Sprinkle Cookie Dough Cake – Tender vanilla cake layers, with chocolate chip cookie dough filling and vanilla buttercream.
Sprinkle Cookie Dough Cake
This recipe has been due for an update for a while now and I’m thrilled it’s finally done! It’s the perfect cake for any kind of celebration. Doesn’t it just scream “happy day” to you? Or is that just me 😉
Update
This recipe actually goes back a few years. My sister originally shared with me a cookie dough cake recipe that I died over. It was so cute and looked so yummy – I just had to make my own!
The cake itself needed a little updating based on things I’ve learned over the years, like using a lower temperature to bake white, delicate cakes like this. I also added an extra egg white to the original recipe and some sour cream (one of my favorite ways to moisten up a cake).
I also use clear vanilla extract because I want the cake flavor to resemble a white cake mix and the clear extract has a little more of a sweet, artificial taste. Don’t let that scare you! Momofuku Milk Bar uses clear vanilla extract in their Birthday Cake and it’s a game changer. I promise!
Important: Cook the Flour for the Dough
To make edible cookie dough, you’ll first want to cook the flour to kill any bacteria. To do this, you’ll evenly spread the flour over a baking sheet and bake the cake mix for about 10 minutes at 300 degrees F. Keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t brown. Allow the cake mix to cool to room temperature before using in the cookie dough.
Enjoy! Check out THIS POST for extra tips on adding sprinkles to the side of your cake. Follow me on Instagram @cakebycourtney for more tips and recipes on all things cake!
Sprinkle Cookie Dough Cake
Sprinkle Cookie Dough Cake.Tender vanilla cake layers, with chocolate chip cookie dough filling and vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 5 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (10.5 g) clear vanilla extract
- 3 cups (345 g)cake flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 12 tablespoons (169.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Cookie Dough
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 teaspoons (8.4 g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150 g) mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (75 g) sprinkles
For the Buttercream
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
- 3 oz. cream cheese, slightly chilled
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (13 g )pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (57 g) heavy cream
- Food coloring optional
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra ½ batch.
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans by spraying each pan with non-stick spray, covering the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spraying the parchment paper with the non-stick spray as well. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the whole egg, egg whites and clear vanilla extract. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar. Mix on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for another minute.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the egg mixture to the bowl in a few additions. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the cake flour mixture. Stir until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir again for about 20 more seconds. Fold in the sour cream.
- Divide the batter into the prepared cake pans, using a kitchen scale to measure equal parts in each pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then invert onto wire racks until completely cool.
For the Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Stir in the mini chocolate chips and sprinkles.
- Set aside 2/3 of the dough for the cake filling and use the remaining ⅓ to roll into small balls for the topping. Check out Sprinkles for Breakfast's original post HERE to see how she decorated this cake.
For the Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and cream cheese. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the heavy cream and vanilla extract.
- Continue to beat the frosting on medium speed for an additional 3-5 minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a wooden spoon and mix by hand to stir out the air bubbles.
Assembly
- After leveling each of the cake layers with a cake leveler or serrated knife, place the first cake layer, top side up. For the 8-inch cake, add about 1 cup of frosting on the cake layer. For the 6-inch version, add about ½ cup of frosting. Spread over the cake layer as evenly as possible.
- Using your hands, mold the cookie dough (about 1 cup for the 8-inch cake and ½ cup for the 6-inch cake) into a flat circle, the same size as your cake layer. (This is a bit easier than trying to spread the cookie dough over the frosting). After you've molded the cookie dough, lay it on top of the frosting.
- Repeat these steps until you get to the final cake layer, which you will lay top side down.
- Apply a thin coat of frosting around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. Freeze for 10 minutes.
- After the crumb coat is set, continue frosting and decorating the cake.
I’m excited to try this cake for my son’s birthday. Just to clarify: the cookie dough is molded into a disk the same size as the cake (8in or 6 in) and will there be two cookie dough layers? Thank you!
If you do 6-inch, you’ll have three layers of the cookie dough disk. If you do 8-inch, you’ll have two layers of cookie dough.
Hi! I would love to make this recipe dairy free, I was going to substitute the milk for almond milk & the butter with oil. Do you think that is a good substitute? How much oil should I add? Thank You!
There isn’t a one for one conversion for butter with oil. Instead I would use a dairy free butter like earth balance.
