If you have no cake decorating skills (like me) then you'll love the idea of a homemade whole-wheat cookie cake for the next birthday in your family. It takes very little - if any - talent to squirt some freshly whipped cream into the shape of a circle and your child's first initial or age. I do want to warn you up front though this recipe calls for a little bit of refined sugar, which is not technically "real" but I think totally appropriate in GREAT moderation. One of the biggest problems with sugar today is the quantity in which it is consumed. And as I've shared before I think homemade treats are completely acceptable for occasions that truly are special and rare, although you'd be hard pressed to find me condoning factory-made, chemically-filled, artificial dye-laden treats any day of the year. :) So please forget that cookie cake place in the mall and instead spend a half hour making your very own cake from scratch...it's easier than it looks!
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Whole-Wheat Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick butter (cold)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk (whole milk always recommended)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips (or a combination of chocolate chips, nuts and/or Unreal M&M knockoffs)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl fitted with an electric whisk cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Lastly, continue beating on low speed while carefully pouring in the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Using a spatula or large spoon stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Carefully spread out the cookie dough onto the round baking pan. Take a few minutes to ensure one nice, even layer.
- Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or a light golden brown on top.
- Let cookie cake cool almost completely before gently sliding/pushing it onto a large round platter. Or if you'd rather be safe than sorry just leave it on the round pizza pan.
- Just before serving cover the outside edge with a pretty strip of homemade whipped cream and then add your child's first initial or age in the middle. It might help to practice on an empty plate first. Good luck (and enjoy)!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
J.B. says
What kind of chocolate chips are recommended? :)
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hello J.B. This is from the recipe: 1 cup chocolate chips or a combination of chocolate chips, nuts and/or Unreal M&M knockoffs: http://getunreal.com/unreal-candy/unreal-41/. You can also find a number of organic chocolate chips. Enjoy. ~Amy
Allison says
I just made this today and it was amazing! I made it dairy free and it turned out awesome!
Susan says
This was so delicious! I made two heart shapes for valentines day out of this one recipe, one with chocolate chips and one without for my son who doesn't like chocolate. I used coconut palm sugar instead of the brown sugar. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Charlee says
I was craving cookie cake (4 months pregnant with 4th child!!) and I decided to look for a more "healthy" alternative to the one I keep seeing circulated on Pinterest... Premade cookie dough plus some corn syrup, followed by store bought chocolate icing!!! Yuck!!!! We are starting to transition to a "whole" organic diet and are making great strides :). Anyways, I'm THRILLED to have found your site and your tips! Right up my alley and exactly what I am trying to achieve with my growing family. I'm also relieved to see that you are going whole, but still bake. Most of my friends are gluten free, so I don't get many tips from them :). I do have a question, is it possible to completely cut out all white flour and only use wheat? For bread, roux, baking, etc? And I haven't browsed your site yet, so forgive me if this is answered, but do you only use butter or are there any other oils/fats you use to cook with? Thank you thank you!!!
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Charlee. I think you can completely do away with white flour. I no longer have any in my house and only use the white whole wheat flour, but, you'll need to decide if that will work for you. In terms of oils, here is a post on the various oils we use...https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/05/14/mini-pledge-week-10-no-refined-oils/. Jill
Kim says
I made this for my son's birthday at his preschool. All 18 children in his class loved it! Many asked for seconds. Such an easily made alternative to store bought nasty cookie cakes. Thank you!
Mandy says
I made this today and it turned out great! Note to self: Don't use a pizza pan with holes in it. ^.^
Jen says
My pizza pan has holes too, I made sure to cover them with a layer of foil...did the trick!
Amanda says
can you substitute coconut palm sugar for the sugar and brown sugar in this recipe??
Jen says
I used coconut palm sugar to replace the brown sugar and honey to replace the white sugar -- mine tastes great!
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Amanda. Yes, I have substituted the coconut palm sugar only for the white sugar, but used muscovado for the brown sugar. Jill
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Amanda. Yes, I swapped out the coconut palm sugar and it came out great. Jill
Heather says
So excited about this recipe! We are making it for our Super Bowl party so I am going to try to do it in the shape of a football. :)
barbie says
This looks delish! My sons 2nd bday is next month and im planning on making this in place of buying a cake!
