A childhood favorite gets an extreme makeover into this decadent Milk & Cookies Cake! Chocolate chip cookie cake layers, cookie milk soak, vanilla buttercream, and a chocolate drip.
Today I’m bringing you a revised version of one of my oldest recipes. Just when you thought milk & cookies couldn’t get any better!
That classic combination you’d always look forward to as a kid for after school snacks, treats on the weekends, or while watching your favorite cartoons or movies…. it was the best! Well, for some people anyhow.
Truthfully, I was never a fan of milk with my cookies (or drinking milk in general). I’ve had it numerous times but, if I had to choose, I’d take my cookies straight up — maybe nuked in the microwave for a few seconds. Seeing as how most people are fans of milk & cookies though, and I’m a fan of cake (in case you hadn’t noticed), what better than to combine the two?
Ryan has been harassing asking me for a chocolate chip cake for some time now. It’s always been on the radar, but there were more pressing season themed desserts that needed to be knocked out first.
I am (only somewhat) restraining myself from jumping head first into Holiday baking (my favorite) and have been trying to distract myself with some Fall recipes instead. Fall baking is my second favorite, so it hasn’t been too difficult.
This Milk & Cookies Cake doesn’t really fit into either of those themes/ seasons, but you’re getting it anyway. It’s a bit of a break from all the pumpkin and Halloween that’s inevitably going to be getting thrown at you from every direction.
I have been seeing Fall stuff in stores already and I’m sure Costco is just itching to get their Christmas stuff out (or is it already??).
How to make this Milk & Cookies Cake
This is a no frills cake, all in all. It’s a basic vanilla cake jazzed up with some brown sugar, cookie milk, and mini chocolate chips. Initially, I was going to do a chocolate buttercream to pair with it, but I figured the vanilla would let the chocolate chip flavor stand out and provide more contrast. That’s when it turned into a Milk & Cookies Cake.
I decided to do a naked cake to let those chocolate chip studded cake layers shine. A drippy ganache which adds a bit of fanciness to this otherwise simple cake.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I love ganache drip cakes. It’s a really easy way to add a bit of flair to your cakes – provided that you can get the frosting nice and smooth on the top and edges, which is my biggest challenge.
Cookie Milk Soak
The latest (and greatest?) update to this revised recipe is the addition of cookie milk which is basically chocolate chip cookies steeped in milk to give the milk a cookie flavor. I used the milk in the cake itself and as a milk soak to brush on top of the cake for added moisture and flavor.
I also replaced some of the granulated sugar in the cake recipe for brown sugar to be more cookie-like.
If you prefer though, you can just use regular milk if you don’t have cookies on hand. Regular milk will work fine in the cake recipe and as a soak. I originally used buttermilk in this recipe so you can use that too if you prefer a less sweet cake.
This is a simple yet delicious cake that’s perfect for any occasion. If you’re a milk & cookies lover, I hope you will enjoy this cake version of your favorite treat!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 1824 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
- The ganache can be made the day before and left at room temperature overnight or refrigerated for up to a week. You’ll need to bring it to room temperature again before use. I let mine set overnight (with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface). It will be too thick at this point, so I microwave it for 10 secs and stir it until it’s the right consistency. But you just need to let it sit until it’s thick enough to be used as a drip.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Tips for this Milk & Cookies Cake:
- If you don’t have cookies on hand, you can just use regular milk (or buttermilk) in the cake recipe.
- Likewise, you can replace the brown sugar with granulated sugar.
- The original recipe used buttermilk and all granulated sugar, if you prefer to use that one instead.
- If you’d like to use an easier frosting, you can use my Simple Vanilla Buttercream recipe instead. Half a batch should be enough.
- The drip technique works best on a chilled cake so that the drips set quickly.
- To help ensure cakes come out of the pans cleanly I use homemade cake release or spray my cake pans with Pam for Baking and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
***RECIPE REVISED: Aug 8, 2019*** Revised the cake recipe to add in brown sugar and also cookie milk for more of that Milk & Cookies flavor.
***RECIPE UPDATED: Feb 5, 2017*** A few of you mentioned that you found the cake dry and dense so I’ve updated it to a lighter, more fluffy version that hopefully everyone should find delicious!
Milk & Cookies Cake
Ingredients
Cookie Milk Soak:
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 4-6 chocolate chip cookies enough to be fully submerged in the milk
Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cookie milk room temperature (or buttermilk, or regular milk)
- 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips tossed in 1 Tbsp flour
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dark Chocolate Ganache:
- 2 oz good quality dark chocolate finely chopped
- 2 oz heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Cookie Milk Soak:
- Place milk and cookies in a medium bowl. Stir well and steep for 20-25mins. Strain into a small bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Gently press the milk out of the cereal using a spatula or wooden spoon. Separate out 1 cup of the cookie milk for the cake. Save the remainder to drizzle onto the cake layers.
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour three 6″ cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars on med-high until pale and fluffy (3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and cookie milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Fold in chocolate chips and mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Bake for 35-40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack. Allow cakes to cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.**
Ganache:
- Place chopped chocolate and cream into a microwave safe bowl. Stir to combine. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir. Microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until ganache is smooth and silky. Set aside to cool and thicken slightly before using on cake.
