Chewy and decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer Cake that no one will know is completely vegan and gluten free! Like eating a five-tiered bite of cookie dough and frosting, this vegan cookie cake is one for everyone to enjoy!

layered cookie cake with vanilla buttercream frosting

So what happens when you take the best chocolate chip cookie, make five layers of it in cake form, and stack it like a Jenga puzzle with vanilla buttercream frosting?

The best dang dessert you’ll ever taste.

I’m not even joking, this chocolate chip cookie layer cake had me speechless. Couldn’t even find my jaw because it dropped so low haha!

It takes like a five-tiered bite of the best Chips Ahoy cookie you’ve ever had, and covered in frosting at that.

slice of chocolate chip cookie layer cake with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream

Now for the first kicker: not ONE person thought that this cake was vegan or gluten free. Not ONE. Yet guess what? You can go check the ingredients for yourself in the next section, this is a completely gluten free and vegan cookie cake!

Andddd for the second kicker: it is easy. I’m not joking or pulling a fancy chef move saying this is a simple recipe when it’s not. It truly is! That’s what I love about tiered cakes is that they look really elegant and like it was a lot of hard work, but really, it’s just stacking the cake layers with frosting!

I can ensure you, everyone in the family and all of your friends are going to go crazy for this cookie cake!

What is a chocolate chip cookie layer cake?

It’s essentially like layers of chocolate chip cookie dough, stacked sky high, with vegan vanilla buttercream in between. I know. Heaven.

I actually got the idea from one of my blogging idols, Sally, from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I saw that she had this beautifully layered 5-tier chocolate chip cake, and it just wowed me.

So I decided, why not make my own?! I didn’t use her recipe, but I certainly was inspired by her styling so that’s why I want to give her credit 🙂

whole gluten free five tiered cookie cake

My recipe is actually quite different: it’s completely gluten free and vegan, so no dairy nor eggs!

Yet it tastes like a soft Chips Ahoy cookie in cake form. That’s essentially what this chocolate chip cookie layer cake reminds me of.

And yet, you’d never know that it’s gluten free! Trust me, I had my tastes testers in shock. I didn’t tell them of the dietary changes in this cake just to get a truly unbiased reaction, and they were floored.

I’m telling you, this gluten free cookie cake is the one to make!

Cookie Cake Ingredients

Basically, you’ll be using ingredients that you normally would use for cookie dough! And what’s easier than cookie dough?!

The ingredients you’ll use are completely gluten free and vegan, yet very simple- always my goal with these recipes. I want to empower you to make something that will wow both yourself and anyone who tries your beautiful creation.

I based this recipe off of my simple vegan chocolate chip cookies, altered it a little bit in the ratios, and what we got was magic. For this vegan chocolate chip cookie cake, you’ll need:

Gluten free flour: I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour (much different from Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour- look for the blue label!)
Vegan Butter or Coconut Oil: you’ll be using one or the other for the cake, but definitely the vegan butter for the frosting.
Coconut Sugar
Unsweetened Applesauce
Chocolate Chips
Leavening agents: just some baking soda and baking powder
Vanilla

That’s it! Pretty basic ingredients, right?

How to make the cake

What’s really cool about this cookie layer cake is that you’re essentially just making a large amount of cookie dough and baking it as a cake!

I used three 6″inch springform cake pans (I didn’t have five on me, but hey if you do, then less time in the oven!)

To start, simply make the vegan cookie cake cake batter like you would the cookie dough. Whisk the dry ingredients together, combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and then mix the two together to form a nice, sticky dough bowl (basically the size of a bowling ball, ha!).

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Then divide the cookie dough into 5 sections. If you only have a certain amount of springform pans like I do, save the unused batter for the next round of layers.

Press the layers that are going into the oven for the first round into the springform cake pans.

Bake, let cool, then place onto a cooling rack to then repeat until all five layers are complete!

How to make vegan buttercream frosting

Making a vegan vanilla buttercream frosting is actually much like making a regular buttercream frosting. These days, the vegan butters on the market (my personal favorite is Miyoko’s, but I know there are a few nut free ones out there) whip just like regular butter, so essentially, you’re just following the rules for making a regular buttercream!

The key is to soften the butter, but not have it too warm. Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction has an absolutely wonderful guide on how to get the butter just right (this is for regular butter, but can also be used for vegan butter).

up close of cookie cake with scoop of ice cream

When you feel the butter, it should still be cold, but you can lightly indent it with the tip of your finger. That’s how you know your butter is ready for buttercream.

This usually takes about 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.

To make the vegan buttercream frosting, simply:

Beat the vegan butter in a large bowl until it begins to whip.
Sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar to start, while simultaneously whipping the butter.
Continue sifting in the remaining powdered sugar.
Add in the vanilla (either extract, bean, or both!) and a little coconut cream (preferable for texture) to get it to the right consistency: smooth and spreadable, yet sturdy.

I personally went with a vanilla buttercream frosting here because I just absolutely love the taste of vanilla, and it truly compliments this cookie layer cake so well.

close up of chocolate chip vegan cookie cake

However, use this vegan buttercream frosting as a base for other flavors! You can make a chocolate frosting, caramel, peanut butter…the list goes on!

Just make sure that the cakes are completely cooled before frosting your cookie layer cake.

single scoop of ice cream on cookie cake

Then you’ll frost the cake like one normally does, and maybe sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top 😉

hand sprinkling chocolate chips onto cookie cake

Then serve and enjoy!

I hope you love this fun take on a chocolate chip cookie layer cake as much as I do! I plan on making it (or having someone make it haha!) for my birthday next month hehe.

Because who doesn’t want a 5-tiered cake for their birthday?! Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies in massive cake form!?

Let me know how you like this recipe in the comments below, and I would absolutely love to see your beautiful recreations on Instagram and Pinterest!

Happy cake stacking!

More recipes you’ll love!

Vegan Vanilla Cake

Vegan Boston Cream Pie

Classic Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Simple Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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