Cookie Dough Cake (Vegan!)

A Cookie Dough Cake slice on a small plate.

5 from 5 votes

This Cookie Dough Cake recipe has brown sugar chocolate chip cake layers that are stuffed with cookie dough and slathered with vanilla frosting. And no one will ever guess that this recipe is dairy-free and completely vegan!

Prep Time45

Cook Time30

Cooling Time2

Total Time3 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Calories: 742kcal

Author: Megan Calipari

Cost: $5

Equipment

1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Stand Mixer Fitted with the Paddle Attachment
2 8 Inch Round Cake Pans
1 Cake Stand
1 Offset Spatula or spoon or butter knife for frosting

Ingredients

For the Cake

2 ⅔ Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 ½ Cups Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed
1 ½ Cups Non-Dairy Milk I used oat milk
10 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon White Vinegar
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
6 tablespoon Mini Chocolate Chips, divided

For the Cookie Dough

4 tablespoon Vegan Butter
½ Cup Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed
3 tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Heat Treated All-Purpose Flour See note!
¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
½ Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

For the Vanilla Frosting

1 Cup Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature
4 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
2 tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk
2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

To Decorate the Cake

1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions

Bake the Cake Layers

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment circles to prevent sticking.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well.
2 ⅔ Cups All-Purpose Flour, 2 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt, ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
In a large bowl, combine sugar, non-dairy milk, melted non-dairy butter, vinegar, and vanilla. Whisk to combine, then add the dry ingredients and whisk to form the batter.
1 ½ Cups Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed, 1 ½ Cups Non-Dairy Milk, 10 tablespoon Non-Dairy Butter, melted and cooled, 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract, 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
Divide the batter equally between the prepared cake pans. Sprinkle the top of each cake with three tablespoons of mini chocolate chips and use a butter knife to swirl them into the cake batter.
6 tablespoon Mini Chocolate Chips, divided
Bake the cakes in a 350* oven for 28-31 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. (This is a great time to heat treat the flour for your cookie dough!- See note!)
Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 30 minutes, then turn them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and allow them to continue cooling until they are completely cool.

Make the Cookie Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the non-dairy butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add the non-dairy milk and vanilla and mix well.
4 tablespoon Vegan Butter, ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 3 tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk
Add the heat-treated flour and salt and mix to form the dough. Then, add chocolate chips and mix to distribute. Set aside at room temperature until the cake is ready to decorate. If you put it into the refrigerator it will be too hard to spread!
1 Cup Heat Treated All-Purpose Flour, ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt, ½ Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Make the Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter until no lumps remain. Then, add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Finally, add the non-dairy milk and vanilla and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
1 Cup Non-Dairy Butter, room temperature, 4 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted, 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 2 tablespoon Non-Dairy Milk

Build the Cake

Reserve ¼ cup of cookie dough for decorating.
Place one layer of cake upside down on a cake stand or cake board. Then dollop the cookie dough across the cake. Use an offset spatula or a butter knife to spread the cookie dough out, then top with the remaining cake layer, upside down again.
Frost the outside of the cake with vanilla frosting using the same offset spatula or butter knife. From here, you can decorate however you like, but I like to press chocolate chips into the side and top the cake with chunks of cookie dough!
1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Notes

To heat-treat the flour for the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 350*F, then add the flour to a baking sheet and bake it for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool, then proceed. I like to do this while the cake is baking.

See this article about heat treating flour for more!

There are a lot of elements to this cake, so feel free to use store-bought cookie dough and or frosting!

Nutrition