I recently came across your IG and website as Ive been trying to increase my skills in decorating cake area..Tuesday I tried one of your recipes for first time as it was my sons 22bday yesterday.. I made the cookie dough cake. Im wondering do you need to keep this refrigerated after slicing ect..? I kept in fridge since we werent eating it til day later however it was extremely hard to cut an get a nice slice out and I had it on counter a good hr an half before cutting.. I assumed was bc of cookie dough however this is only 2x Ive made cakes using cake flour and each time my crew agrees the cakes seem alot more dry and not moist as we prefer so Im not sure if its cake flour but cant figure out why as I consider myself a fairly good baker/cook an I follow all tips/instructions not over baking or mixing ect… I know its always trial/error but I usually read reviews prior bc each piece is time consuming let alone all ingredients wasted if not highly favored. Trying to decide which of your recipes to try next as I feel little depleted as cake looked great but it was his golden bday so I want to redeem myself:) Thank you for sharing your skills/talents its been joy to peruse your site for new creations during this quarantine!
Do not keep it in the fridge after you slice it. That will dry the cake out. I recommend slicing it into individual pieces, wrapping them in saran wrap and keeping them in the freezer. Take them out a few hours before you want to eat the,.
Hey Courtney.
So I tried this vanilla cake recipe as well as our classic vanilla cake recipe both yesterday. I have made several cakes from you in the past but never a vanilla one. Both cakes came out with a crazy amount of tunneling. I did not over mix, and I tap my cake pans on the counter before baking. Is there any reason you know that would cause this? Im pretty disappointed to how these both came out. I’ve never had this problem before. Both cake tops were rather sticky too which I found odd. Any isights? Thanks
Next time don’t tap out your pans. It could cause the sinking. Use an offset spatula to smooth them out in the pan. Make sure your baking powder and soda aren’t older than 6 months and cook until a toothpick comes out with a couple dry crumbs.
Hi,
I am planning to bake this recipe but I was wondering if we need to bake the cookie dough or just mix and it is ready to use as filling .I had a doubt that will it not taste raw in that case as all purpose flour is added. Kindly guide
Regards,
Pallavi
You don’t need to bake it! It’s ready to go.
Can you tell me the exact color pink you used on the frosting?
soft pink
Hi! Just wondering I’d there is a specific brand of cake pan you recommend and should I get 8×2 or 8×3?
Fat daddio. 8×2
I’m halfway through and realized I measured butter as the buttermilk quantity… oopsie
Now I’ll just double everything lol.
I’m used to following recipes where the ingredients are listed but order used. I had a hard time jumping all over but I could have pre-measured.
Excited to see how it turns out
My niece requested cookie dough Oreo for her 16th birthday so this is what we’re doing! I just took out the sprinkles and put in crushed Oreos instead. And instead of rolling my dough, I used a 2t cookie scoop so they look freshly scooped and they’re adorable. I increased everything by 50% and got three 6” layers and 24 cupcakes which is exactly what I was hoping for. Your recipes have been my go to for a couple years because it always comes out perfect when I measure everything out by grams so thank you for including those. I also live near-ish you (city wise, we have some mutual friends haha) so I know your recipes have been tested in this high elevation. I’m so glad we can benefit from your talent; Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for sharing! Hi neighbor!
Hi
I’m planning of making this for my niece’s 6th bday.
If I only have large eggs and Greek yogurt, do I need to increase the quantity of the eggs since you used extra large? Also for the yogurt will it be 1 is to 1 if I used it as a substitute for the sour cream?
Thanks!
Yes! regular eggs are fine!
Hi
Thank you for the quick reply
One more question, on step 6 it mentioned about buttermilk, Is the buttermilk added to the egg mixture and butter before adding it to the flour mixture?
Thank you.
Would this icing recipe hold up well if I were to do a chocolate drizzle on top/down the sides?
Yes!
HI,
So I noticed in the blog you wrote about baking the flour for the cookie dough, but I did not see that step in the directions. Do I just bake the AP flour prior to using it?? You referred to cake mix in the flour baking step. I just want to clarify since I did not see this step in the actual recipe. Trying to make this for my daughters 18th bday!!
Thanks
Yes bake the flour!
I’m making this cake and am wondering if I can make the cookie dough the day before assembly and just store the cookie dough in the refrigerator until I’m ready to assemble.
Absolutely
Hi! Can I make this cake in advance and freeze it?
Of course!
Could I add the sprinkles to the cake batter rather than the cookie dough? Would that affect the baking of the cake in anyway?
Nope that’s totally fine!
Can you tell me how many servings this cake makes?
18-20
There seems to be a discrepancy between the photos and the instructions. In the photo, it looks like there is only cookie dough in between the layers, but the instructions include both frosting and cookie dough. Which option would be the best?
Buttercream and cookie dough