As a food blogger, I have…let’s say, a “reputation” to uphold. When I host a dinner party, people expect the food to be good. When I bake something for a bake sale people anticipate that I’ll bring something tasty to share. When my kid has a birthday, the assumption is that she will have a homemade cake or at least cookies, right?
So, when I asked my daughter, who turned 7 today, what she wanted to take to school as her birthday treat for her classmates (mind you, I’m rebelling and ignoring all of the suggestions from the school wellness committee that birthday treats for school be healthy, like apples or smoothies…) she stated “I want a cookie cake!”. A cookie cake….great! I can make a cookie cake. When she got home from school yesterday and I asked if she wanted to help me make her special birthday cookie cake, she said, “No mom… I don’t want one of your cookie cakes. I want a cookie cake from the grocery store! You know? With the really cool pink and blue frosting?”
So, food blogger reputation aside, I hung my head low hoping no blog readers would see me at the bakery of our local grocery store, and my sweet daughter and I picked out store bought cookie cakes for her to share with her classmates.
Now, if I do ever get the privilege of proving to my daughter that I can actually cook, and cookie cakes I make can be just as pretty and delicious as the ones from the grocery store bakery, I have this recipe from Food.com locked and loaded and ready to try. And happy 7th birthday to my sweet, sweet girl, Kelly. You are truly a ray of sunshine in my life and I love you very much, cookie cake defiance and all.
Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake from Food.com
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, plus
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Beat butter and sugars together.
- Add eggs and vanilla.
- Mix flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
- Add dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well blended.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Spread dough into a 15 1/2 inch round pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Sandy @ RE says happy birthday to little kristen JR 🙂 darling!
love the cookie pizza!
- Shaina says
My kids don’t ask for cake even unless it’s the ice cream variety and comes from DQ, so I feel your pain.
- Robyn says
Oh how I feel your pain, Kristen. Little Buddy asked me if he could have pizza delivery tonight instead of homemade pizzas.
Happy Birthday to sweet Kelly. Look at how happy she is!!!
- Aviva Goldfarb says
Aw, I feel your pain, but next year she’ll probably want to make one with you (and the year after that maybe she’ll want to make one on her own!)
- Kathy - Panini Happy says
Happy Birthday to your sweet girl!
That’s so cute. What a fun post. Hopefully next year you can make her cake 🙂
- Jessica @ How Sweet says
Aw, so cute! Happy birthday to her! And the cookie cake looks great. 🙂
- Estela @ Weekly Bite says
Way to adorable!!! Love the missing teeth!!
- Wenderly says
That’s hilarious! Glad I’m not the only one! Happy 7th Birthday to Kristen!!
- Amy says
I remember as a kid that there was a cookie store in the mall and they always had huge chocolate chip cookie cakes too. I always wanted one, but mom always said no. At least you gave in and made her birthday special. Someday you’ll get around to making one of your very own (just stick it in a grocery store box) – she’ll never know!
- Joanne says
Aww she’s a cutie! Even if she does like storebought cookie cake better than homemade. She probably just wants to be like all the other kids with their boxed cakes. Because this recipe looks super awesome.
- Nikki says
I feel your pain. I asked my 9 year old what she wanted for her birthday dessert last week. She said sugar cookies with icing. I asked her what color of icing and she said, “No, mom. I want the soft sugar cookies from Kroger.” I was a little deflated!
- Pat Wogan says
There is nothing fake about that smile! May she always be that happy about birthdays and may she have many, many more! She ( as are all your children) is precious. Looking forward to seeing all of you this week-end!
- Kitten with a Whisk says
This story is too cute! Happy Birthday to your little cutie!
- Jamie Cooks It Up! says
Love it! Glad I’m not the only one. My kids have started saying “Hey Mom, is this dinner an experiment for your blog?” I think they are getting a little tired of the experimenting!
- GourmetGetaways says
Oh no!!! All kids do it 🙁 I still remember the day my eldest didnt want a kiss at the school gate 🙁 shattered…. give it a few years and they will be bragging “my mum makes the best…” Having all the yummy homemade treats completely spoils them for commercial rubbish later. My older kids wouldn’t give a thank you for packaged baked goods now 🙂 My job is done…
- Maria says
Kids will be kids:) Happy birthday to the birthday girl! She is a cutie!
- Gina says
Oh My Goodness!!! Kristen – I have been there. I grew up with a baker- cake decorator. We get the same assumptions- the cakes must be amazing in both style & taste. My husband doesn’t actually care for the butter-cream frosting I love so much- he likes **GASP** the canned frosting from Pillsbury. I serious get embarrassed to even put it in my cart at the store. He insists on it. When my kids want any store bought baked goods it is all I can do to bring myself to actually by them. I feel like a failure mother- like the world views me as incapable of creating something on my own.
The reality is that no one in the store knows my background of cake decorating. No one cares and especially in this town- no one is judging. It’s my own feelings that get in the way of making things so much simpler. 🙂
This post really hit home for me. I will be trying your recipe- it looks so yummy. I have more time for baking now than I did before- so the treats are abundant around here! 🙂
- Elle says
Happy birthday to Kristen – what a cutie she is – I’m two or two-and-a-half generations older than you and my “children”are also but one year for my daughter’s twentieth birthday at college I made her a 16” chocolate chip cookie cake and it was a great hit with her and her peers – it was a fun thing to do and I learned how to shrink-wrap in the oven (have forgotten now).
Love your blog.
