Everything we know and love about sugar cookies, but ready in a flash! This giant sugar cookie cake is soft and chewy but with a hint of cakey lift. It's the perfect Christmas dessert, but can also be customized for any celebration year round!

* Also shoutout to my brother for helping me pick out the red, green, and white sprinkles from a package of rainbow sprinkles because I didn't have enough Christmas colored ones lol

sliced giant sugar cookie cake on parchment lined serving board

what is a giant sugar cookie cake?

In short: the best creation ever. You may have seen giant cookie cakes if you pay close attention to the cake section at most major grocery stores - this is just a sprinkle packed, sugar cookie version!

This giant sugar cookie cake has a dense and chewy cookie texture with just a hint of fluffiness to give it that cakey feel. The cake is speckled with red, green, and white sprinkles for some added crunch and sweetness. It's basically like a cakey sugar cookie, but quicker and easier to make!

best sprinkles for sugar cookie cake

Sugar cookies are so reminiscent of Christmas to me, so I chose to use red, green, and white colored sprinkles for my sugar cookie cake. That being said, you can always switch up the colors for different holidays / celebrations! Use orange and black sprinkles for Halloween, pastel colors for Easter, red / pink sprinkles for Valentine's day, or rainbow colors for birthdays! The world is your oyster when it comes to picking the colors. You can even leave the sprinkles out entirely if you prefer.

When it comes to the TYPE of sprinkles, it's important to use either American style jimmies sprinkles (the ones that look like little sticks) or quin sprinkles (the ones that look like little sequins). These two types meld perfectly into the cookie dough without the color bleeding into it. They ultimately have the best texture and appearance after baking.

You can use any sprinkles you like for the actual decorations on top after the cookie is baked and cooled.

how to make giant sugar cookie cake

1. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, followed by milk and vanilla. The eggs should incorporate pretty easily, but the milk may make the mixture look grainy - that's totally fine!
4. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions. Not only is it easier to work into the dough, but adding the dry ingredients in 2 additions helps smoothen out any lumps that may have formed when the milk was added in without making the cookie tough. Mixing all the dry ingredients at once runs the risk of overworking the gluten in the flour, which is what leads to dense cookies.
5. Fold in the sprinkles. Once the second addition of flour is almost fully mixed in, add in the sprinkles and mix until fully combined. Take care not to overmix or (again) the cookie will end up tough and the color from the sprinkles may start to smear.

giant sugar cookie cake milk and vanilla added to butter and egg mixture in bowl

giant sugar cookie cake sprinkles added to dough in bowl

6. Spread the cookie dough into your baking pan and bake. The center of the cookie will puff up but will sink and crinkle later as it cools. Once it's finished baking, cool the cookie cake completely before decorating.

giant sugar cookie cake dough spread into springform pan

giant sugar cookie cake on parchment lined serving board

7. Make the frosting: Mix together powdered sugar and butter until smooth. Add the remaining frosting ingredients and whip until light and fluffy.
8. Decorate the cookie cake then slice and serve!

the best pan for cookie cake

I HIGHLY recommend using a springform pan to make this giant cookie cake just because it's a lot easier to get it out once it's baked. A regular cake pan or pie dish will work in a pinch, but you'll have to be extra careful when pulling the cookie out so it doesn't crack and break - or you could also serve it directly in the pan.

When it comes to the material of the pan, I recommend using high quality, aluminum bakeware if you can. Glass and ceramic pans will take longer to heat through and can yield a drier cookie that takes longer to bake through. Cheap, thin metal pans can cause the cookie cake to burn on the bottom before the center has a chance to cook through. It's also best to use lighter colored aluminum pans (which heat more evenly) as opposed to dark colored pans (which can cause the cake to heat rapidly and burn).

how to decorate cookie cake

This recipe makes enough frosting to cover the entire top of the cake in a thin layer of frosting or you can get creative and pipe any design you'd like! I used the frosting to pipe a little border around the edges and topped with a few red, green, and white nonpareil and pearl sprinkles.

tips

Measuring flour: One of the most important ingredients to watch out for! The best way to measure flour is to use a scale if you have one. But if you are using cups, never scoop the measuring cup straight into the bag of flour otherwise it'll pack in more weight and dry out the cookie cake! To measure with a cup, spoon the flour into your measuring cup then use a knife or other flat utensil to level off any excess to ensure you have the perfect amount.
Room temperature ingredients: Make sure to give all the ingredients time to come up to room temperature to allow the dough to combine easily and smoothly.
Mixing the dough: Avoid overmixing the dough once the flour is added in to ensure the cookie cake comes out tender and soft! Also watch out for overmixing once the sprinkles are added into the batter - overmixing at that point can break them apart and cause the color to stain the cookie dough.
Baking and cooling: When baking the cookie cake, watch out for an overbaked cake because it can easily go from soft and chewy to dry and brittle! When it comes to cooling, make sure the cookie cake is FULLY cooled to room temperature before frosting, otherwise the frosting will melt all over the place.

how to store sugar cookie cake

Cover the cookie cake tightly with plastic wrap or keep stored in an airtight container until you're ready to serve it. This cookie cake will keep for about 1 week at room temperature or up to 2 weeks in the fridge. The butter in the cookie cake will harden after sitting in the fridge, so I recommend setting it out at room temperature for about 30 minutes just to allow it to soften up again before serving.

check out these other recipes!

• Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Stacked Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• Chai Spiced Snowflake Cookies

Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.

Giant Sugar Cookie Cake

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5 from 1 review

Author: Mimi
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Yield: 1 cookie cake

Print Recipe

Description

Ingredients

For the giant sugar cookie cake:

2 & ¼ cups (290g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (175g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 & ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅔ cup (100g) jimmies or quin sprinkles (any colors you'd like - I used red, green, and white)

For the buttercream frosting:

¼ cup (60g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 & ½ cups (195g) powdered sugar, sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
sprinkles for decorating

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Instructions

Make the giant cookie cake:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a wooden spoon by hand, beat together until well combined.
Whisk eggs into the butter sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk in milk and vanilla - the mixture may start to separate and appear grainy at this point but that's normal!
Mix in about half of the flour mixture until combined. Add the remaining half of flour and mix that in, stopping right before it's fully combined.
Add the sprinkles and fold together until you have a streak free dough and the sprinkles are evenly distributed. Take care not to over mix.
Drop the cookie dough into your prepared springform pan and spread into an even layer.
Bake in the center of your preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown and the center no longer appears wet / raw. The cookie will be puffed up, but it will sink and wrinkle as it cools.
Cool the cookie cake for about 10 minutes in the pan, then unlatch and remove the sides of the pan. Cool completely to room temperature before frosting and decorating.

Make the frosting:

In a medium bowl, combine butter and powdered sugar. Use a wooden spoon to mix together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth and lump free.
Add the salt, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix until combined then continue mixing vigorously for an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until pale and fluffy.
If the frosting is too thick, mix in a bit more milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
Frost your cooled cookie cake and decorate with more sprinkles.

Equipment

9" Springform Pan

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