You know those super cute cookie cakes your kids go nuts over? You can make them at home about half the cost. An easy answer to a kids cake for a birthday party is to make a cookie cake. As far as cake making goes, the cookie cake is a simple crowd pleaser. If you’re like me, a tube of tollhouse batter provides a nice base. However, if you’d rather go for the homemade option, you can really use just about any cookie recipe. This article features a chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie cake and a fruit pizza style cookie cake.

What You’ll Need:

• Cookie batter (store bought or homemade)
• 16" pizza pan
• Frosting
• Cake decorations (frosting, candy, fruit,etc.)

Prepare the dough as directed and then just press it out onto the pizza pan. (You could use a rectangular Pyrex, but that’s less fun!)

Decorating Cookie Cakes

It’s fun to let kids decorate the cookie cake at the party. You kill the snack bird and the activity bird with one stone. All you need is some store bought frosting in various colors. There are a lot of different cake decorating frostings you can get these days in the baking aisle at the grocery store. Add more for the kids to do with candies and sprinkles.

The Fruit Pizza Option

If you like the idea of a fruit style cookie cake, use a sugar cookie dough. After preparing the cake (or crust) cover with your choice of frosting and then fruit. It’s fun to use a variety of sliced fresh fruit like strawberries, peaches, and bananas. This recipe doesn’t lend itself as well to decorating at a child’s party, and it doesn’t go over as well with kids, but it’s an option.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Recipe for Overachievers

• 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 Tsp. salt 1 Tsp. baking soda
• 1 Cup shortening or 1 Cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 - 3/4 Cup packed brown sugar (total sugar should equal 1.5 cups)
• 3/4 - 1 Cup white sugar (total sugar should equal 1.5 cups)
• 1 - 2 Tsp. pure vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 - 3 Cups chocolate chips
• 1 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, beat together shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, and pure vanilla. Add eggs and mix again until completely combined. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until the dry ingredients are totally combined. The dough will be moderately thick. Add chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts if using. Mix together. At this point spread your batter on the pizza pan (or stone) and bake for about 8-10 minutes. When they’re very light brown remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies sit on the pan for 3-5 minutes. It will continue to cook!