- Elle says
whoops – my goof – meant Kelly
Hilarious – kind of. My little guy wants a frosting filled fake ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Go figure. Love that you took such a great photo of the grocery store cookie cake – better yet that your little gal had a perfect day. That is what matters most even when it kills our pride 🙂 xo
- SouffleBombay says
So cute!!! You two will laugh over a glass of wine some day as you reminisce…lol
- patsy says
she is adorable! Happy Birthday! Kids are funny… and sometimes they want to try the store-bought treats before going back to the homemade (and much better) treats from mom.
- Leah says
Didn’t Miss Kelly want that store bought cookie cake last year? Too funny! And from teacher’s everywhere “thank you for cutting the cookie cake before you took it to school!!!!”
- OLGA LOPEZ says
I understand how do you feel.
I have a 7 year old son and sometimes I made homemade cakes for him and I thought he liked and I was wrong.
They are growing and for moms is hard to see the change.
I already copy this recipe looks so good.
Regards
Olga. Ohhh, that just makes me laugh. And if you’re ever having a bad day, you’ve got the perfect picture as a pick-me-up. Just makes a perosn smile. Happy birthday Kelly!
- Sammie Q says
My late husband did not care much for fried chicken and he and my son really liked canned biscuits better than my homemade ones, which really are good.
A prophet sometimes is without honor in his homeland. LOL - Aggie says
Happy birthday to your sweet little girl!
- Tickled Red says
Boy do I ever feel you pain only mine isn’t in the sweets department but dinner 🙁 I could knock their socks off with some wicked homemade chicken nuggets if they would let me. Happy Belated Birthday to your gorgeous young lady!! PS: You can make me a cookie cake any ole day.
- Barbara says
She is so adorable!! Happy Birthday, sweetie!
Such a a sweet post! Kelly and I have birthdays just one day apart!
- Michelle says
Oh, so funny. I bet someone else in her class brought in a store-bought cookie cake already. When I asked my daughter what she wanted to take to school for her 6th bday, she said cupcakes with rings in them. LOL I ended up taking her to a party store to pick out rings and then I was allowed to make the cupcakes myself. She was so funny.
Happy birthday wishes to your baby girl! - Lori @ RecipeGirl says
Such a cutie 🙂 Of COURSE she wanted a cookie cake!
Leave it to kids to have a way of keeping our egos in check. *wink*
I used to see those cookie cakes at a cookie shop in the mall and really liked the idea. The shop is now closed, a victim of the recession. But I always thought it was a cool idea because I don’t really like cake. I see all these food blogs with perfectly exquisite cupcakes and they leave me a little cold because they’re pretty – but just a bunch of fluff. Long live cookie cakes. I’m going to have one for my next birthday – even if I have to make it for myself.
- The Teacher Cooks says
Happy Birthday! Kids are all alike. My son wanted biscuits out of a can, macaroni and cheese out of a box, and a cookie cake from the grocery. Now older he does appreciate the good things in life. Don’t give up!
It looks very delicious thanks for this wonderful recipe. Now I can bake my child a special cake for her birthday!
- Melissa says
I have great memories of CC Cookie Cake! Pre-made & homemade 🙂
What a precious young lady! Happy Belated Birthday!
- Deborah says
I feel you – my husband would choose Oreo cookies over almost anything else… But now I want a cookie cake – the homemade kind, of course… 🙂
- Deanna says
I just love the colors you used on this cake. Any kid would love to have a chocolate chip cookie cake for their birthday! I’m sure all her classmates were so excited 🙂
- Alison Moore Smith says
I am pleased to say that I have no such onus about my cookery. No one expects anything at all and they all feel blessed if there is something edible in the vicinity.
My mom, now she was an amazing cook. And we got very accustomed to having good food at every meal. I’ve still never, ever tasted pie crust that came close to mom’s. Divine.
- Melinda says
I’m sorry to hear that you missed an opportunity to show off your baking skills to a classroom full of hungry 7-year-old kids! Maybe for her 8th birthday your daughter will encourage you to bake one on your own. Great recipe, and great post! Can’t wait to bake one 🙂
- Dorothy @ Kids Birthday Party Places says
Happy belated sweety!! the cake looks yummy ,hopefully this year
she will request from you to bake the cookie cake.. great post! - Soma says
I share your pain. I just baked this cake thanks for the wonderful recipe. And I baked it before my daughter comes back from school and drags me to the store to get a cookie cake with icing 🙂 I am going to ice it at home and entice her before that happens. This cake turned out so beautifully fluffy, probably becoz of the cream of tarter. I used orange extract instead of vanilla and added some orange zest to it. I am sure it will be better liked than the packaged one. My daughter is turning 10 tomorrow!
- Hogward says
Belated Wishes to your daughter. Most of the kids believes that cake from the grocery shop is delicious. For next time, prepare cake in prior and let her taste it. So that, it might be a chance for you to prepare a cake as per your wish for her next birthday.
- kortney says
wow i dont know hjow to make the blue frosting degsign help?
You are one good momma! I don’t know if I could put my reputation aside. Luckily, I don’t have little kiddos yet so I have time to do some growing. Happy birthday to Kelly! And cheers to you!
- Amanda says
Recipe is amazing, thanks for sharing(:
- Yolana Simpson says
So glad I found this on Pinterest! My son has been wanting a cookie cake, I didn’t like the one from the store. I will definately surprise him for his birthday in March or maybe for Valentine’s Day or maybe both!!
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