This easy to make frosted sugar cookie cake is a favorite amongst children and adults alike. It’s a melt-in-your-mouth recipe for every occasion, including Valentine’s Day, birthdays and more.
Celebrate any special day with this delicious and easy frosted sugar cookie cake! It’s buttery, decadent, and so much fun to make and serve.
Every time I make this frosted sugar cookie cake, someone asks for the recipe. The thick, melt-in-your-mouth decadent texture combined with the best buttercream frosting is irresistible.
I dare you to try to eat just.one.square.
In fact, I can’t make this frosted sugar cookie cake to bring somewhere without making one for home as well. The girls (and Chris) cheer with joy, and I can’t help but indulge on a few bites as well.
Looking for more Valentine’s inspiration? Check out this complete guide to my favorite Valentine’s Day Recipes.
Why You’ll Love this Frosted Sugar Cookie Cake
- No decorating skills required
- Crowd pleaser
- Quick and easy
- Beautiful, without the effort!
You just need some pantry basics to make this amazing cake recipe!
★★★★★
5 STAR REVIEW
“Just made this tonight for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. It was so delicious! My family loves cookies and this was perfect. Everyone loved it.”
— NATALIE—
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, your choice.
- Vegetable Oil – In combination with butter, it gives this cake a melt in your mouth texture you just can’t resist.
- Sugar – White granulated sugara.
- Powdered Sugar – Also known as confectioner’s sugar, it makes this cake melt-in-your-mouth. Don’t have any? Learn how to make powdered sugar here.
- Vanilla Extract – Adds a hint of flavor. You can also use almond extract, or any other of your favorites.
- Flour – All purpose, no need to sift.
- Salt – Brings out all the other flavors in baking
- Cream of Tartar – stabilizes the eggs and other ingredients.
- Baking Soda – The leavening agent.
- Milk – Whatever you have on hand.
How To Make A Frosted Sugar Cookie Cake
It’s so quick and easy to make this celebration cake!
- Prep – Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease baking dish.
- Combine Wet Ingredients and Sugars – Combine butter, oil, sugars and vanilla until smooth. Blend in eggs.
- Add Dry Ingredients – Add flour, salt, cream of tarter and baking soda until blended in.
- Bake – Press dough into a greased pan. Bake 20 minutes*.
- Make Frosting – Combine butter, powdered sugar and milk until smooth.
- Frost Cake – Spread over cooled sugar cookie cake.
Tips
- Don’t over-mix! That’s how you achieve the out of this world texture and thickness!
- For a fully baked cookie cake, avoid pressing dough all the way to edges. Dough will spread. This will ensure a smooth, even rise without leaving the center under baked or edges over baked.
- Baking time will vary depending on the pan you use. Reduce baking time for thinner cookie cakes checking in at 15 minutes and increase for thicker cakes if you want them more done.
- When adding dough into the pan, careful to not overfill and factor in 1/3 of dish for the cake to rise.
- Let the cake completely cool before adding the frosting to prevent it from melting off.
- Forgot to take out your butter? To soften butter directly from the refrigerator, place the butter unwrapped in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Scaling up, down or substituting? You’ll love this printable Measurement Conversion Chart!
Frequently Asked Questions
A cookie cake is actually all the same ingredients of your favorite cookies, baked into one large “cake” instead of individual small cookies. Whereas a cookie cake is made with cookie dough, a traditional cake is made with a cake batter and bakes up much lighter and fluffier.
This frosted cookie cake makes approximately 20 servings, and comes out to around 559 calories per slice. Lighten it up by using milk instead of heavy whipping cream, and less frosting overall.
You can also consider replacing the oil in this recipe with apple sauce, though we’ve never personally tested that out!
Serving Suggestions
- Warm, with a scoop of No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
- Add colored icing and whatever add-ons that fit your celebrations!
Dietary Considerations
- Nut Free
- Vegetarian
How to Store
- At Room Temperature – Cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container up to three days at room temperature.
- Refrigerate – Refrigerate in an airtight container up to seven days.
- Freeze – Freeze in an airtight container and covered in plastic wrap to prevent odors from seeping in, up to three months.
If you think this cake is fun, you’ll also love my easy Donut Cake! Or check out my incredible cookie butter cake for a dessert that is a surefire success at your next gathering!
Frosted Sugar Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 4½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 5 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream can substitute half and half, whole, 2% or skim
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease baking dish or pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, oil, sugars and vanilla until smooth. Blend in eggs.
- Gradually add flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda until well incorporated.
- Press dough into a greased pan.
- Bake 20 minutes*. Allow to cool.
Frosting
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar and milk until smooth.
- Spread frosting over completely cooled cookie cake.
Tips
Substitutions and Variations
Butter – Omit salt in the recipe if using salted butter. Extract – Use your favorite! Almond extract also offers great flavor! Orange or lemon also taste amazing! Cream – Heavy cream creates a luxurious consistency, but you can use half and half or milk if needed. Sprinkles – You can add your favorite sprinkles to top the frosting and in the cookie base to mix this cake up for birthdays, holidays and more!Tips
Baking time will vary depending on the pan you use. Reduce baking time for thinner cookie cakes checking in at 15 minutes and increase for thicker cakes if you want them more done.How to Store
- At Room Temperature – Store covered or in an airtight container up to 2 days at room temperature.
- Refrigerate – Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.
- Freeze – Freeze without frosting wrapped with plastic wrap and in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature and frost.
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Love this sugar cookie recipe! The cookies were super soft and the frosting was AH-MAZ-ING!!!
I love celebrating with this sweet sugar cookie cake! You can never go wrong with sprinkles!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?Â
I use salted for everything – you can use either though to your preference.
This looks & sounds amazing! I might have to make one for my daughter’s birthday in March?
Why wait? We make cake to celebrate Saturday’s ?. Hope you have a beautiful weekend!
I’m drooling!!!!! I think I’m gonna have to do this for Valentine’s Day!