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You won’t believe how delicious this cookie butter cake is. Filled with an oh-so delicious cookie butter buttercream, this 2 or 3 layer cake is super easy to make and unbelievably good.
You guys know I am all about the cakes. Yes learning all about frostings and pies and muffins in pastry school was fun and all, but you know what stuck with me the most? Making cake recipes from scratch. The possibilities are just endless! Today we are talking about a mouthwatering, heavenly scented cookie butter cake.
What is cookie butter?
Cookie butter is a combination of mashed up speculoos cookies and butter. The taste is a little hard to describe, it’s like a deep gingerbread caramel flavor.
It’s sold in jars just like peanut butter and you can buy it either creamy or chunky. If you’re keeping kosher like me, you can buy the Biscoff brand in kosher stores (although its wayy more expensive) or you can buy the Walmart brand because it’s less than $3 and you literally can’t tell the difference in flavor.
If kosher doesnt matter to you, they also sell it at Trader Joes!
Wherever you buy it, get on it, because it is irresistibly good! Which is why I HAD to turn it into a cake!
Ingredients
You will need ingredients for the cake and then ingredients for the buttercream.
Ingredients for the cake Ingredients for the buttercream
There are fairly standard cake ingredients listed here so I am just going to call out a few special ones:
- Brown Sugar- I tested this recipe with white sugar but felt like something was missing. Brown sugar added that extra depth of flavor I was looking for
- Vegetable Oil– I love to use oil in my cake recipes especially when I use yogurt or buttermilk because the combination from the acid in these ingredients makes for a really tender cake.
- Buttermilk– This really adds to the flavor and if you havent noticed yet, that’s what this cake is all about!
How to make a speculoos cookie butter cake
This comes together easily especially if you use a stand mixer, but you can mix by hand too.
- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in one bowl or on a large piece of parchment paper
- Add oil, cookie butter, and brown sugar to the bowl of a hand or stand mixer
- Mix on low, adding in the vanilla and eggs one at a time.
- Alternate adding in the dry mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour.
- Mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Bake on 350°F for 30-35 mins for 6″ pans or 25-28 mins for 8″pans
Cookie butter cake batter Cake pans ready for the oven
Baking Pan Size
You can either bake this recipe in 3 six inch cake pans, or 2 8″ cake pans. If you want to stack a two tier cake (stacking the 6″ on top of the 8″) you need to double this recipe and the buttercream recipe too.
You can also make this in a 9×13 as a snack cake! The baking time would be about 30-35 mins.
Can I make this cake dairy free?
Yes! You can make the cake dairy free by making your own buttermilk with soy, almond or rice milk instead.
To make the buttercream dairy free try using Earth Balance.
Dairy Free Buttermilk
Measure one cup of soy, almond, or rice milk in a measuring cup. Take out one tablespoon and replace it with either lemon juice or white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes until it’s thickened a little. Voila! You just made dairy free buttermilk!
How to make cookie butter buttercream:
You’ll need your stand mixer again so go wash it out if you used it for the cake.
- Add the softened butter, cookie butter, and confectioners sugar to the mixing bowl.
- With the paddle attachment start the mixer on low and let the sugar mix into the softened ingredients before bringing it up to medium- high speed.
- Scrape the bowl down as necessary then add in the salt and the half n half.
Creaming the buttercream Finished buttercream
Depending on what kind of cookie butter you use, you may need more or less of the half n half (to cream or milk to sub) to get the consistency you want.
If you use the chunky one, then you will need more half n half when you are making the buttercream. If you are using the smooth kind, you will need less.
Decorating the cake:
Now for the fun part!
If the cakes have domed tops, level them off with a long serrated knife. Then you can frost this cake easily by frosting the top of one cake and stacking the other layer on top. Then use a knife or back of a spoon to layer that buttercream on thick.
Level off the tops Layer and fill
If you want to make it look super professional you can use a cake turntable and an offset spatula to smooth the edges.
Other decorating ideas:
- decorate the top and bottom with cake crumbs (from the tops!)
- crush up Biscoff cookies and decorate with the crumbs
- decorate with whole cookies
- pipe the frosting on with a decorative tip
- Decorate it with flowers like I did
Storing and freezing:
Yes you can freeze this cake but if you are making it ahead I suggest freezing it without the buttercream. Make the buttercream the day you need it and frost it then.
This cake will stay fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
This cake is seriously so good and smells like heaven when you bake it! I can also eat the buttercream straight with a spoon, it is seriously irresistible!
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Dreamy & Delicious Cookie Butter Cake
Ingredients
Cookie Butter Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- ¾ cup smooth cookie butter
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs large
- 1 cup buttermilk
Cookie Butter Buttercream
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup smooth or chunky cookie butter
- 3 cups confectioner sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon half n half if using chunky cookie butter
- 2 teaspoons half n half if using smooth cookie butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray 3, 6” pans or 2, 8” pans with baking spray or line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, and whisk lightly to combine.
- In another bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the oil, brown sugar, and cookie butter. Mix or beat on low- medium until a smooth batter forms. Add in the vanilla and one egg at a time, mixing in between.
- Next add ⅓ rd of the dry mixture and alternate adding buttermilk- starting and ending with the flour- usually ⅓ of the flour at a time, and ½ of the buttermilk at a time. Mix on medium speed or with a spatula until a thick smooth mixture forms.
- Pour even amounts into your baking pans. Bake 30-35 minutes for 6” pans or 25-28 minutes for 8” pans.
- The cakes are ready when the edges start to pill away from the sides and when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- While the cakes are cooling make the buttercream. You will need to clean your mixer if you used it for the cake.
- Add the butter, cookie butter and confectioners sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start the mixer on low speed so that the sugar doesn’t blow up in your face. Gradually increase the speed to medium as more and more sugar gets mixed in. Scrape down the sides as necessary. Add in the amount of half n half needed depending on which type of cookie butter you're using, and depending on how thick or creamy you like your buttercream. If it's too loose add more confectioners sugar. If it’s too thick, add a little more half n half.
What is ‘cookie butter’ please? Would you have a link for where to buy it from please? Is it just peanut butter?
Hi Paula! Cookie butter isnt peanut butter, it is butter made from crushed up cookies! Also know as Biscoff of Speculoos. You can find it at most grocery stores in the panut butter aisle!
Amazing! My family has been a cookie butter fan for awhile so when I saw Sam created this recipe I knew it was a must. My husband said it’s his new favorite.
Ahhh Adrianne! I am so happy to hear that thank you so so much!! I am so glad he loved it! Isn’t cookie butter the best!
I made this cake for a birthday and it was insanely good! Packed full of cookie butter flavor! It recipe was also very easy to make!
Im so happy to hear that Amanda!! Thank you so much!
I made this recipe as cupcakes. I cored the cupcakes and filled them with cookie butter and then iced them with a cookie butter Swiss meringue buttercream. They were delicious! Next time I think I will add a bit of cinnamon and ginger to the cake batter. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much for making this recipe Karen!