Giant Cookie Cake {Birthday Cake Alternative}

Not everyone loves birthday cake. I am one of those people. Actually, I like sour cream pound cake, chocolate chip cookie cake, and spice cake. One of the reasons I like those cakes is they do not use traditional frosting. (I will fully admit to liking Cool Whip frosting. I don't scrape that frosting off my cake.) Now I can add another cake to my list, but cookie cake is not really a cake at all.

Between my fight with frosting cakes (and refusing to buy a cake) and my dislike for traditional birthday cake, I let my children choose what they want for their birthday dessert each year. I was thrilled when Big Sister, now 8...eek...chose to have a cookie cake. She made one this summer (during one-on-one time), loaded with fruit and asked for one for her birthday treat.

The giant cookie cake was a huge hit. I used our favorite chocolate chip cookie bar recipe. (This is different than five-star chocolate chip cookie recipe.) The mini chocolate chips make it extra awesome, in my opinion.

Giant Cookie Cake

This makes enough to serve 10+ people. To serve more, double the recipe, but make TWO giant cookies. (If you have an extremely large cookie sheet, you may be able to just use that for one extra-large cookie.)

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c butter, softened

1/3 c sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2-3/4 c mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 c peanut butter chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet. (Or grease your cookie sheet.)
In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well.
Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix well.
Stir in chips.
Use your hands to make a giant ball of cookie dough. Pat it into a 10-12 inch disc. (It will spread out as it bakes just like a regular cookie.)
Bake 15-18 minutes. The edges should be barely turning brown.
Let cool completely. Trim parchment paper to cookie size. Transfer the cookie (with the parchment) to a cake server, if desired.
Decorate with buttercream frosting, if desired.
Cut into 10 triangles with a pizza slicer to serve.
Top with Cool Whip, fruit, candy, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, or peanut butter sauce, if desired.

To make it extra-festive and birthday-worthy, I simply decorated it with a bit of icing. After blowing out the candles, Big Sister and her friend spread Cool Whip on their triangle pieces of cookie cake. The Cool Whip was followed by their choice of candy corn, M&M's, and sprinkles. Of course, they included all three.

My intention was to have strawberries and blueberries on top, but they're out of season. Candy corn...well, it's in season.

The cookie cake was a huge hit with the children. The adults may not have used quite as much candy, but it was still a hit. This would be a great choice for anyone who loves chocolate chip cookies more than birthday cake.

Doesn't my daughter look as sweet as her dessert?

What birthday treat do you desire? Cookies, cake, or pie?
~ Annette
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5 comments

Hilda RodgersOctober 27, 2014 at 9:13 AM
What a great idea Annette! I love that everyone got to decorate their own pieces too. Happy birthday to your daughter!
UnknownOctober 27, 2014 at 10:05 AM
This brings cookie decorating to a whole new level!! What a fun time!! Your daughter looks even sweeter than that awesome cookie!!

Hugs
UnknownOctober 27, 2014 at 3:03 PM
I love this idea... and everyone gets to decorated the way they want... wonderful.
UnknownOctober 27, 2014 at 10:48 PM
YUM!
BlueroseOctober 29, 2014 at 8:11 PM
This is a great idea! We've loved the sugar cookie "cake" with cream cheese frosting and fruit topping, but I really like this idea for future birthdays. We always have a little "just us party" on the actual birthday, and then a bigger get together on the weekend. This would help mix things up a bit.