Sugar Cookie Layer Cake
Imagine the softest buttery sugar cookies stacked with fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting. That’s this sugar cookie cake! It’s such a fun treat fit for any celebration.
It’s my birthday week! And I figured what better way to celebrate than with a pound of butter and a bunch of sprinkles. Birthdays are for overindulging your sweet tooth, after all.
I’m a traditionalist when it comes to birthday cake, so a big layer cake is definitely a must. But I’ve also been craving a soft vanilla sugar cookie piled high with buttercream frosting, and so I decided to combine the two in this ultimate sugar cookie layer cake.
Table of Contents
- Why you’ll love this sugar cookie layer cake
- Ingredients you’ll need
- How to make a sugar cookie layer cake
- Variations
- More sugar cookie recipes
- Get this recipe
Why you’ll love this sugar cookie layer cake
- It’s so fun! And a fun twist on traditional layer cakes and sugar cookies.
- It’s everything you love about frosted sugar cookies, but in a festive cake!
- This sugar cookie cake is so much easier than making a traditional layer cake.
- You can bake it either as an 8-inch layered cookie cake, or a single-layer 9-inch cookie cake.
Ingredients you’ll need
How to make a sugar cookie layer cake
- Prepare sugar cookie dough. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, and mix well after each. Finally, mix in the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt to make a thick cookie dough.
- Bake giant cookies. Divide the dough evenly between two greased 8-inch round cake pans lined with parchment paper (I use a cookie scoop for this). Then use greased fingers or the butter wrapper to press the dough into an even layer. Bake until the edges are golden and the center is puffed and set, but do not overbake or the cookie layers will be too dry.
- Prepare frosting. While the cookie layers cool, make the frosting. Beat the butter, powdered sugar, cream, vanilla and almond extracts and salt for several minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Frost and decorate as desired. Place one cookie cake layer on a plate or cake stand and cover with about 1/3 of the frosting. Spread into an even layer and then top with the second cookie layer. Cover the whole cake with frosting as desired, using a piping bag and piping tip to decorate if you’d like. Top with sprinkles.
- Enjoy! This sugar cookie layer cake is best enjoyed within 1-2 days of baking, as it does dry out more quickly than a traditional cake. Keep at room temperature and cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container.
baking tip:How to measure flour
1. Fluff flour a little with a spoon.
2. Spoon flour into measuring cup until it’s overflowing.
3. Drag your finger or a butter knife across the top of the measuring cup, sweeping away the excess.
And to get even more precise, use a kitchen scale! More info on how to measure flour can be found here.
Variations
- This sugar cookie cake recipe can be used for all kinds of holidays and celebrations, such as birthdays, Christmas, etc. Feel free to tint the frosting with food coloring and use any kind of sprinkles you’d like.
- You can also use cream cheese frosting or my easy fudge buttercream frosting.
- You can bake this cake in a single 9-inch cake pan. The cookie will be thicker, but still delicious, and easier to bake and decorate. See the “notes” section in the recipe below for more info.
More sugar cookie recipes
Get this recipe
Sugar Cookie Layer Cake
Ingredients
For the cookie layers:
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
For the buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter , at room temperature
- 4 cups (454 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- ¼ cup (56 grams) heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
To make the sugar cookie layers:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium high. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, mixing until just combined.
- Divide the dough evenly between the two prepared pans (I actually use a cookie scoop for this) and press the dough into an even layer (The butter wrapper actually works great for this, or you can use greased fingers).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and center is puffed and set. Do not overbake or the cookie layers will be too dry. Let the cookies cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, cream vanilla, almond extract and salt on medium speed until combined. Increase speed to high and beat until frosting is very light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
To assemble cake:
- Place one cooled sugar cookie layer on a plate or cake stand. Cover with about ⅓-½ of the frosting. Top with the second cookie layer and cover the cake with the remaining frosting and decorate as desired.
- The sugar cookie cake is best the day it's baked (it's the softest and most moist), but it will keep at room temperature for a few days.