Julie says
This looks great! I would probably use Rapadura in place of the white and brown sugar and then I could call it "healthy-er".
Danielle says
Is one stick of butter a half cup? It's sold in 2 cup blocks here in Canada and I can never remember the conversion.
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Danielle. Yes, ours are sold in a 1lb package and each stick is 1/2 cup, or 4 ounces. Jill
Clara says
This was super easy and super tasty!
Michelle says
This is so simple yet so yummy! My daughter and I made this cookie cake for dessert while making homemade chips, salsa, and fajitas at the same time. It is so easy, we just threw everything together in a bowl stirred everything together added chocolate chips, spread on pizza pan, and baked. Everyone loved this!!!
Lisa M says
I made this last night- easy to make and it turned out great. The wholemeal flour gives it extra substance as well as makes it even tastier.
Thanks!
Kelly c says
I am planning on making this in our heart shaped pan for valentines day :)
Bailee says
Mine is in the oven right now baking for my hubs for Valentines Day! I was planning on buying him a store bought one, and I'm so glad I found this recipe! Looks so cute in the heart-shaped pan!! :)
Catie Brow says
I made this yesterday for a family celebration. So yummy! Thanks for all of your fabulous recipes. I love this site!! :)
Heidi says
Hi,
Love the post! Have you ever worked with einkorn flour? Einkorn is the only wheat that has never been hybridized. It has higher protein & better flavor than modern wheat. (not to mention the other health benefits!)
email me if you are interested in trying some einkorn flour or einkorn wheat berries.
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Heidi. No, I have not worked with that flour before. Jill
Heidi says
The flour is amazing & it's a healthy alternative to modern wheat. Please email me at [email protected] and I can send you some. Nutritionally it is really great it has high levels of protein, antioxidants and trace minerals!
Rose says
Okay, I officially love you. I'm not a particularly big fan of cake and I'm always happy to see whole wheat anything, so you've pretty much hit a bulls eye with this one in my book. :D
Amanda says
Thanks for the great recipe! I love the cookie cakes from the grocery store bakery (I know, not real food, and they're expensive for what you get...but I would buy them as an occasional treat) I'm glad to have this alternative. I made it last night, and my husband and I both loved it! (No whipped cream though...)
Stina says
Sorry about this random question, but I didn't know where to ask it. I would like to know what 100 days of real food thinks about grape nuts cereal? The original grape nuts that contains only whole grain wheat flour, malted barely four, salt, and dried yeast. Does it have any GMO in it? Thanks!
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Stina. I don't know much about the Post products specifically, but, here is some information from the Cornucopia Institute that might be helpful...http://cornucopia.org/cereal-scorecard/. A quick glance at it looks like Post may use GMO ingredients. Jill
Paula says
What kind of sugar did you use? Organic? Do you grind your own flour?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Paula. Yes, organic sugar. Lisa does sometimes grind her own flour, but, otherwise uses the King Arthur white whole wheat flour. Jill
Cara says
Made this tonight as a treat for a cold rainy week and it was delicious! Especially with homemade whipped cream on top! Thanks for the recipe!
Eva says
I'm going to try to vegan this- I'm trying to introduce some less processed, vegan treats to my children this year. It's amazing how delicious they can be!
Christina says
I'm curious about the temperature of the butter too. I'd love to try this recipe out with my boys this weekend.
Kristen says
A lot of cookie and pastry recipes call for cold butter because the batter/dough will hold its shape better during baking. If you start with soft or melted butter, the cookie will flatten out too much when baked. :)
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Christina - It helps to hold the shape of the dough better during baking if the butter is cold before creaming it. Jill
Stacy says
After you decorate it with whipped cream, you'd have to put leftovers in the fridge... did the cookie taste ok out of the fridge? Or did you not have the 'problem' of leftovers :)?
Lisa says
Yes, the cookie is totally fine out of the fridge it just doesn't look as pretty because the whipped cream absorbed into the cookie a little.
