Share a little love with your friends and family by making this pretty pink Heart Shaped Cookie Cake! It’s great for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, and basically any day of the week!
I picked up a new heart shaped cake pan on clearance and it’s *PERFECT* for cookie cakes!
In case you’re also a proud owner of Wilton’s 8×2 Heart Shaped Cake Pan, I had to rush onto the blog and post the recipe so you can fancify your cookie cakes for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, bridal showers, and birthdays.
Those of you that have made my cookie cakes before know just how magical they are, and for anyone new to homemade cookie cakes, ohmygosh are you in for a treat!
This cake is inspired by the Mrs. Field and Great American Cookie Cakes you can find at the mall and has the most glorious chewy texture with the perfect chocolate chip ratio for irresistible flavor.
I’ve been using my tested and perfected cookie cake recipe for over 13 years with rave reviews from friends, family, and readers galore.
Heart Shaped Cookie Cake ingredients
My rockin’ recipe uses simple pantry staple ingredients plus butter and an egg from the fridge.
- unsalted butter
- light brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- one large egg
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch (gives it that coveted chewy texture)
- baking soda
- salt
- chocolate chips
For the frosting you’ll need butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, almond extract (optional but delish!), salt, and a little heavy cream for perfect pipeability. Pretend that’s a word. This baller buttercream pipes like a dream and the optional addition of almond extract adds that little something extra that I just can’t get enough of!
Q: Can i make the cake and frosting in advance?
Prepping your cookie cake in advance yields amazing results! For the dough, place prepared dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap and wrap securely *OR* place in a shallow airtight container with a lid. If you have room in your fridge you could even opt to prepare the dough in the parchment lined cake pan. Refrigerate overnight or 1-3 days for make-ahead dough for your cookie cake. I find that the flavors and textures are best this way!
When ready to bake, allow dough to soften on the counter for an hour until softened enough to separate into small chunks. Break off chunks of the dough and arrange in the pan, then press down into a smooth and even layer, leaving a little room around the edges for the cake to expand without getting too crisp.
The cookie cake frosting can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to a week. Bring back to room temp and lightly mix before adding to a piping bag to decorate. Any leftover frosting can be frozen 1-3 months and defrosted when needed. I love having a little stash of frosting in my freezer for speedy dessert decorating!
I think I’ve stuffed as many process photos and tips as I can into this post (with lots of extra info after the recipe card if you need it!) just in case you need it!
If you have a question I haven’t answered here, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to help you create the cookie cake of your dreams!
Let’s get our recipe on!
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
PREP THE DOUGH
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Preheat oven to 350°F and line bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper.
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Bring butter and eggs to room temp. The butter is ready when a light imprint can be left in the stick of butter with your thumb. To soften faster, slice into chunks.
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Measure flour by weight for best results. No scale? First fluff the flour with a spoon then gently spoon it into a dry measuring cup. Use a butter knife or bowl scraper to scrape the excess so its level with the top edge of the measuring cup.
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In a medium-large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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Cream together softened butter and both sugars in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Start at the lowest speed and increase as needed for approx. 2 minutes.
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Add in the egg and vanilla and continue to beat with the mixer to incorporate into the dough, approx. 30-45 seconds.
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Add flour mixture to the larger bowl slowly while you continue to beat on low until incorporated, taking care not to over-mix the dough.
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Use the beater on lowest setting to mix in the chocolate chips.
READY TO BAKE?
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Break off chunks of dough and arrange in the pan. Press together to create an even layer of cookie dough in the pan. Leave around a half inch empty space around the edges as it will spread as it bakes. Optional: press some extra chocolate chips into the top of the dough before baking.
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Bake on the center rack of the oven at 350°F for 16 minutes until the dough has fluffed up and is just slightly starting to darken in color.
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Carefully remove from oven and place the pan on a wire cooling rack to fully cool. Until it is perfectly cooled to room temp, the cake will not be fully set. Plan for at least an hour of cool time. While you wait, make the frosting and plan for the fun part – the decorating!
COOKIE CAKE FROSTING
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NOTE: feel free to double the frosting recipe so you have extra to decorate with if you want to play around with additional designs. Leftover frosting can be frozen for later and defrosts like a dream!
