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Perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving, this Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is so easy to make!

overhead shot of chocolate chip cookie cake topped with chocolate and candy corn patter with candy corn around it

I’ll never forget when I was a kid, we’d walk through the mall and I would beg my mom to stop at Mrs. Field’s. Her cookies were (still are) sooooo good. I’d be drooling for one as soon as we hit the parking lot.

One of the things I remember most about the Mrs. Field’s stores were the cookie cakes. They always had several on display for whatever holiday was coming up next. Hearts for Valentine’s, ties for Father’s Day, etc. Those cakes wowed me. I mean…it’s a cookie. But it’s a cake.

I always thought it must be magic. That you could make a cookie that looks like a cake. Little did I know then that a cookie cake was just a really big cookie, made in a 9″ or heart shaped or pizza pan. *mind blown*

And, as much as I love Mrs. Field’s…it’s so much easier (and cheaper!) to make your own cookie cakes at home!

Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with one triangle slice cut out but still showing in the photo

Now, as a baking blogger, I get asked all the time if I sell my baked goods. I usually shake my head no, and point people in the direction of Mrs. Field’s, or some other similar establishment. I mean, who needs the stress of baking for sales? I’ve done it a few times and it just is usually too much for my psyche to handle. Plus, it’s sort of illegal here in California, if you’re doing it from home.

But occasionally a friend will need a cake for a party. Or cookies for something. And of course, for friends, I can’t say no.

Which is why, next month, I’m making 12 football shaped cookie cakes for a bar mitzvah. Yes,  I said 12. Shaped like footballs. #imustbecrazy

Needless to say, I needed to test my cookie cake recipe. I wanted to make sure my idea worked perfectly, and in the interest of sharing pretty much whatever comes out of my kitchen, this Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake was born!

Overhead shot of Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake on white parchment paper with candy corn and knife in photo

The cookie recipe is based off of my bakery-style chocolate chip cookies. I cut down the recipe to fit in a 9″ round cake pan, and I used melted butter instead of browned. It’s just as fabulous as the original, if I do say so myself.

Special note: you still need to chill the dough. Because the butter starts of melted, everything is hot. Even though you are pressing it into a pan and don’t have to worry about spreading, you still need to chill it, or it will be a hot mess. You don’t have to do it overnight, just an hour or two. Easy-peasey.

Once it cools, you can frost or decorate it as you like. Now, I know that traditional cookie cakes have buttercream. But I’m using melted chocolate on all those footballs, so I wanted to try it out. And pretty much, guess what?

Melted chocolate + chocolate chip cookie = best way to eat a cookie, ever. (Thank you Ashton, for that idea!)

It’s like chocolate squared. #amazeballs

Closeup shot of a slice of Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake in front of whole cookie cake on white parchment paper

So, once it cools, you melt some chocolate with a wee bit of shortening. This helps it melt smoother, and helps it not firm up so much when you’re cutting it later. Frost the cookie cake with the chocolate. While it’s still hot and melted, that’s when you add the candy corn.

Did you know they make different flavors of candy corn? Traditional, caramel, and s’mores. YES – they make s’more candy corn! It’s so good.

Anyway, stock up on some candy corn. Then decorate this harvest cookie cake. I made a sundburst pattern out of the candy corn. I think it would be a perfect Halloween treat, but this would also work for Thanksgiving. It kind of looks like a turkey, right? And the colors are very thanksgiving-y. The kids can do this for you, even. And then they can eat it for dessert and you don’t have to listen to them complain they hate apple and pumpkin pie.

{Yes, that really does happen in my house. I know, unbelievable right?}

If I do say so, I think this is the best cookie cake I’ve ever eaten.

Three photo collage showing different photos of Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

And now I’m totally ready for some football.

overhead shot of chocolate chip cookie cake topped with chocolate and candy corn patter with candy corn around it

Harvest Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

5 from 1 vote
Yield 10 -12 slices

Ingredients
 

  • 1 stick butter melted
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups chocolate chips divided (milk or semi-sweet, or a combination)
  • 1 teaspoon shortening Crisco
  • Candy Corn traditional or various colors

Instructions

  • Line a 9” round cake pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
  • Pour melted butter into an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. While still hot, add both sugars and mix on low until combined. Let sit to cool for a few minutes.
  • Turn mixer (with butter mixture bowl attached) on low. Add egg and mix completely. Mix in vanilla extract. Add baking soda, salt, and flour and mix until combined. Stir in 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips.
  • Press into prepared pan. Chill for 1-2 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 350°. Bake for about 20 minutes. The top will start to get golden, but it will still look a bit jiggly in the center. Cool completely.
  • When ready to top, melt remaining 1 cup chocolate chips with shortening (about 45-60 seconds in the microwave).
  • Spread over the top of the cookie. Add candy corn in desired pattern. Chill to set.
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Candy Corn Magic Bars

Pumpkin Spice Spiderweb Cookie Pizza

Sweets from friends:
Capookie by The Domestic Rebel
Funfetti Cake Batter White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake by Life, Love, and Sugar
Football Cookie Cake by Something Swanky

Last Updated on March 9, 2024



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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41 Comments

  1. Tonight is our cooking lesson and Delaney wanted to do a cookie cake.  While I was at the store, I picked up candy corn and frosting and figured I would find a recipe when I got home!  So, we are making a very similar cookie cake, but I am using your base recipe.  Can’t wait to try it out!!!

  2. You are going to ACE the footballs Dorothy!! This cake turned out so cute, even better than Mrs. Field’s! In high school, one of my friends surprised his girlfriend for Valentine’s Day with a Mrs. Field’s cookie cake, and I went with him to pick it up and hide it in my car. Your post brought back so many fond memories. 🙂

  3. Love it! That CCC recipe is my go-to, I’m totally intrigued by making it into a cookie pizza now. I’ve been wondering all season if those S’mores candy corn were good 😉

    1. Oops. I posted before I was done. I love how thick & chunky this cookie pizza looks! No skimping here.

  4. Lucky bar mitzvah boy! Wow, that bar mitzvah treat is going to be the talk of the middle school! I have made many chocolate chip cookie cakes from rolls of refrigerator cookie dough but never homemade dough. Yours looks soooo much better! Everything from the thickness of the cookie, to the melted chocolate icing, to the sunburst candy corn design looks great!

  5. OMG. I love the big cookie cakes! We had a Great American Cookie Company by where I lived and you could by slices of the cookie cakes. I always had to get a slice with the chocolate fudge icing because it was oh so good!

    I love your homemade cookie cake. It looks fabulous! Pinning. Thanks for sharing, Dorothy!