Jessica Lane says
Hi Lisa, I love your site - it's one of my daily reads and I'm always finding such great information on here! I'm linking my blog over to you tomorrow - I just have to share your wealth of knowledge with my readers!
I'm definitely coming back to this recipe for my girl's bday parties in May and June!
Lara says
Another substitute for refined sugar and brown( which is processed the same as white just with some of the molasses added back in ) is organic cane sugar. The price for large bags is quite reasonable from health food stores ( in Canada ) anyways. I try to always substitute with this or locally produced honey or maple syrup. This looks awesome. I'm making it with my kid before dinner for an after treat :)
Kristin says
For my daughters 4th birthday she wanted a gingerbread theme. So, I made a paper template of a gingerbread man, mixed up and rolled out some white whole wheat gingerbread dough, traced the pattern and cut out the gingerbread man. After baking, I decorated him with frosting and candies. My daughter LOVED Her large gingerbread man! At the time I wasn't yet dye free, but now I would use naturally dyed food coloring and candies. The same could be done with sugar cookie dough if you wanted a lighter colored cookie.
Becky says
This looks both tasty and fun-- sad that I won't have any birthdays to bake for anytime soon!
But I am wondering why the butter should be cold? Usually in recipes that call for creaming the butter and sugar together, the butter needs to be softened. The only time I see recipes calling for cold butter is pastry dough that requires butter to be mixed directly into flour. Is the cold butter important to the cookie's structure somehow?
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Becky. It helps to hold the shape of the dough better during baking if the butter is cold before creaming it. Jill
Robin Jingjit says
It looks fun and not too hard. I keep seeing pictures of cookie-cakes online. Now maybe I can make one.
Jill says
Why didn't you make this for your daughters school bday party? You could have made a few of these!
Kristin says
She stated that her daughter's school had a policy that homemade treats were not allowed because of the possibility of allergen contamination.
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Unfortunately, the snack has to be store bought. Jill
Christina D says
Ok, I think I am going to need to use this recipe for when my youngest turns one year old in March!
Janine says
Looks great! Probably takes less than forming individual cookies too!
Kathy says
This looks fun! Do you have any opinion on maple syrup sugar. I found it at the farmer's market. The one he had was created by a maple syrup farmer. He boiled the syrup and the crystals came to the top. He removed them and packaged them. It looks like sugar and is 1 to 1 replacement. Clearly this would work in this recipe, taste would just have to be tested. I am wondering if you think this type of "sugar" would be acceptable during a 100 day challenge. We are now only using maple syrup and honey and wonder if these crystals might make baking with maple syrup easier and thus be a good choice. It is 100% maple syrup, just crystallized.
Shallon says
Have you ever seen the process for making white sugar? It is full of multiple steps and various chemicals. I still eat it, but watching how sugar is processed makes me glad I don't eat a lot of it. That said, I would assume that since maple syrup is boiled to make thin tree sap thicker (and sweeter) that boiling it a little longer to make crystals isn't really much more processed. I'll bet they are much sweeter than liquid maple syrup though because they don't have any water "diluting" the sugars. Personally I would consider it okay for the challenge. Another thing to consider, for most recipes that call for sugar, challenge yourself to reduce it. In sweetbreads and cakes I usually add only 1/4 a cup of honey to 1 cup of flour (vs the 1:1 of many recipes).
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Kathy. I have heard of the maple sugar, but, I think for purposes of the 100 day challenge, only honey and maple syrup are "allowed". The crystallization process is just one more step that takes it away from its natural state. Jill
kasifrass says
I'm so glad to see you endorsing Unreal candy!! My husband found them several months ago and we were thrilled to have a better substitute for our favorite treats! I will definitely be trying this recipe!
Damiane says
This looks so good! I can't wait to try it. I have a deeper dish type pizza pan, not sure if I could pull it off but will definitely give it a good ole' college try!
