The details

Helloooooo Confetti Cookie Cake! I have been majorly feeling cookie cakes recently, what with the summer heat and ease/lack of messiness that comes with eating them (especially when a toddler is present). I love these for backyard get togethers, kids’ birthday parties (or adult birthday parties), or just because with the family. Stay tuned for more cookie cake flavor variations because I am very into this concept! This specific cookie cake is gooey and studded with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips. The edges are crispy and the middle is slightly dough-y, just like the best cookie is. It’s packed with birthday cake flavor!

Cookie Cakes Galore

More on this to come… But there’s so much to love about the cookie cake. No chill time means you can whip it together, bake it, and most importantly, eat it same day! Just make sure you cream the butter and sugar thoroughly, don’t over-mix, and it all comes together perfectly.

For a cookie cake, I like to use a 9 inch springform pan. I spray the bottom of the pan with baking spray and line it with a circle of parchment about an inch larger than the bottom of the pan so there’s a bit of a lip of parchment for the cookie cake to sit in. Then it removes (after fully cooling) so easily!

This vanilla buttercream used in this recipe (which is optional but recommended for best presentation) is a scaled-down version of Courtney Rich’s Best Vanilla Buttercream. It’s my favorite American vanilla buttercream recipe, hands down. A few important points—start with cold out-of-the-fridge butter and whip it to fluffiness before adding any sugar. At the end, once all the ingredients are added, whip that frosting on high, then paddle it with a spatula to smooth out air bubbles. On her website, Courtney goes through these buttercream tips at length. Highly recommended reading if you make cakes often!

I made this vanilla buttercream purple with Americolor–2 drops rose coloring and 3 drops violet. But experiment and use any color that’s fun for you! I used a 1M tip for piping around the edges, nothing fancy. It’s a fun cookie cake, not a stuffy dessert, after all!

All the Birthday Cake/Confetti Essentials

If you’ve checked out my blog before, you know I am no stranger to sprinkles/birthday cake-themed recipe. That nostalgic boxed funfetti cake flavor just doesn’t get old to me. For all my birthday cake/confetti recipes, a few ingredients are crucial.

I like to buy these rainbow sprinkles in bulk–ones from the grocery store will also work but make sure you buy SPRINKLES, not nonpareils which are the round small crunchy ones. The coloring on nonpareils tends to run into your batter creating tie-dye mess.

For that funfetti flavor, clear vanilla extract (also called imitation vanilla) is non-negotiable. Pick it up online here or occasionally at your local grocery store if it has a really good baked aisle selection. If you make this with regular vanilla, it will be more reminiscent of a regular sugar cookie (which is still good!)

More recipes like this

Enter my birthday cake/confetti/confetti/sprinkle obsession.

Bake to this music

Confetti Cookie Cake

Print Recipe

This cookie cake has the decadent gooeyness of a cookie combined with the festivity of a cake! Top that off with sprinkles and vanilla buttercream and you have a winner for your next party.

Yield: 10–12 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the cookie cake:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 tbsp clear vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup + 1 handful rainbow sprinkles, divided
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

For the vanilla buttercream:

1 cup unsalted butter, cold
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 tbsp heavy cream

Instructions

Make your cookie cake. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a 9-inch round pan (I used a springform pan, but a properly-lined cake pan will work too) by greasing and lining with parchment paper. I like to cut a circle slightly larger than the pan diameter so that there is extra parchment going up the sides of the cookie cake.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together you butter and sugars on medium-high for 3-5 minutes until fluffy. Add the egg and clear vanilla and continue to beat on medium-high for 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes fluffier and lightened in color.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg/sugar/butter mixture and mix on the lowest speed (or by hand) until streaks of flour *almost* disappear. Add your white chocolate chips and 1/3 cups sprinkles, mixing on low until just distributed.
Scoop cookie batter into your prepared 9 inch pan and smooth the top into an even layer with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with remaining handful of sprinkles to garnish.
Bake cookie cake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and edges appear set. Allow to cool completely to room temperature in its pan, then carefully lift onto your serving plate.
Make your vanilla buttercream. Beat cold butter in a large mixing bowl at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until lightened in color and shiny. Reduce mixer speed to low and add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until fully incorporated.
Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla, salt, and heavy cream. Increase to medium high and beat until the frosting is almost white and whipped. Add food coloring gel to your preference (I did 2 squeezes rose and 1 squeezes violet for this purple buttercream). Remove from the mixer and using a spatula, mix buttercream to remove air bubbles until it is smooth in texture.
Pipe buttercream around your cake in whatever style you choose! I love to write a little message in the middle of my cookie cakes.
Enjoy your cake at room temp! After a few hours, store in the fridge in an airtight container (like a cake box). Refrigerated frosted cookie cake is good for up to 4-5 days.

Notes

Clear vanilla is the key to birthday cake confetti flavor! Regular vanilla extract will yield a more chocolate chip-like cookie flavor.
This vanilla buttercream recipe is adapted from Courtney Rich’s recipe, which is the recipe I use for all vanilla buttercream! It’s the best.

Author: Caroline Crockett
Category: cake, cookies