Tired of Birthday Cake? Make a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake or Brownie (A Cake Alternative)

A chocolate chip cookie cake is a great way to switch up the tiresome birthday cake routine. Everyone loves them, give one a try and you’ll see!

I don’t know about you, but October seems to be one of those months in which everyday seems to be a birthday for someone you know.

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It’s also rather unfortunate that in my family, three of our four birthdays fall within one month (all two weeks apart), so by the time my husband’s birthday rolls around, everyone is “caked-out”, so to speak. (If I ever write a cookbook, I’ll tell you a funny story about one of my husband’s birthday cakes! Don’t tell him I said that, as he doesn’t think it’s funny!)

So when we’re not so happy with cake anymore, I turn back to my college days when I used to make a huge chocolate chip cookie cake for all my friends’ birthdays. I’d either make them with chocolate chip cookie dough or sometimes a brownie batter in a large pizza pan. Everyone liked them so much better than a proper birthday cake, and there was no need for plates or forks. These are always difficult to come upon when you’re a college student, right?

If you’re wondering how long I’ve been a baking nut, let’s just say it’s been a long time. Without getting into a long story, one of my friends from my college years was very tall with blonde, wispy hair and although his name was Jeff, these features earned him the nickname of Big Bird (actually come to think of it, his name still is Jeff). :)

My friends and I delighted in calling him Big Bird, and I don’t believe he was ever given a single birthday card which was written out to “JEFF”. Nope, it was either Big Bird or BB for short; in fact I still have a photo of one of his birthday brownies. You can imagine his reaction when he saw this!

So if you don’t feel like baking a cake or have a cookie lover who’s birthday is approaching, why don’t you make a chocolate chip birthday cookie or brownie, instead? I’ll show you how, and don’t think you have to draw a character on top, because you can make it as simple or as detailed as you like.

You can see in these close up shots, even if you write with frosting on the cake and it doesn’t look great, it won’t look bad in the end. 

As you can see, it definitely is much more forgiving to decorate on a chocolate chip cookie cake than a beautifully iced cake that will show every imperfection!

A Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (or Brownie)

Ingredients

Serve the chocolate chip cookie cake with ice cream and enjoy! They are perfect for any occasion or no occasion at all (Thursday works)! :)

But then again, college kids could have had it right all along; who needs plates and forks–or ice cream for that matter?

And if you’re enjoying a birthday this month…

I hope you enjoy making this chocolate chip cookie cake often!

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Always Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (or Chocolate Chunk Cookies)

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A no fail chocolate chip/chunk cookie that is the best recipe I've ever found.

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Ingredients

• 241g (2 cups) bread flour
• 241g (2 cups) cake flour
• 1 1 /4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 285g (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (10oz)
• 255g (1 1/4 cups) brown sugar
• 195g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp natural vanilla extract
• 510g (about 3 cups - this will vary in cups due to the size difference of your choice of chocolate) bittersweet chocolate disks, chips, chunks or fèves, about 60% cacao content (DO NOT USE HERSHEYS, NESTLE or other US type chocolate as these do not have 60% cacao)

Instructions

1. Sift first 6 dry ingredients together into a bowl.

2. Using another mixer bowl (using a paddle), cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Stir in vanilla. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate chunks or pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them (I use a spatula). Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Afterwards, either bake or freeze the dough,

3. Preheat oven to 350°F/175° C.

4. Place 2 1/2-ounce scoops of dough onto a silicone sheet lined cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown but still soft, 15-18 minutes. Remove and place on a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough, or keep dough refrigerated. Alternatively, you can shape the cookies then freeze on a tray and then place in a bag to keep frozen, to bake another time. To bake from frozen: place on cookie sheet and leave for an hour, then bake as instructed.

Notes

If you choose not to weigh your ingredients, please realize that your results will vary each and every time you make these. Weight is the only way to guarantee good results.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 255Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 5g

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