Assembly:
- Trim the tops of the cake layers if needed or poke holes in them with a bamboo skewer. Drizzle or brush each cake layer with about 2 Tbsp cookie milk.
- Place one layer of cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with approximately 2/3 cup of buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the outside leaving the sides of the cake exposed. Use a bench scraper to smooth out the sides and top of the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Using a teaspoon, apply ganache near edges like so to create the drips. Pour some ganache on the top of the cake and spread with an offset spatula.
Notes
** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth. ***RECIPE REVISED: Aug 8, 2019*** – Revised the cake recipe to add in brown sugar and also cookie milk for more of that Milk & Cookies flavor. ***RECIPE UPDATED: Feb 5, 2017*** – A few of you mentioned that you found the cake dry and dense so I’ve updated it to a lighter, more fluffy version that hopefully everyone should find delicious!
Madison says
Can I freeze the cake ahead of time or refrigerate and then milk soak?
Olivia says
Hi Madison! Yes, that’s totally fine! Soak after thawing.
Sarah says
This looks SO good! I’m planning on making it for my birthday this weekend!
Do you think two 6in wide pans 3in deep would work with this recipe or do you recommend reducing the recipe by 1/3? I only have two pans, eep!
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! I think since you only have the two pans I would leave the recipe as is. They should bake right to the top of them. You’ll need to increase the baking time but otherwise should be totally fine. You could cut each layer in half to make 4 total after. If you don’t want tall layers though then yes, reduce the recipe by 1/3. You can do this by adjusting the Servings to 8.
Trish says
Seriously the best cake I have eaten !! I thought I would want more frosting ( BTW: never made butter cream like that before, will ONLY make it that way from now on! ) but the amount of frosting was perfect. Delicious!! Will absolutely make again!!
Olivia says
Hi Trish! I’m so happy you loved it and that you tried Swiss meringue buttercream for the first time (and loved that too) 🙂
Kari says
I made this cake this weekend. I opted out of the “poke” cake and syrup option. The cake is denser than a box cake, but cake from scratch IS denser than a box cake. I did find that the cake had a good flavor. It was complimented well with the frosting. I really enjoy Swiss/French meringue buttercream. I find it less sweet than typ buttercream and prefer that. This was a good recipe. I did cut the butter down to one cup because it started to outweigh the sweetness. Typ ganache recipe. Also a good compliment to the frosting and cake. Very good overall.
Olivia says
Hi Kari! Thanks so much for the feedback and tips! I’m so glad you liked it and love the buttercream as much as I do 🙂
Wil.E.Jen says
So, I don’t know what I did wrong… I used the 3/4c brown sugar, 3/4c granulated sugar like was mentioned in one of the comments. Only one layer came out okay. The cake is incredibly dense. Additionally, the batter was super thick. Unsure if this is how the cake is supposed to be. Toothpicks came out clean, but the bottom of each layer is very oily and didn’t seem to brown.
I did use the pan wraps for flat cake tops.
At least the buttercream turned out perfectly!
Olivia says
Hi there! Sorry to hear you had trouble with this one. I haven’t done it with half brown sugar myself, but that shouldn’t have a huge impact. The cake being dense could be due to overmixing or using too much flour. Are either of those possibilities? I always recommend spooning and levelling flour rather than scooping it with your measuring up. The batter is somewhat thick, to help the chocolate chips not sink, but if it was overly so maybe it was excess flour? Glad the buttercream worked out!!
Danielle says
Hi
Do you think this cake would be good if I replaced the chocolate chips with oreo pieces??
Olivia says
Hi Danielle! I’ve never tried that but you can give it a shot. Just toss them in a bit of flour first as well.
Jordan says
I’ve used this cake recipe as a base for many different cakes and it’s always a hit! I’m making a cake for a family member who is gluten-free. It’ll be my first time trying to make a gluten-free cake. Have you ever made this recipe using a 1:1 gluten free flour blend?
Olivia says
Hi Jordan! I haven’t used a GF flour blend myself, but this one has been highly recommended: https://amzn.to/2XxhrLs
Syreeta K.D says
I just made this for Thanksgiving dinner. I changed it just a bit by doubling the recipe for 9 inch rounds, putting ganache between the layers, and making a vanilla bean buttercream. I also left off the drizzle as I like chocolate in moderation. Sooooo looking forward to cutting it tonight. The cakes smelled amazing while baking.
Olivia says
I love your alterations, sounds delish! I hope you like it 🙂
Claira says
Rather than egg whites, could I add meringue powder in its place for the buttercream?
Olivia says
Hi Claira! I don’t think meringue powder would work with this exact recipe, but I know there are some Swiss meringue buttercream recipes out there that use it.
Victoria V says
I made this cake exactly as is for my son’s birthday party and it was a HUGE hit! I am going to make it again but would like to make a bigger cake. If I wanted to make a 9 inch cake, would doubling this recipe work? Still bake at 325? Thanks for this lovely cake recipe. I can’t wait to make it again!