Caryn R. says
I LOVE this blog and am planning on switching to all "Real Food" myself. But, coming from an Agricultural background, I am educated to the fact that eating all organic foods isn't sustainable and completely impossible. It is easily sustainable and possible for my family as my parents live on and own land in which they raise their own (hormone free) meat products. We have grown "organic" produce for our own consumption in the past, so doing so again wouldn't be hard. Living only 10 minutes from the "farm", this makes it easy for me to participate. But, in the real-world, processed foods allow food to be stretched further, be grown faster, cheaper, and in mass quantities. We grow enough corn in midwest alone to feed the needs of our country as well as export to other countries. Field corn is fairly ever consumed by humans in it's raw form, so we know it is all processed. < Field corn is one example of faster, cheaper, and in mass quantities.
My point is, this way of eating and "voting in the supermarket" is not sustainable. It is impossible for the entire food industry as a whole to feed our country and our world on whole food alone. This was a fact of life and possible when my parents and grandparents were young because that was all they had! They also lived on their own farms and grew/ raised nearly everything they ate. Since the end of World War II and especially after the farm crises of the 80's, people lost or moved from their farms; they no longer eat what they grow. In fact, only 2% of all Americans are farmers! Although this may be easy for you, or for me. Not everyone can do this like you, because they do not have the resources like me. And unfortunately your "real food" resources are limited, as well as 98% of America. 98% of America cannot eat organically. It is completely impossible. In fact, I wonder if more than 5% of America could eat organically. We simply do not have the land and resources to devote to organic because we are using them all on chemical fed, hormone injected products in order to produce enough food to feed the world. Population is going up, and we aren't gaining any more land! Sadly,more food has to be produced on less land than ever before. This will continue to happen with "lab created" seeds, chemicals and injections.... :(
*I still support your blog and love this idea! I'm just stating the not so obvious! Something to think about for the day..... :)
Mimi says
Wow-a little crazy!
Marishannon says
I really appreciate your view point and totally get it. I don't have an agricultural background but I agree with you.
Kelly says
Thanks for your comment; it's great to see all the sides of the story!
I do wonder two things, though:
1) Who did the study that determined that organic eating is not sustainable? I always like to follow the dollars behind the study; anymore it seems like someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the study is who funds it.
2) Was the study conducted using the exact quantities of corn, soybeans, etc that we Americans consume today? And was that amount projected on to ALL world populations? I.e., I'm sure many millions of tons of corn are processed for HFCS; if you remove the HFCS from everyone's diets, you'll reduce the need to find acreage for the organic production of corn for HFCS. Also, American cows tend to be fed corn-based silage, while, I assume, cows in more rural parts of the world probably eat their natural diet- grass. So is this study projecting that every cow in the world should eat the same amount of corn-based silage that American cows overwhelmingly eat? If this is true, I could see how the conclusion could be made that there aren't enough farms in the world to produce the corn needed.
Hope my questions are clear.
And as for me and my family- we are organic all the way!!
Sarah says
My two year old party is next month and since its curious George we will have chocolate cupcakes (made from your whole wheat chocolate cake recipe) and banana frosting! I also have a hubby bday next moth and this just might be the solution for him! Do you think sucanat could be subbed for the brown sugar and what about honey/maple syrup instead of white sugar?
Kelly says
How do you make banana frosting ? I'm intrigued !!
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Hi Sarah. I usually substitute muscovado for the brown sugar, and sucanat for the white, but, you could probably do what you are suggesting. Good luck. Jill
Diana Harris says
Do you know how much honey you would use if you substituted honey for the white sugar?
Thanks.
Diana
Shallon says
I personally don't like things so sweet, so I usually use 1/2 or less in honey of what it calls for in sugar. That said, 1. this is already a relatively low sugar recipe so cloer to a 1:1 would probably be okay and 2. I have yet to experiment with honey in cookies. I don't know if it would significantly change the outcome or not.
Assistant to 100 Days (Jill) says
Diana - from what I read, it would be a 1:1 conversion. You may have to reduce other liquids though depending on how much honey and you may also want to reduce the oven temperature. Good luck. Jill
Christina says
Ooh, that's exciting about Tattler being in stores. I just started canning last year and used what came on the jars, but I'm hoping to get some re-usable lids this year. I'm loving shopping in my basement for food I already made. I just opened some apple sauce and it was like jumping into Fall again.