Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
A few weeks ago I got a really really intense craving for a chocolate chip cookie.
But not just any chocolate chip cookie. I wanted it to be thick, fudgy and loaded with texture.
Sure, I could have decided to satisfy that craving by whipping up my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s never let me down and adding some things to to it.
But that would’ve required me to make the dough, then give it an overnight chill in the fridge to allow the dough to get nice and firm, so the cookies wouldn’t turn into pancakes in the oven.
(As an aside guys, chilling your cookie dough is INCREDIBLY important if you’re the kind of person who cares about your cookies having height, and keeping their shape. Whenever I see complaints online from people whose cookies spread too much into pancakes/puddles/misshapen blobs, I am 95% sure that the reason is because the dough wasn’t given long enough in the fridge. I don’t care what the recipe says/promises: 9 x’s out of 10, you have to chill it; thoroughly. It really does matter.)
But on that particular occasion, I didn’t feel like waiting overnight for my cookie. And that’s okay. Sometimes you don’t have the patience–or frankly, the time to wait for properly chilled cookie dough to make chocolate chip cookies.
The solution to that problem comes in something called the cookie cake/pie.
A cookie cake/pie, is basically where rather than being divided into individual portions, an entire batch of cookie dough gets slapped into a cake pan or pie dish, then baked altogether, and is sliced and divded after the fact. There are several advantages to this.
In the first place, it can be done/made straightaway, without having to wait for the dough to chill and be rolled out, because you’re making it the same way you would any other cake.
Second, if you’re baking it in a springform pan or deep dish pie pan, it makes it so that the finished product will be much thicker, fudgier than the average cookie and will eat like a true deep dish ‘pie’. For both of said reasons, a cookie cake/pie was the best option for me to go with.
I made several additions/modifications to this recipe that took it from an ordinary cookie cake into an elite dessert. First, I browned the recipe’s salted butter to give it that extra rich and nutty flavor that just can’t be duplicated or replaced with anything else. Second in order to give it maximum texture, I added chopped walnuts AND chopped toffee bits in with the chocolate chips. To make sure I had the fudgy pie texture I wanted, I baked the whole thing in my deep dish pie pan.
You guys. It was everything. Absolutely everything.
The dough flavor was rich, nutty and caramely thanks to the brown sugar and the browned butter. The semi-sweet chocolate chips work to cut some of the sweetness, and the walnuts and toffee bits give it their own flavor and most of all, the added texture that it needs.
Think of it as a chocolate chip cookie on steroids. You’re welcome.
Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, plus more for pan
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1 tablespoon chopped for garnishing
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
- Coarse salt, for sprinkling over top
Directions
Brown the butter: melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to foam at the top and sizzle around the edges. At this point, continue stirring until butter turns golden-brown and smells nutty, reducing the heat if browning too quickly, 5 to 7 minutes. Immediately pour the browned butter into a heatproof bowl and chill in the refrigerator, until it reaches the consistency of softened butter, 20 to 25 minutes (or longer, if necessary).
Heat the oven to 350ĀŗF with a rack in the center position. Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform cake pan, or a deep dish pie dish with a parchment paper round. Grease the sides and bottom with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another medium size bowl, cream the browned butter with the granulated and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes (mixture may look curdled, but it will come together).
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until combined. Add the vanilla with the last egg.
Fold in the flour mixture, mixing on low, just until combined.
Add the chocolate chips, walnuts and toffee bits and mix on low, just until combined.
Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared cake pan, spreading dough evenly to the edges (a small offset spatula you’ve sprayed with cooking spray works well for this)
Sprinkled the top with granulated sugar and your desired amount of coarse sea salt.
Place the dish on a sheet pan you’ve lined with foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes, until puffed and light golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. The cookie center should look set but not too firm. (If the center still jiggles, it needs a few more minutes in the oven.)
Allow to cool for about 20-30 minutes ( the middle may sink a little but that’s okay).
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Sharing at Fiesta Friday #521.
Are toffee bits sold in a regular store? I don’t know that iveseen them before.
The cookie pie sounds yummy.
Yes! You can typically find toffee bits right where you find the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts on the baking aisle Thank you š
It must be in the air, I made chocolate chip cookies today with my granddaughter, but this cake looks amazing!!!
I’m sure your cookies were great and that you and your granddaughter had a blast–thanks Dorothy š