The Best Chewy Cookie Cake Recipe

This cookie cake recipe was invented out of necessity. You see, Alex and I are in a book club. (This relates, I promise!) It’s a co-ed group that meets monthly to drink wine and discuss a book: and man, has it become the bright spot of our month! We read everything from graphic novels to thrillers to memoirs to YA, from Ta-Nehisi Coates to Gillian Flynn to John Green. And cookie cake: we also have cookie cake to mark the passing of each year. Keep reading for this cookie cake recipe — AND a list of book club recommendations! Want to go for cookies instead? Try our Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Celebrating with a cookie cake is the tradition of our book club on our “book club birthday.” It was just our fifth anniversary of meeting together, so of course: a cookie cake was in store! This year, I wanted to try to create one at home instead of buying it at the store. Why make a homemade cookie cake recipe? While many of Alex and my dessert recipes are on the healthier side, take note: this cookie cake recipe does not have a healthy spin! We can’t really say homemade is healthier in this case. BUT, it is 100% more delicious than a store bought cookie cake. (We think, at least!) The dark chocolate chunks and a hint of orange zest make it seriously irresistible: the flavor is oh so real. And the texture: perfectly soft and chewy, just how we like our cookie cakes. We sent this out to a recipe tester Erin, who made it with her two girls. She said, “It was SO GOOD. The orange zest was perfect. Why isn’t orange in all chocolate chip cookies?” Why indeed. And when we served it to our book club for the fifth anniversary bash, complete with “Happy birthday book club!” in icing, everyone loved it too. Are you ready to get cooking?

This cookie cake recipe is pretty similar to a typical baked recipe: but as the name would suggest, it’s a cross between a cake and a cookie! The texture comes out perfectly soft and chewy, like a soft version of a cookie. For our version of a cookie cake, we used a normal 9-inch pie pan, which works perfectly. For the flavor of this cookie cake, we wanted it to taste nuanced enough to taste grown up, but yummy enough to please kiddos too. Here are our tricks;

Use both granulated and brown sugar. For this cookie cake, we’ve used two types of sugar to bring in a more nuanced sweetness.Use best quality dark chocolate. The better the chocolate, the tastier the recipe. Here we used over-sized dark chocolate chips for a fun visual. Use orange zest. Adding a bit of a tang to desserts brings out the flavor even more: just like adding a spritz of lemon to any recipe. Here we’ve played off the natural pairing of chocolate and orange. It brings in an undertone that makes it seriously addicting!

This cookie cake recipe is perfect for all sorts of occasions. Of course, it’s a fantastic treat or snack for a book club! Alex and I just brought it to a family cookout pitch in, which was fabulous. And if you’re celebrating a birthday, it’s also a really fun birthday treat for kids or adults! Whatever way you try it, let us know in the comments below if it’s a hit!

Book club book recommendations

Just for fun, here a few of the books we’ve read in our book club:

EducatedA Gentleman in MoscowBetween the World and MeCrazy Rich AsiansWhere’d Ya Go, Bernadette? 11-22-63The Complete PersepolisTurtles All the Way Down

Vegetarian.

Looking for easy dessert recipes?

This cookie cake recipe is very easy to make at home. Here are a few more of our favorite easy dessert recipes: 5 from 2 reviews

No-Bowl Applesauce CakeBliss Bites (Healthy No-Bake Cookies)AffogatoEasy Bananas FosterVegan Chocolate Chip CookiesChewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies The Best Chewy Cookie Cake Recipe - 17