Homemade Cookie Cake

It’s no surprise that I love to make treats to surprise my kids and surviving the first full week of school just deserves a surprise treat for everybody.  Don’t ya think!?  Last year, I decided to use a groupon for The Great American Cookie Company and surprise the kids with a cookie cake.  I think I still spent around $40 on that cookie cake and couldn’t believe the price.  This year I decided to keep the tradition alive, but make my own and I spent right at $8.  The kids shrilled with excitement and I honestly don’t think we could tell the difference.  If they did, they didn’t say it.  It was delicious, just like The Cookie Co.

You really won’t believe how easy this is!  Are you ready for it!?  Are you really, really ready!? Drumroll, please…..

Y’all!  Can you even believe it?!  No need to make your own recipe when Nestle Toll House is as delicious as it is and this tub from Publix costs me just shy of $5.  I have seen a bigger size of this tub, but I used the 2lb one and it was the perfect amount.  Then I bought these 2 tubs of pre-made icing and they were a little less than $1.50 each.

I used a pizza stone to make the cake.  I wrapped the stone in aluminum foil and then sprayed the foil with a no-stick baking spray.  This 2lb tub was just enough.  You can see how I put it on the pan and then just started patting and spreading.

Here it is before putting in the oven.

I purposely under cooked it to make sure it was gooey and soft.  I didn’t want it crunchy.  I believe the directions on the tub said 12-14 minutes for cookies and I baked our cake for 11 minutes.  All ovens are different and vary, but I would suggest undercooking a minute or two.  And keep in mind that it will harden up a small bit after it cools too.

After baking, allow it to completely cool before icing or you will end up with melted icing everywhere.  Some people are intimidated to use these tips, but if you can squeeze, you can use tips.  They are super simple and truly fail-proof.  Just add your tip to an icing bag and then add your chocolate and vanilla icing to bag and get to squeezing.  I started with chocolate and then did my vanilla.  Super simple.  And then decorate the middle as you wish.

If you want to make the this cute lil “smart cookie”, I simply made another bag of chocolate icing without the tip to make the glasses and smile.  I used the white icing with the tip for the eyes and added a very small dot of chocolate in the center.  Then for the small rosey cheeks, I mixed pink food coloring with white icing.  I added a bit of sprinkles to the edges as well.  So simple and very easy to do!!

So whether you are celebrating the end of the first full week of school, a birthday, an accomplishment or maybe just making one “just because”, I challenge you to make it soon and report back!  I think it may surprise you how simple it is and how YUMMY most of all!  It’s the little things like a cookie cake that will add to those sweet family memories!