Friday Extras: Let Them Eat (Cookie) Cake!

My husband and my sister each have birthdays within the same week (happy birthday, you two! I love you!), and one of my favorite birthday treats to make is cookie cake. I have adjusted my from-scratch cookie recipe to make a perfectly-sized giant cookie, but the following almost-homemade version is my favorite quick way to make the tasty treat:

Step 1 

Buy a bag of chocolate-chip-cookie mix and follow the instructions on the bag with two important exceptions. The first is to add a little almond extract to the mix. 

(this makes it seem more homemade than it is. shhh... don't tell!)

The second is to increase the cooking time to 15-17 minutes. The cookie mix you get in the bag at the grocery store makes just enough cookie for an 8-inch springform pan or pie plate. I like to use the springform pan because it makes a perfectly round cookie and it's easy to decorate and transfer to a platter without messing anything up.

Step 2: While the cookie cools, assemble your ingredients for your homemade buttercream frosting. This kind of frosting is easy, and when the frosting is homemade, it matters not that the cookie came from a box; the whole thing tastes homemade.

Buttercream frosting for one cookie cake:

Half a stick of butter, softened
A splash of vanilla extract (does "splash" = teaspoon? I'm not really sure)
A bigger splash of milk (about 1/8 c. would do)
Powdered sugar to taste (at least 2 cups)
Food coloring (if you like)

Step 3: Cream the butter, vanilla, a little sugar, and only enough milk to make it easy to cream.

Step 4: Keep adding sugar until it looks and tastes right. If it gets too thick, add a little more milk. If it's too thin, add sugar. And keep blending until everything is perfectly creamy and delicious. If you want, add food coloring. I only had yellow, so bright, sunshiny frosting it was.

Step 5: Now, it's time to frost your cookie cake. Maybe you'll try to do a fancy design. Maybe that design will go horribly wrong. Not to worry -- just spread that creamy, buttery goodness over the whole cake. Pretend you meant it that way all along.

The best part about this frosting "mishap?" -- you get frosting on every bite.