This Halloween cookie cake has a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie base and is topped off with colorful buttercream. The addition of ghost meringues makes this cookie cake a charming dessert that stands out at any Halloween celebration. You can make it traditionally with regular flour and dairy, or you can make it gluten-free and dairy-free. A vegan version is possible, but only if you omit the ghosts or use a vegan meringue recipe.
This cookie cake is not only delicious, but it also doubles as a cute and spooky centerpiece for your Halloween table.
I used the Ghost Meringues that I posted the other day on Easy Wholesome to top off the cookie cake. These light and airy ghost meringues bring a whimsical element to the dessert.
I won’t get into the nitty gritty of how to make them in this post, so if you want to top your cake off with them, then you’ll want to check out that recipe.
Ingredients
The full recipe, including measurements and directions, is at the bottom of this post.
- Unsalted butter – you can also use coconut oil or vegan butter.
- Brown sugar – coconut sugar can also be used, but the cookie cake will be a bit more crumbly.
- Granulated sugar – same as above.
- Egg – a chia egg can be subbed. I haven’t tried other egg subs in this recipe, but I’m guessing they’d probably work.
- Flour – you can use all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour or a gluten-free 1:1 blend. More on that below!
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – you can use milk or dark chocolate, if you prefer.
- Powdered sugar – used for the buttercream. No sub for this.
- Purple + green food coloring – the photographer used Wilton, but I used natural food coloring in my tests, and it still came out nice. More on this below.
- Vanilla extract, baking soda and salt
The base
I used a half batch of my Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, which was heavily adapted from this Epicurious recipe. I baked the halved recipe in an 8″ (23 cm) springform pan.
If you want to use the full recipe, then you’ll need to use two 8″ springform pans. Or something with a similar surface area.
A 9″ X 13″ (23 cm x 33 cm) pan has a surface area of 117 in² (759 cm²) and the total surface area of two 8″ circular pans is 100 in² (830 cm²). So your cookie cake would be a little thinner in a 9″ x 13″ than if made in two 8″ springforms.
The buttercream
For the piped decorations, I used buttercream. I’ve never used buttercream in any recipe that I’ve posted because I am very much a cream cheese frosting person.
I have zero interest in cake with buttercream. Except this cookie cake.
The first time I made this cookie cake, I used my Cream Cheese Frosting recipe that I use on pretty much every single cake and cupcake recipe.
But the end result was kind of weird. Everyone else uses buttercream on chocolate chip cookie cakes, so I figured there must be a reason for it.
And there is! It really is the right choice for a cookie cake. You just use a tiny bit, so it doesn’t make the cookie cake overwhelmingly sweet.
Decoration
When you’re ready to decorate, divide the frosting into different bowls, and add the food coloring. I used purple and green, but you can obviously use any colors you’d like.
I used Wilton Tip 22 and alternated the colors around the edge of the cake.
Then you can add the eyeballs to make it even more Halloweeny. Before serving, top the cookie cake with the meringue ghosts.
If you’re new to making meringue, it’s simpler than it seems! All you need is egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and a steady hand for piping.
The result? Light and crispy ghost-shaped meringues perfect for topping off this spooky cookie cake. Check out the Ghost Meringues recipe for the step-by-step guide.
Natural food coloring
You can use natural food coloring like Supernatural Kitchen Food Colors ($35.68/oz) or Color Kitchen ($31.80/oz) for the buttercream. They’re both pretty expensive.
I always buy a ton whenever iHerb has a big sale. Both brands have been great in everything I’ve tried so far.
I used Color Kitchen in the photo below. It was just a bad quality example photo I took for the photographer. I thought I’d order some Color Kitchen for her to use in this recipe, but when I saw the full price, I changed my mind.
I spent over $100 buying natural food coloring for photographers last year, with some of them disappearing forever before they even used the food coloring, so I’m done with that. 😆
But it came out great! The colors are nice and vibrant without looking super artificial like regular food coloring.
This was the cream cheese frosting version, and that’s why it looks a bit too soft. Also ignore the bonkers piping. I let my son do it because as I said, I didn’t intend to be sharing this photo here. 😉
How to make it
Again, these pictures are just here to give you an overview. The full recipe is below!
A springform pan makes it easier to remove the cookie cake without breaking it. If you don’t have one, make sure to line your regular pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
And then it’ll need to be totally cool, or preferably even chilled, before removing it from the pan.
Your cookie cake should be golden brown on the edges but slightly soft in the center. It’ll continue to cook a bit as it cools, giving you that perfect texture.
Make ahead
The cookie dough can be made up to two days in advance and stored in the fridge.
On the countertop, the baked cookie cake will last up to 3 days in an airtight container. But it’s freshest on the day of baking.