Notes
- You can bake this cake in a single 9-inch cake pan instead of two 8-inch pans. The cookie will be thicker, but still delicious, and easier to bake and decorate. Follow recipe above as written, adjusting bake time to 25-37 minutes.
- Be sure to measure flour correctly for this recipe using the spoon and level method or a digital scale. Measuring incorrectly will result in too much flour in the dough and the baked cookie layers will be very dry and crumbly.
- Cream of tartar and cornstarch work together to keep the sugar cookies moist, soft and fluffy. Do not skip these ingredients!
- This recipe was originally published in 2015. I’ve made a lot of changes from the original version to make the ratio of cookie to frosting more favorable and delicious, and to improve the softness and flavor of the sugar cookie layers.
SO looking forward to celebrating with you! This cake is just lovely. Birthdays definitely require sprinkles.
Seriously, off the charts!! I could go for a slice right now! And happy birthday….let’s celebrate hella this weekend, k? xoxo
Happy birthday Annalise 🙂 This cake looks incredible! I’ve never seen anything like that…I’m a huuuuge cookie-lover, I think it’s fair to say I prefer cookies to cake, so a cookie cake looks like a dream come true to me! Can’t wait for a special occasion to make this baby, I’m sure my family and friends would love it!
xo, Elisa
Oh, my gosh, I wish that was in my mouth right now. What a showstopping birthday cake! And I LOVE cookie recipes like this that are relatively low in butter and sugar. Dang, my birthday is still six months out. I’ll have to think of someone I can make this for, pronto.
Happy birthday, hope it is a good one.
Happy Birthday to you! What a gorgeous cake to celebrate your day.
What a beautiful cake! So happy!!
Have mercy – this is so much fun!! I hope you’ve had a wonderful birthday, friend!! Can’t wait to celebrate!
This is so cute!!!
This is what’s been missing from my life. Need more sugar cookie cake!!
Happy belated birthday!! Here’s to a year of naps, massages and Daily John photos–and maybe a few other surprises ?!?!?! yes!!
Annalise,
Hope you had a wonderful Birthday! The cake looks delicious.
Annamaria
How does it hold up when cutting it? Just wondering how soft/hard the cookies bake up. Thanks! Looks good!
Really want to make this, but there seems to be some text missing from step one. “If you don’t have 3 cake pans, you can bake the layers in…”?
The max temperature of my oven is just 280 degrees 🙁 So how long will it take to bake it? 🙂 Pardon the language 🙂
Do you mean 280 degrees Celsius? This cake can be baked at 190 degrees C.
I don’t have three 8″ pans. What can I bake this in? Two 9″ pans? Two 11×7?
Hi Sarah! You can use 2 9-inch pans.
I made this and I’m super excited my question is it’s for a work party tomorrow is it ok to keep it in the fridge until then and will the cookie still be soft once it gets to room temp
Yum looks amazing, do you think it would work if you put chocolate chips in (possibly white chocolate)?
Sure!
looks great! i just followed this exact recipe and the batter turns out so thick, its definitely a cookie-cake but was so dry and the frosting tasted like walmart. not a fan but yours looks great
Hi Amber, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the cake. Yes, it definitely is a cookie cake! Nothing cake about it at all except the presentation.
Hello do you think that if I pressed the cookie dough into a cookie sheet would I be able to use a large number stencil and cut out? Or would it be too soft?
I also thought if it was too soft perhaps bake it half way cut it out and finish baking it!
Thoughts?
Hmm, not sure if the cookie would hold its shape, but it’s worth a try! Here’s what I’d do: roll it out and cut with stencil, freeze it for 30 minutes, then bake. If it spreads too much during baking you can always cut it again right when it’s fresh out of the oven. I hope this helps!
Hi! I am dying to make this but on a smaller scale. If I cut the recipe in half, would this work in two 6 in pans? Thank you!!
I think it would!
At no point do you say to add sprinkles to either the cake batter or frosting. That’s very frustrating. It wasn’t until the cake was in the oven but I realized I had never added sprinkles to the batter
Such a cute recipe! Would I have to alter the recipe/cook time to make it in 3 6inch pans? Could I half the recipe?