This Valentines Cookie Cake is a stunning sweet dessert to share on Valentine's Day. You can make this in a heart-shaped pan or regular round or square baking pan, and serve it frosted or unfrosted. Any way you slice it, it's a sweet way to say "I Love You" this Valentine's Day!
With Valentine's Day coming up, we're baking up all sorts of delicious desserts around here. We love making Valentine's Day Oreo Pops and these sweet Valentine's Day Madeleines for class parties and our own family celebrations.
If you want to make one stunning Valentine's Day dessert that makes a big impact, try this Valentine's Day Cookie Cake!
I remember Valentine's Day cookie cakes being popular when I was a kid. You could order these heart-shaped cookie cakes ahead of time from Mrs. Fields Cookies at the mall.
But it's super easy to make your own Valentine cookie cake at home!
Jump to:
🩷 Why you'll love this recipe
This beautiful and oh so delicious heart cookie cake is definitely made for those with a sweet tooth. And it's a great way to send some tasty holiday greetings to those you love!
- Easy - Essentially, this is one giant cookie cake baked in a heart-shaped pan. It's an easy recipe that even beginning bakers can make!
- Simple - You only need simple ingredients that are easy to find in any local grocery store.
- Versatile - This recipe doesn't have to be saved just for special occasions. You can use this batter all year round in a regular round cake pan or square baking pan to make a regular chocolate chip cookie cake.
- Freezes well - You can freeze an unfrosted cookie cake for up to two months.
- Delicious - With semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, Valentine M & Ms, and sprinkles, topped with a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting, this is a dessert lover's dream.
🍪 Ingredient notes
You probably already have most of these simple ingredients in your pantry!
- Flour - Use all-purpose flour. I have not tested this recipe with other flours and cannot attest to whether they will work as a substitution or not.
- Cornstarch -
- Baking soda -
- Butter - You'll want to use unsalted butter that has been softened at room temperature.
- Sugars - Using both white granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds depth of flavor and richness to the cookie dough batter.
- Chocolate chips - A mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips adds balance to the batter. You could also use a mix with dark chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips may be too sweet to use in this recipe, as the cookie cake is very sweet already.
- Sprinkles - White sprinkles add another layer of visual appeal and sweetness to the cookie cake. You could easily leave these out if you think the cake is sweet enough.
- Frosting - You can decorate the cookie cake with canned or homemade vanilla buttercream frosting. And you can choose to add food coloring for even more vibrant colors to this dessert. But this cake is beautiful and sweet enough on its own without the frosting if you want to leave it unfrosted!
✅ Step-by-step instructions
The full list of ingredients and detailed baking instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. But here are some step-by-step
Prep the pan
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F. Then prep the baking pan by either greasing it with butter, spraying baking spray, or tracing the bottom onto parchment paper and lining the pan with parchment paper.
Make the batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a separate large mixing bowl and using a hand mixer), cream together the butter and both sugars for a few minutes, until smooth and creamy.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
5. Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, gently fold in most of the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and M & Ms; save some of the candies to press on top just before baking.
6. Transfer the cookie batter to the prepared baking pan, gently pressing the dough to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Press into an even layer as possible.
7. If adding sprinkles, gently press them onto the top of the batter, along with a few additional M & Ms and chocolate chips.
8. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before serving.
🧁 Make the buttercream frosting
If you are going to decorate your cookie cake with frosting, you can make it while the cake is baking. Use store-bought frosting or you can make our Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe. Add food coloring if you want. I added some pink food gel to the frosting you see in these pics, and kept some of the frosting white so that there would be some contrast in the colors for added visual appeal.
👩🏻🍳 Baking tips and recipe FAQs
This easy Valentine's Day recipe makes a richly sweet cookie cake. If you prefer it to be less sweet:
- Use fewer chocolate chips and M&Ms.
- Leave out the sprinkles.
- Leave out the frosting. This cookie cake is just as delicious without the frosting!
This cookie cake will have varied bake times depending on the exact baking pan you use. There are such a wide variety of heart-shaped pans: they vary in size from 8" to 11," and they are anywhere from .5" to 3" tall. Plus, the material used for these pans varies. The bake time of 25 to 35 minutes is a general guideline that seems to work for most mid-size aluminum pans. Our heart shaped pan is 1.77 Inches (H) x 10.82 Inches (W) x 10.43 Inches (D), so it takes longer to bake and is done around 35-40 minutes.
You can, however you should be aware that your cookie cake may bake faster than the time we include here for aluminum pans. With silicone pans, the dough spreads and bakes faster, so you may also have a denser cookie cake.
Once the cookie cake has cooled, gently use a spatula or plastic knife to loosen it around the edges of the pan. Then place a cooling rack on top of it and flip the pan upside down. That should release the cookie cake onto the rack.
You can store unfrosted cookie cakes covered at room temperature for up to 3 or 4 days. Store frosted cookie cakes covered in an airtight container or with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days. Be sure to take it out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving, to allow it to come to room temperature.
Yes! For longer storage, leave the cookie cake unfrosted, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer-safe storage containers for up to two months.
🍰 Serving ideas
This Valentines cookie cake can be served so many ways!
- Serve slices either frosted or unfrosted - both ways are delicious, but frosted is definitely for those with a super sweet tooth.
- Top each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
- Drizzle some chocolate syrup over the top for added sweetness.
If you're making a Valentine's Day charcuterie board or dessert board, you could serve this cookie cake in the middle. Then surround with Strawberry Crinkle Cookies, bowls of Valentine's Day popcorn, Valentine's Day Oreo Pops and Chocolate-Dipped Madeleines. Then fill in with all your favorite holiday candies.
Making this for a 21+ Valentine's Day gathering? Be sure to check out our guide for the Best Valentine's Day Wines.
❤️ Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make Valentines Day Cookie Cakes? Here are the kitchen tools and equipment you'll need:
- Heart-Shaped Baking Pan - Baking this large cookie cake in an iconic heart shaped pan adds to the Valentine's Day sweetness factor. But you can bake it in a regular cake pan if you want.
- Large bowl - You'll need a large mixing bowl and whisk to whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Stand mixer - Use a stand mixer or a large bowl and hand mixer to make the batter.
More Valentine's Day recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Valentine's Cookie Cake
Equipment
- 1 heart shaped baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup red, white, and pink M & M candies
- 1 Tablespoon white sprinkles
- vanilla buttercream frosting, plus food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a heart-shaped baking pan with baking spray or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the softened butter and both sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides every minute or so to ensure all of the butter and sugars are well incorporated.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture, scraping down the sides as needed to incorporate all of the ingredients. Mix together just until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold in most of the semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and M & Ms; save some for the next step.
- Gently press the batter into the baking pan, filling in the whole shape and trying to press it into an even layer.
- Gently press the white sprinkles and the remaining chocolate chips and M & Ms onto the top of the batter.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 - 35 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cookie cake comes out clean. The edges will be golden brown.
- While the cookie cake is baking, make the vanilla buttercream frosting. Color with pink food coloring if desired. Transfer to a piping bag.
- After the cake is done baking, allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting and transferring to a plate. Allow the cookie cake to cook completely before decorating with the vanilla buttercream frosting.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
Leave a Reply