The buttercream can also be made 3 days in advance, as well.
It’ll harden slightly in the fridge. Just let it come to room temp, and it’ll be easier to pipe.
You can freeze the cookie cake but without the meringue ghosts. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil, and it’ll last up to 3 months.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, see my disclosure.
Gluten-free option
If you’re gluten-free, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour substitute for the all-purpose flour. Also make sure that your candy eyeballs are gluten-free. They usually are, but you never know.
For the flour, King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour gave me the best results. My taste testers didn’t even realize the cake was gluten-free.
I also tried, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour in place of the all-purpose flour. The result is a bit sandy, but still delicious.
I can tell you for sure that buckwheat, almond flour, oat flour, and other single flour gluten-free flours won’t work. You need to use a blend that’s a direct sub for all-purpose flour.
I have made a paleo version of the base recipe, these Paleo Air Fryer Cookies, and you could halve that recipe for this cookie cake.
But there’s no way to make the meringue, candy eyeballs or buttercream paleo. I have tried some paleo buttercream recipes, but I wasn’t convinced. If you have one you love, please let me know so I can try it!
Vegan and dairy-free options
If you’re vegan, you’d need to make quite a few subs, but I knew someone was going to ask, so I tried it out.
For dairy-free: use coconut oil or vegan butter in the cookie dough and vegan butter for the buttercream. Also use dairy-free/vegan chocolate chips and plant-based milk for the buttercream. Make sure to check the ingredients of your candy eyeballs.
For vegan: do the above and also use a chia egg and omit the meringue ghosts or find a vegan meringue recipe. You’ll also want to use homemade candy eyeballs.
I always use this homemade candy eyeballs recipe. The photographers always use store-bought because I can’t very well ask several people to make homemade candy eyeballs every year. 😬
More Halloween desserts
This fun Jack Skellington Cake is a great choice for a Halloween party. Although it may seem intimidating, it’s actually quite doable.
It’s a bit more involved than this cookie cake, but both are great cakes for Halloween.
Here are some other Halloween party food ideas.
I hope you’ll enjoy this Halloween cookie cake! If you try it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts below in the comments. Thanks! 🙂
❀
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8-12 slices
See notes for the allergy-friendly subs!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temp or 7.5 tbsp (105 grams) solid refined coconut oil
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 large egg (50 grams out of shell), room temp
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) flour
- 1 3/4 cups (298 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 grams) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- purple + green food coloring
- half a batch of these ghost meringues
- candy eyeballs
For the cookie dough:
For the frosting:
For decoration:
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) line the bottom of an 8” (23 cm) springform pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl with a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Sprinkle the baking soda and salt on top, beat until combined, and then add in the flour on low speed.
- Stir in the chocolate chips until combined.
- Press into the prepared springform pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned. The center should have firmed up and not appear wet at all. If you were to dig in right now, it would be gooey.
- Let cool completely, about 2 hours, before frosting.
- Place all of the buttercream ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, start by beating on low speed until the ingredients are well combined. Then increase to high speed and continue mixing until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.
- Remove half (96 grams each – a bit under 1/2 cup) of the frosting to another bowl.
- Color half with green and half with purple.
- Pipe alternating green and purple swirls with Wilton tip 22 around the border of the cake. I did the green swirls, leaving a spot between each one for purple, and then did the purple swirls. Add eyeballs to the piping
- Before serving, add the meringue ghosts in the middle, or around the border.
- The cookie dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated. On the countertop, the baked cookie cake will last up to 3 days in an airtight container. But it’s freshest on the day of baking. The buttercream can also be made 3 days in advance, as well. It’ll harden a bit in the fridge. Just let it come to room temp, and it’ll be easier to pipe. You can freeze the cookie cake but without the meringue ghosts. Wrap the cookie cake tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil, and it’ll last up to 3 months.
Make the cookie cake:
Make the buttercream:
Make ahead and how to store/freeze:
Notes
- For the flour, you can use all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour. If you’re gluten-free, King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour gave me the best results. Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour also worked, but the cake was a bit sandy.
- The photographer used Wilton gel food coloring. I used Color Kitchen natural food coloring with great results. See the post for a picture of how my buttercream came out.
- For vegan: use coconut oil or vegan butter in the cookie dough and vegan butter for the buttercream. Also use a chia egg, vegan chocolate chips and plant-based milk. Omit the meringue ghosts and use homemade candy eyeballs.
- For dairy-free: the same as above, except you’ll likely be able to use store-bought candy eyeballs. But check the ingredients!
- For gluten-free: you just have to use the GF flour I recommended. Most candy eyeballs are GF, but check the ingredients.
