Patriotic Cookie Cake
This patriotic cookie cake is so easy to make, and so festive for the 4th of July!
Happy Fourth of July everyone! My family has an extra reason to celebrate this year - we closed on our first home yesterday! We've had our share of twists and turns in our home buying journey (including an earlier purchase that fell through and pretty much broke my heart). The house we ended up buying is right down the street from our kids' school, close to my husband's work, and in a great area overall. It's in really good shape, but still has enough projects to do to keep us busy. I can't wait to make it my own! We've been working toward this goal for years now, and it feels totally amazing to have finally accomplished it, especially considering how competitive and crazy the housing market is in Portland right now. Hooray!
We won't move in for another few weeks, but we're planning to head over this evening to sit on the porch and watch the kids do sparklers. We haven't had a yard for the kids to play in since we moved to Portland, and I'm so excited to just watch them run around for a little while. How exciting is that? We'll also be celebrating with this delicious and fun patriotic cookie cake. It's super simple and quick to make, and tastes fantastic! It's loaded with chocolate chips and M&M's, with a soft and moist cookie base. I added a little bit of buttercream on top (mostly so I could decorate it with some fun sprinkles!) but it's delicious with or without the frosting. This cookie cake is the perfect way to celebrate today, and is easily adaptable for any holiday by changing out the M&M's. It's definitely one to add to your list!
Patriotic Cookie Cake
for the cookie cake:
12 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups red, white, and blue M&M candies, divided
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided
for the frosting:
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 teaspoons half and half or milk
red, white, and blue sprinkles
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 10 inch quiche pan or springform pan and set aside. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Add the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt, and mix until just combined, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in 1 1/4 cups M&M's candies and 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips. Press the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining M&M's and chocolate chips. Bake 22-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely.
When the cake has cooled, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 teaspoon half and half. Beat until smooth, adding additional half and half as needed to make a light and fluffy frosting. Pipe the frosting around the edges of the cake, then add sprinkles.
adapted from Baking a Moment
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