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Oatmeal Caramel Cookie Dough Cake

4.50 from 2 votes
Oatmeal cake layers with oatmeal toffee cookie dough, caramel and vanilla buttercream.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

  • 2 1/2 cups (591.5 g) water
  • 2 1/2 cups (225 g) uncooked old-fashioned oats, divided
  • 3 cups (360 g) all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon (8 g) baking soda
  • 2 teaspoon (5.3 g) cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
  • 1 cup (226 g) butter
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed
  • 2 teaspoons (8.4 g) vanilla
  • 4 eggs, room temperature

Oatmeal Cookie Dough

  • 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (90 g) all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup (68 g) old fashion rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup (about 120 g) toffee bits, Heath Bar or Skor Bar work great

FOR THE SALTED CARAMEL

  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (59 g) water
  • 2 teaspoons (14 g) light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
  • 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup (57.75 g) heavy cream

For the Buttercream (see note)

  • 3 cups (678 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
  • 6 cups (1,125 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
  • 6 tablespoons (86.6 g) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the Cake

  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
  • In a medium sized pot, bring the water to a boil. Add in 2 cups of the oats, stir and remove the pot from the heat. Cover the pot and allow the oats to soak for 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Let the oatmeal cool completely before adding it to the cake batter.
  • In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and the eggs and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Continue to mix for an additional 2 minutes. The batter should be smooth and lighter in color than when you started mixing.
  • Turn the mixer to low and add in the cooled cooked oats and the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.
  • Toss in the remaining 1/2 cup dry oats and stir.
  • Spread the cake batter into the prepared pans, about 20 ounces of batter in each pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is set in the center and a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.
  • Allow the cake to cool in the pans for about 10 to 15 minutes and then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. Level the cakes, if needed.
  • If you're not using the cake layers right away, wrap each layer in plastic wrap. You can freeze them up to a week or up to a month if you also wrap them in foil.

For the Oatmeal Cookie Dough

  • Follow instructions in notes below to heat-treat the flour.
    In a medium size mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
  • Stir in the vanilla, followed by the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt.
  • Fold in the toffee bits.

For the Caramel

  • Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Let the sugar mixture sit on medium heat and start to boil. You don’t want to stir while the sugar is cooking because it will cause the mixture to crystalize. Stay close to the pan and keep an eye on the boiling sugar. When it turns a dark amber color (takes about 5-10 minutes) and you can start to smell the caramel, remove the pan from the heat. (Once the mixture starts to turn yellow, it will get to an amber color quickly, so don’t turn your back for too long.)
  • Very slowly add a little of the heavy cream, while stirring vigorously. Continue to add a little cream at a time. You’re tempering the caramel so it doesn’t turn into a rock-like ball.
  • Once all the cream is added, stir in the salt and vanilla extract. Set aside until cooled completely.

For the Buttercream

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 2 minutes. This will soften the butter without it having to be warm.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing a little in between each addition.
  • Add whipping cream, vanilla and salt.
  • Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. The frosting will become lighter in color and texture.
  • Before spreading on your cake, spend a couple minutes mixing the buttercream by hand with a wooden spoon to push out the air pockets.

Assembly

  • Place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board or cake plate. Evenly spread about a cup of the vanilla buttercream on top.
  • Spring about 1/3 of the cookie dough mixture on the buttercream and pat gently into place with your hand.
  • Drizzle on a few tablespoons of the caramel.
  • Repeat these steps with the second cake layer.
  • Place the third cake layer, top side down, on the filling. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This is the crumb coat. Freeze the crumb-coated cake for 10 to 15 minutes to set the buttercream.
  • Finish decorating the cake with the remaining buttercream. Top with remaining cookie dough and caramel.

Notes

How to Heat Treat Flour
Spread a thin layer on a baking sheet and heat it in your oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes or until it reaches a temperature of 160°F. You can also place the flour in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it in 30 second increments until the temperature reaches 160°F.
 
Buttercream
This recipe is 1.5x my normal batch of vanilla buttercream.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Cake
Keyword: Oatmeal Cake, Oatmeal Caramel Cookie Dough Cake