This Easter cookie cake recipe turns everyone's favorite cookie into the ultimate chewy and chocolatey shareable dessert that's perfect for an Easter celebration or a spring day!
Made with a colorful blend of Cadbury Mini Eggs and pastel sprinkles, this rich and chewy chocolate chip cookie cake is the best easy Easter dessert!
It took several rounds of testing to get this recipe just right. I started by simply baking my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough in a cake pan, but there was too much dough and the cake sank too much in the middle.
Ultimately, reducing the total amount of dough and tweaking the ratios of moisture and leavener in the recipe did the trick! This cake is perfectly chewy, rich, and chocolatey, just like your favorite chocolate chip cookie.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Get ready to fall in love with this chocolate chip Easter cookie cake! It's everything you love about chewy chocolate chip cookies in cake form, plus it's packed with Cadbury Mini Eggs and pretty pastel sprinkles and topped with a dollops of buttercream frosting.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
See recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredient list and measurements.
Unsalted Butter - Butter adds fat and flavor to both the cookie dough and the buttercream frosting. We'll use room temperature butter in both instances so that it can be creamed with the sugars.
Brown Sugar - Brown sugar adds flavor, moisture, and chewiness to the cookie dough. You can use light or dark brown sugar, thought I recommend using at least 50% dark brown sugar for optimal texture. I used half dark brown and half light brown sugars.
Egg & Egg Yolk - Egg helps to bind the cookie dough together, and the extra egg yolk adds chewiness to the dough.
Cornstarch - Adding a little bit of cornstarch to the cookie dough helps to create a chewy texture.
Cadbury Mini Eggs - Cadbury Mini Eggs are a quintessential Easter candy that adds big bites of rich chocolate with a subtle crunch to the cookie cake. We'll smash them into smaller pieces so that they don't add too much crunch. You can replace them with an equal measure (by volume) of another chocolate candy if you prefer.
Pastel Jimmies - Pastel sprinkles (specifically jimmies) add extra color and fun to the cookie. You can leave them out if you prefer, but why would you want to?
Confectioners' Sugar - Confectioners' sugar provides the sweetness for the frosting, and its fine texture allows it to dissolve more easily into the butter.
Special Equipment
In addition to essential baking equipment (like a whisk and rubber spatula), I recommend some special tools for making this recipe.
- A rolling pin or mallet, for crushing the Mini Eggs. You'll want to place them in a plastic food storage bag to contain the bits as you crush them.
- A stand mixer with the paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer, for mixing both the cookie dough and the frosting.
- A 9 inch round cake pan, for baking the cookie cake.
- A piping bag with a large open star piping tip (I used Wilton 8B, but you can use whatever piping tip you prefer), for piping the frosting.
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
See recipe card at the bottom of this post for detailed recipe instructions.
Step 1: Spray the sides of a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper. Place two long strips of parchment paper in an X shape across the inside and up the sides of the pan. Set aside.
Step 2: Place the Cadbury mini eggs in a plastic food storage bag. Seal the bag, place it on a sturdy surface, and use a rolling pin or mallet to coarsely crush the candies. Set aside.
Step 3: Make the cookie cake. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 4: Cream the butter and both sugars for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until well blended.
Step 5: Slowly add the flour mixture and blend just until combined.
Step 6: Add the crushed candies, chocolate chips, and sprinkles and stir just until blended.
Step 7: Scoop the dough into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread the dough evenly around the pan without compacting it.
Step 8: Bake the cake at 350°F for 28-30 minutes or until the top is lightly golden and the cake is evenly puffed. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Step 9: Make the buttercream frosting. Beat butter until smooth. Add vanilla and salt and beat until blended. Add sugar slowly, beating well and scraping the bowl often. Add milk and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Step 10: Lift up on the strips of parchment to lift the cake from the pan. Place the cake on a cake plate. Fit a piping bag with a piping tip, and pipe dots of frosting around the edges of the cake. Sprinkle a few extra jimmies over the frosting.
Allison's Top Tips
Be sure to fully cream the butter and sugar, beating beyond simply blending the two ingredients together until the butter is properly aerated. This should take about 3 minutes and will ensure that the cake rises properly as it bakes.
For the best texture, be careful not to over mix the cookie dough after the flour mixture is added.
A large rubber spatula or a small offset spatula are helpful for spreading the cookie dough around the pan.
Note that the cake will sink a little bit in the center as it cools. A little bit of sinking is normal (as you can see in the photos in this post), but if the center of the cake sinks so much that it pulls away from the edges it's likely that either the butter wasn't creamed properly with the sugar or that your baking soda is no longer fresh.
Storage Instructions
This cookie cake will have the best texture when eaten on the day it's baked, but it will stay fresh stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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Recipe
Easter Cookie Cake
Special Equipment
- Rolling pin or mallet (for crushing the candies)
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer
- 9 inch round cake pan
Ingredients
Cookie Cake:
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (5 grams) cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup (213 grams) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1 Tablespoon (14 grams) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 grams) Cadbury mini eggs crushed
- ¼ cup (44 grams) chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (44 grams) pastel jimmies (sprinkles) plus more for sprinkling on top
Buttercream Frosting:
- 4 Tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- 1 tiny pinch fine sea salt
- 1 cup (114 grams) confectioners' sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 grams) whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray the sides of a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper. Place two long strips of parchment paper in an X shape across the inside and up the sides of the pan; these will be used for helping to lift the cake out of the pan. Set aside.
- Place the Cadbury mini eggs in a plastic food storage bag. Seal the bag, place it on a sturdy surface, and use a rolling pin or mallet to coarsely crush the candies. Set aside.1 cup (170 grams) Cadbury mini eggs
Make the cookie cake.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons (5 grams) cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda, ½ teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer), cream the butter and both sugars for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, 1 cup (213 grams) brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until well blended.1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, 1 Tablespoon (14 grams) vanilla extract
- With the mixer running on slow speed, slowly add the flour mixture and blend just until combined.
- Add the crushed candies, chocolate chips, and sprinkles and stir just until blended.1 cup (170 grams) Cadbury mini eggs, ¼ cup (44 grams) chocolate chips, ¼ cup (44 grams) pastel jimmies (sprinkles)
- Scoop the dough into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread the dough evenly around the pan without compacting it.
- Bake the cake for 28-30 minutes or until the top is lightly golden and the cake is evenly puffed. Remove the cake from the oven and carefully run a cake tester or butter knife around the edge of the pan to keep the cake from sticking to the pan as it cools. Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Make the frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer), beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth.4 Tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter
- Add vanilla and salt and beat on medium-high speed until blended.½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract, 1 tiny pinch fine sea salt
- Add sugar slowly, beating well on medium speed and scraping the bowl often. When all sugar is added the frosting will be slightly dry.1 cup (114 grams) confectioners' sugar
- Add milk and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.1 ½ teaspoons (7 grams) whole milk
Decorate the cake.
- Remove the cooled cake from the pan. Run a cake tester or butter knife once again around the side of the pan to loosen any stuck edges. Lift up on the strips of parchment to loosen and lift the cake from the pan. It may be helpful to have someone help you lift the cake out of the pan using the strips. Place the cake on a cake plate.
- Fit a piping bag with a large open star piping tip (I used Wilton 8B) or the piping tip of your choice. Pipe dots of frosting around the edges of the cake.
- Sprinkle a few extra jimmies over the frosting.
- Slice and serve!
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