Vegan Cookie Dough Cake
This Vegan Cookie Dough Cake has brown sugar chocolate chip cake layers stuffed with a thick layer of cookie dough and slathered in fluffy vanilla frosting. Completely dairy-free and vegan - no one will ever guess!
Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- 2 round 8-inch cake pans
- 1 Cake stand or cake board
- 1 Offset spatula or butter knife
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 ½ cups non-dairy milk (oat milk recommended)
- 10 tablespoons non-dairy butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, divided
For the Cookie Dough Filling:
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 3 tablespoons 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, at room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For Decoration:
- 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 with parchment paper circles.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, non-dairy milk, melted non-dairy butter, white vinegar, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until a smooth batter forms.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips over each pan and use a butter knife to swirl them into the batter.
- Bake for 28–31 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and cool completely before assembling.
Make the Cookie Dough Filling:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter and brown sugar until well combined.
- Add the non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Add the heat-treated flour and salt and mix to form the dough. Add the mini chocolate chips and mix to distribute.
- Keep at room temperature until ready to use - do not refrigerate or it will be too hard to spread.
Make the Vanilla Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the non-dairy butter until completely smooth with no lumps.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix on low until combined.
- Add the non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Assemble the Cake:
- Reserve ¼ cup of cookie dough for topping decoration.
- Place one cake layer upside down on a cake stand or board. Dollop the remaining cookie dough across the top, then spread it evenly with an offset spatula or butter knife.
- Place the second cake layer on top, also upside down.
- Frost the outside of the entire cake with the vanilla frosting.
- Decorate by pressing mini chocolate chips into the sides and bottom edge of the cake. Top with small scoops of the reserved cookie dough and scatter extra chocolate chips on top.
Notes
How to heat-treat flour: Spread 1 cup of all-purpose flour onto a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 5 minutes. Let cool completely before using. Do this while the cake layers are baking to save time.
Store-bought vegan cookie dough and frosting can be substituted to simplify the process.
Keep cookie dough at room temperature until using - cold dough is too stiff to spread without tearing the cake.