you should eat some sort of chocolate chip cookie to celebrate. Let not all those press releases be sent in vain. Carpe cookie!
🎂More Desserts You’ll Love
- Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark
- Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
- Strawberry Crisp
- Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cakes
- Blueberry Layer Cake
- Rocky Road Layer Cake
Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake
Cookie Monster Cupcakes
Neapolitan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
For the Cookie Layers:
- 13.75 oz all-purpose flour, (3 1/4 cups)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 9 oz unsalted butter
- 11.25 oz brown sugar, (1 1/2 cups), lightly packed
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 18 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, (3 cups)
For the Buttercream:
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 cups freeze-dried strawberries
- 12 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 36 oz powdered sugar, (9 cups)
- 1/2 cup milk, divided use
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
To Make the Cookie Layers:
- Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat them together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just a few streaks of flour remain. Stop the mixer and finish mixing by hand, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl well. Add the chocolate chips and stir them in completely.
- Divide the dough between the 3 prepared pans—if you want to use a scale to portion them, each pan should get about 20 oz. Bake the cakes for about 22 minutes, until they’re golden brown, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cookie cakes on a wire rack until completely cool. They can be made in advance and kept, well-wrapped in plastic, for several days until ready to use.
To Make the Frosting and Assemble:
- Place the unsweetened chocolate in a small bowl and microwave it in 30-second increments until melted. Once melted and smooth, set it aside to cool to room temperature.
- Place the freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor and process them until they are a fine powder.
- Combine the butter, powdered sugar, 1/3 cup milk, vanilla extract, and salt in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until the sugar is moistened, then raise the speed to medium and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Divide the frosting into three approximately equal portions, making one slightly larger than the other two. (This will be the top layer, which requires more frosting for piping decorations.) Add the melted chocolate and a tablespoon of milk to the second portion, and stir until well-mixed. Add the strawberry powder and the remaining milk to the third portion and stir until well-mixed.
- Place one cookie layer on your serving plate, and spread the chocolate frosting on top of the cookie. Add a second cookie on top, and spread the strawberry frosting on the second cookie. Finally, top the stack with the third cookie. Spread some vanilla frosting on top, and use the rest to pipe rosettes or other decorations around the edge. Top with chocolate chips, sprinkles, or mini cookies.
Recipe Notes
This recipe provides a very generous amount of frosting. If you like thinner layers of frosting, or don’t want to do decorative piping on top of the cake, you can reduce it by a third.
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
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The last photo had me drooling.. it is beyong amazing.. that´s all I´m going to say cause sometimes you just have to say it like it is! Happy week friend! xoxo
That cake looks amazing! It’s my first time on your blog, and I can’t wait to explore 🙂
it is so cute! i love the colors and the cookies on top.
Holy moly! This is amazing!
I so did not know there was such a national food holiday. I’m in love with this cake. It looks so delicious, yet so . . . coma-inducing as well. You know, I taught my teenage guy how to make chocolate chip cookies as a way to win the ladies’ hearts. Does that work? I’m not even sure. A man that bakes, though? Be still MY heart. . . .
this is so gorgeous!! I love how you fluffed up the cookie layer to make it a little more cakey 🙂 do you have a link to the actual cookie on top of the cake? Xo
I have just discovered your blog (I googled ‘raspberry mousse cake recipes’) and I am dazzled by your photos and recipes! and your writing and wit…’schmero’ 😀 The styling of this cake, with the sassy cookies posed on top, and the theme of pink/chocolate/white is stunning! so temptingly stunning. So I am sitting here and busily remotely printing your recipes to go through. I am so lucky because I am the sole pastry baker in a private lodge, we serve 3 meals a day, and I can bake/serve whatever seems to be delicious. And I think I just found a mother lode of deliciousness! thank you!
Holly, thank you so much! I love that you have the freedom to make what you want–I hope that you give this one a try! And please let me know what you think when you do. I’ll bet you could come up with some fun variations too!
Hahaha, that’s too weird about chocolate chip flavored salad dressing. Maybe you should work in marketing? Although I’m really trying to wrap my head around that flavor idea. This cake, however, is a great idea!
I know, right?! I wish they had included the ingredients–I am dying to know what goes into that dressing! Obviously some experimentation is in order…or not!
I’m making this for my birthday it’s beautiful i think my family and friend will love it
This cake looks awesome! I promised my sister I would make this for her birthday and so far I have had two failed attempts …… I will not cry. I will not cry. I can’t work out what I’m doing wrong. The cookie cake layers themselves seem to cave in the middle and the frosting never seems to have enough stamina to hold a layer of the cake. Also the little cookies won’t stand up in the icing like on ur picture………. Please please please help me.
Hi Steph, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with the recipe! (And please, don’t cry!) Let’s tackle the frosting first. It sounds like it’s very soft, so it can’t hold the cake layers or the cookies upright. What is the temperature of the butter you’re using? Assuming that all of your measurements are correct, my guess is that the butter is very soft and is causing the frosting to be soft as well. In the summer months, this is an especially common problem. Try using butter that is soft when you press a finger in it, but still cool to the touch. You may only need to leave it out of the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so before using, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. You can also try omitting the milk entirely, then adding it back in a spoonful at a time if the frosting seems too stiff otherwise. And adding extra powdered sugar is always an option to get a nice stiff frosting consistency. So in order, my suggestions would be: cooler butter, less milk, and then more sugar if necessary.
Now let’s talk cookie layers. There are a lot of reasons why they might be collapsing, and it’s hard to know for sure without seeing what you’re doing. Some possible culprits: an inaccurate oven temperature (I always recommend using an oven thermometer to make sure the bake temp is correct), baking soda and/or baking powder that is old and has lost its effectiveness (you can google for a simple way to test whether they’re still good), being underbaked (what’s the texture of the finished product? Gooey in the center?) or possible being overbeaten during the creaming of the butter/sugar. If you beat it forever and whip too much air into it, that could cause it to rise too much and be structurally unsound, and then collapse. Are you measuring by weight or volume? Have you double-checked all quantities? I hope some of these ideas gave you a place to start looking–I wish I could say for sure, there’s just too many variables without seeing the situation in person!