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. (approx. 1-2 minutes)
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Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed at first to incorporate then increase to medium speed and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes or until fully combined. Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt and continue mixing on medium speed until everything is well-combined, smooth, and easy to pipe.
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For colorful frosting, divide frosting into portions and add a few drops of gel food coloring to each. Mix well with an electric hand mixer or by hand if preferred.
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Transfer to piping bags (disposable or reusable) fitted with assorted star tips to create cute starburst and flower designs.
MAKE-AHEAD DOUGH + FROSTING
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I almost always make my dough in advance, it’s such a time saver and yields even better flavor and texture!
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Place prepared dough on a large sheet of plastic wrap and wrap securely *OR* place in a shallow airtight container with a lid. Refrigerate overnight or 1-3 days for make-ahead dough for your cookie cake. I find that the flavors and textures are amazing when I do this! When ready to bake, allow dough to soften on the counter for an hour until chunks of dough can be easily pressed into the prepared pan.
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The frosting can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to a week. Bring back to room temp and lightly mix before adding to a piping bag to decorate. Any leftover frosting can be frozen 1-3 months and defrosted when needed.
Nutrition Facts below are estimated for the frosted cookie cake using an online recipe nutrition calculator. Adjust as needed based on slice sizing and enjoy!
Calories: 417kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 14g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 51mg, Sodium: 171mg, Potassium: 166mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 32g, Vitamin A: 480IU, Vitamin C: 0.01mg, Calcium: 31mg, Iron: 2mg
Extra Toppings + Variations
Take your decorating to the next level with these tasty toppings! For the M+M’s, you can press them into the top of the cookie cake when it’s still warm, fresh from the oven. The sprinkles, peanut butter cups, and cookies are easily sprinkled on or pressed into the frosting after piping.
- sprinkles
- mini M+Ms
- chopped or mini peanut butter cups
- chopped or mini oreo cookies
For a cookies and cream inspired cookie cake, blend finely crushed oreos (you can pulverize them in the food processor or in a bag with a rolling pin) into the vanilla icing and then top the cake with some mini or chopped oreo pieces.
For a chocolate and peanut butter vibe, you can swap out the frosting in this recipe for my Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting or Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting. They’re a peanut butter lovers dream!
Cookie Cake Tools + Equipment
Cookies and cookie cakes are 100% the reason I asked for a stand mixer for my birthday years ago. It’s such a rockstar at creaming together butter and sugar and handling even the thickest of cookie doughs. If you have one, always suggest using it for your cookie cake.
No stand mixer? A large bowl with an electric hand mixer may be used if needed. Make sure your butter is softened to room temp for easier blending. After adding the flour mixture, the dough will look a little crumbly before coming together as a thick and creamy cookie dough.
For the frosting, you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer to make it, whichever you have on hand! For piping you can use disposable or reusable piping bags with assorted open star tips to decorate the cookie cake with starburst designs. For rosettes and flowers, a closed star tip works great.
My daughter loves helping me frost cookie cakes – she’s getting quite good at it!
I used Wilton open star tips 6B and 4B for the little starburst accents and to pipe the circumference of the cake. To make the icing roses I used Wilton drop flower tip 2D. You could also use a 1M open star tip to create flowers. Any brand of tips will work!
For the starbursts I give the piping bag a light squeeze then press down and pull up in a quick motion. To make roses I start in the middle and draw a little counter-clockwise spiral while gently squeezing the piping bag. Feel free to practice on parchment paper first!
Q: CAN I USE STORE-BOUGHT FROSTING?
You can absolutely use premade frosting as a shortcut! You can purchase the shelf stable type, or level up by heading to your grocery store’s bakery and buying the frosting they use to frost their cakes and cupcakes.
Some stores have it out already in little containers for you to buy and others you simply have to ask for it and they’ll put it in a tub and slap a price sticker on it for ya! They do this at HEB, Target, and even Publix I believe and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could do this at stores like Kroger and Tom Thumb as well. Totally worth a try if you’re short on time and want homemade frosting without the extra step.
If you get a chance to try this super cute heart shaped cookie cake, let me know! Leave me a comment or review using the form below. I’m always so excited to hear from you, and can’t wait to hear all about your tasty creation.
Have a photo to share? Tag me @PEASANDCRAYONS so I can see your masterpiece!
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