Olivia says
Hi Victoria! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html Based on that I think doubling it for three 9″ pans should work. Still the same temp, baking time may differ slightly depending on how much batter is in the pans, but should be fairly close. Let me know how it turns out!
Karin McAleenan says
My daughter wants me to make this cake for her birthday! Can I substitute cake flour for the AP flour? Also you mentioned that you add brown sugar for an ingredient to give it the cookie flavor but I don’t see it on the ingredient list. And then one more question. How would I prepare a milk soak to use instead of the simple syrup? Thank you, I can’t wait to try this cake and many more of your recipes!
Olivia says
Hi Karin! Cake flour should work just fine. Re: the brown sugar, I just checked my recipe notebook and it looks like I didn’t use it after all (but I should have – wth!). I would do 3/4 cup granulated and 3/4 cup brown sugar.
For the milk soak, what I’d do is actually soak some homemade or store bought chocolate chip cookies in it — 1 cup milk and 1 cup roughly chopped cookies. Steep that for 20mins then strain. If you want to enhance the flavour of the cake even more, you can swap the buttermilk in the cake recipe for “cookie milk” too. Come to think of it, I should have done that too!! If you go that route, do 2 cups milk and 2 cups rough chopped cookies, after steeping separate out 1 cup milk for the cake and use the rest as a soak.
I hope that helps. Let me know what you do and how it turns out!
Eve says
Hello Dear Liv
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I would love to try it. I live at sea level in Doha – Qatar and never face issues with recipes from the net but every time I travel back home in Ecuador, South America which is 2800m over sea level then there is always an issue. I just read sometimes reducing sugar or adding fluids and less baking powder can do the trick, but never tried it. For this particular recipe … any advice so I won’t Panic with spilling cakes while being baked ( like two days ago) !!! Or is altitude safe ? Thanks in advance. Looking forward for your reply.
Love, Eve
Olivia says
Hi Eve! There are various adjustments that need to be made for high altitude baking, here’s some info on that: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Likely it might involve some trial and error to see what works best. I haven’t tried this one at high altitude myself. Let me know how it turns out!
Elle says
Used this as the basis of a vegan birthday cake and it was sooooo good and looked so charming! You’re recipes are always so clear and easy to follow – I’ve never been disappointed!!! Thanks for all your hard work!!
Olivia says
Yay! So happy to hear that Elle! Thank you 😀
JK says
Hi Liv – How’d do you get your chocolate chips to show up on the edges of the cake like that? I naked-frosted too but am not seeing those pretty chips (they haven’t sunk to the bottom either). I forgot to flour them first, so maybe that’s it?
Olivia says
Hi JK! Hmm, I’m not totally sure! I did flour them all and made sure they were well incorporated into the batter and it just kinda happened. Try the flour next time 🙂
Kiya says
Hi! I am so excited to make this recipe. Gorgeous post. I am planning on making it for an event tomorrow, and I was hoping to find out if it is still as good the second day, and if you have any tips for keeping it moist and beautiful overnight! Fridge keeps it stable and pretty, but sometimes that can stale it. And with a tall cake like this, I’m not sure how it could be covered… any advice?
Olivia says
Hi Kiya! The fridge does have a tendency to dry cakes out, but if it’s only a day or two it will be totally fine. I would definitely use the simple syrup though and make sure the cake is at room temp before serving. As for storage — do you have a cake carrier? That would be ideal as something airtight since it’s a naked cake. Otherwise I would chill the cake to set everything then lightly wrap it in plastic wrap so the sides don’t dry out.
Bean Bradford says
Hello, I’m wondering that if I were to make these into cupcakes instead, how many would it make? Thank you for the recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Bean! I’ve never made this into cupcakes but I would guess around 18 or so 🙂
Scarlett Medina says
Hey Olivia!
I tried this recipe because it looks amazing, but the cake sunk as soon as I took it out the oven. It baked at 325 for an hour and 10 minutes because it grew so much that it wasn’t fully cooked. Not sure where I went wrong, followed the recipe to the t!
Olivia says
Hi Scarlett! That is super weird! Did you bake it in three 6″ pans??
monika says
How many days in advance can I make this cake?
Olivia says
You can make it a day in advance and store in the fridge. Any longer and the cake will dry out.
monika says
Can you use a hand-held mixer to make the buttercream? I don’t have a stand-mixer 🙁
Olivia says
Hi Monika! You can for sure, just note that you’ll be mixing for a long time for the meringue to whip up and cool completely.
Erin says
I’d love to make this this weekend, but in three eight-inch pans. Would you recommend 1.5 times the recipe or do you think I could get away with 2 and just have a very tall cake?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Erin! How tall are your 8″ cake pans? Mine are 2″ high, so I would play it safe and 1.5x the recipe. If they’re 3″ high you may be able to double it. Let me know how you like it 🙂
Aisha says
What temperature is your double broiler on when making the meringue?
Olivia says
Hi Aisha! I bring the water up to a boil on High then reduce the heat so it’s barely simmering (med-low) when I place the bowl over top.