It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of cookie cakes. They’re such a good all-occasion dessert! Faster than cake or cookies, but just as celebratory – and the flavor possibilities are endless!

No baking and frosting layers. No waiting for the dough to chill and rolling it into lots of little balls.

Just mix ingredients together in one bowl and bake in one pan. Decorate with some easy whipped ganache frosting. Or not – naked cookie cakes are delicious, too!

For this particular version, we’re using a dark chocolate cookie cake base, filled with triple chocolate — Dutch-process cocoa powder, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.

Birthday? Anniversary? End of school year celebration? Just because it’s a random Wednesday and you deserve a cookie cake? Yes, yes, and yes.

Not Just a Giant Cookie

Don’t get me wrong – I wouldn’t turn down a giant cookie! But a cookie cake is not just a super-sized version of your favorite cookie recipe.

There are cookies cooked in a skillet or on a pizza stone. And then there are cookie cakes.

Cookie cakes are thicker, chewier, and more… cakey. Just like a cake should be. Even a cake of the cookie variety.

Because they’re so thick, the outside of the cookie cake can get a little crisp, but the inside stays ooey-gooey and super soft.

It’s the best of both worlds, and it can all be yours in under an hour!

To keep our cookie cake extra cakey (i.e., soft and chewy), we’re going to use brown sugar instead of granulated.

Playing with the ratio of brown and granulated sugar is one of my favorite tricks when it comes to making cookies or cakes chewier or, well, cakier.  And in this case, we’re going all in — 100% brown sugar!

Adding this much brown sugar keeps the inside super soft and moist – it almost feels undercooked in the middle. (But don’t worry – it will be fully cooked and perfectly safe to eat!)

You can use either light brown or dark brown sugar for this dark chocolate cookie cake. Traditionally dark brown sugar contained more molasses than light brown, but over time the difference in amount has been getting smaller (and some companies use practically the same amount but add additional coloring to dark brown sugar!).

So how does this added molasses make brown sugar different than white sugar? It’s time for my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!

Kitchen Chemistry

Molasses adds moisture to the sugar, but more importantly, it adds acidity.  Unlike granulated sugar, brown sugar is acidic, which lowers the pH of the cookie batter.  This causes the proteins to firm up faster while they bake, creating a chewier texture.  The brown sugar also reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to produce carbon dioxide, which creates additional lift as the cookie cake bakes, resulting in a softer interior texture.

Best Fudgy Ganache Frosting

While I’ll say that frosting a cookie cake is optional, deep down I do truly feel like a cookie cake needs some frosting!

And for this dark chocolate cookie cake, we’re going to use my favorite dark chocolate fudgy ganache frosting!

Have you had chocolate ganache spread across the top of a cake or pie before? Did you know we can turn this into pipeable frosting… just by whipping it?!

We can, and it’s delicious! It packs all the super chocolatey flavor of chocolate ganache with a lighter texture, perfect for decorating!

I find it’s almost too rich to spread all over a cake, so I love to use it to add a little decoration, like piping a little along the edge of a cookie cake.

Use good quality chocolate for the frosting, make sure to let it cool before whipping, and don’t forget to add a pinch of salt to help cut the sweetness!