Cookie Cake

Cookie Cake, ChefSteps

Description

Adapted from the ChefSteps chocolate chip cookie recipe. The same dough, pressed into a pan and baked low and slow as a single slab. Brown sugar is nudged up and granulated sugar nudged down to lean the texture chewier throughout — you lose the crisp-edged effect of individual cookies, so you compensate with extra moisture.

Yield: One 14” cookie cake

Ingredients

Item	Amount
butter	220g
brown sugar	220g
granulated sugar	160g
kosher salt	15g
baking soda	5g
pure vanilla extract	20g
eggs	100g (approx. x2)
pastry flour	400g
40% milk chocolate, chopped	300g

Tools

Items
stand mixer with paddle attachment
14” paella pan (or any round pan — see note)
parchment paper
digital kitchen scale
offset spatula or flat-bottomed glass

Recipe

1. Cream butter, sugars, salt, and baking soda: Add the butter (220g), brown sugar (220g), granulated sugar (160g), kosher salt (15g), and baking soda (5g) to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium for 2 minutes, then bump to medium-high for another 2 minutes. Scrape the sides — you’re looking for a pale tan, fluffy, whipped texture.

2. Add vanilla and eggs: With the mixer running, pour in the vanilla extract (20g). Drop in the eggs (100g) as slowly as possible so they emulsify into the fat. Crank to high for about 1 minute until completely uniform.

3. Add flour and chocolate: Add the pastry flour (400g) and chopped milk chocolate (300g). Mix just until the flour disappears.

4. Chill: Spray the 14” paella pan with cooking spray, line the base with a parchment round, and spray lightly again. Press the full batch of dough into an even layer — it should land at about ½ inch. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes — this is more critical than with individual cookies since a warm slab will slump toward the edges before the structure sets.

5. Bake: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Bake for 22–28 minutes, until the edges are set and golden but the center still looks slightly underdone. It will firm up as it cools.

6. Set: Let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The center needs time to finish setting from residual heat.

Tip

Check early: Start checking at 22 minutes. Every oven is different and overbaking a slab is hard to recover from — the center goes from molten to dry faster than you’d expect near the end.

Tip

Denser crumb: Press the top gently with a flat spatula or the bottom of a glass right when it comes out of the oven to compress the interior crumb.

Note

Pan size and bake time: This recipe works in any round pan, tart pan, or skillet — the variable that matters is the thickness of the raw dough, not the pan itself. Aim for ½–¾ inch of dough going in; use as much or as little of the batch as your pan requires and make individual cookies with the rest. Thinner slabs bake faster and set crispier; thicker slabs stay chewier in the center but need more time. The 22–28 minute window assumes roughly ¾ inch — start checking earlier for thinner slabs and watch closely near the end either way. The center should look just barely underdone when you pull it.