This soft & tender unbelievably vegan cookie dough cake consists of a one bowl MOIST vanilla cake batter that’s loaded with dairy free chocolate chips and eggless cookie dough in every bite, and layered with a deliciously rich “cream cheese” cookie dough frosting and chocolate ganache. Decadence in every bite!

MOIST Vegan Cookie Dough Cake with 'Cream Cheese' Cookie Dough Frosting slice on a plate

If you love chocolate chip cookie dough and you love vanilla cake, then let me introduce you to this amazing cookie dough cake. It’s the ultimate combination of two favorite desserts, and it’s pretty fantastic.

I was inspired by Jenna from Butternut Bakery’s delicious cookie dough cake, and so deperately wanted a cookie dough version.

I mean, we have cookie dough cheesecake and cookie dough cupcakes, so we needed a cookie dough cake!

We have deliciously rich cookie dough balls baked into a tender vanilla cake studded with chocolate chips. Then load on some decadently rich dairy free cream cheese-based cookie dough frosting, chocolate ganache, and more edible cookie dough for the almost cake recipe.

And guess what? This cookie dough cake is naturally vegan, eggless, and dairy free. Yet, I promise, you’d never know. If you’re looking to surprise your non-vegan family and/or friends, then this is your cake recipe!

Now let’s bake it!

cookie dough cake on a marble plate

What you’ll need:

This cake, while easy in concept, is pretty extensive in terms of the steps and materials. Worth it? Absolutely. If you’re a cookie dough lover, you’ll fall head over heels in love with this cake recipe. But you do need a lot of ingredients, so this is a great cake for special occasions!

The cake is comprised of four main parts. The cookie dough, the actual cake, the cookie dough frosting, and the outer chocolate frosting. Below is a list of ingredients that you’ll need, with the exact measurements found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. All ingredients can be listed as either Metric or US, but I recommend using the Metric measurements. This will give you the most accurate bake.

Vegan Cookie Dough:

  • Flour: you don’t need to heat treat the flour here, unless you’re also using the cookie dough to decorate the outside of the cake (which I recommend making that additional cookie dough during the decorating stage!). You can also use a gluten free flour blend here!
  • Vegan butter: you can use coconut oil, but the cookie dough will taste best with vegan butter.
  • Brown sugar & granulated sugar
  • Dairy free yogurt: My favorite is to use Forager Project, though you can use Cocojune or So Delicious! Kite Hill works great too.
  • Chocolate chips: I used Enjoy Life! Mini Chips.

Vegan Cake:

  • Flour: again, you can use gluten free 1:1 baking flour here! I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour.
  • Vegan butter: stick with the vegan butter for the cake. It will yield the best results!
  • Sugar: you can use coconut sugar here or granulated sugar.
  • Leavening agents: this is your baking powder and baking soda.
  • Dairy free yogurt: My favorite for a vegan egg replacement in cakes.
  • Dairy free milk with ACV: mixing the vinegar with the dairy free milk will give you a vegan buttermilk. This is essential for yielding that super fluffy and tender texture!
  • Vanilla extract

Cookie Dough Frosting:

  • Vegan butter: for frosting, stick with vegan butter please!
  • Flour: For the frosting, you will need to heat treat the flour. This is because you’re consuming this part of the recipe “raw” in essence.
  • Vegan cream cheese
  • Light brown sugar
  • Powdered sugar
  • Chocolate chips
slice of cookie dough cake on a plate

How to make an eggless cookie dough cake (overview)

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

You’ll make this cookie dough cake in 4 stages essentially. First, the cookie dough, followed by the cake layers. Then the cookie dough frosting, and finally the chocolate buttercream.

  1. The cookie dough: this component is based off of my edible vegan cookie dough, and is similar in process. Just without the applesauce! Simply cream together the vegan butter and coconut sugar. Then add in the flour and fold in the chocolate chips. If your cookie dough is too soft, you can chill it in the fridge as you make the cakes.
  2. The cake: this next section is based off of my vegan vanilla cake. You’ll make the cake as you would any other cake. Then when you’re about to bake the batter, add in dollops of cookie dough to the batter, and gently spread the batter over the cookie dough. Bake the cakes and allow them to fully cool before making the frosting.
  3. The cookie dough frosting: this is like cookie dough, but more frosting like! Once you make the buttercream, you’ll add in the flour and coconut sugar, and cream everything together. Then gently fold in the chocolate chips. At this stage, you can assemble the cake. Apply the frosting in between the cake layers and store in the fridge as you make the final component.

Absolutely! To make this vegan cookie dough cake entirely gluten free as well, swap in gluten free 1:1 baking flour, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour.

Can I make the cake layers ahead of time?

You can absolutely make the cake layers ahead of time. I’d aim for making the cookie dough cake layers the afternoon before, and assembling the cake the morning of the next day. Allow the cake layers to fully cool before storing. This will prevent too much warmth and condensation getting into the cake layers, causing a soggy cake.

Then simply wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and either store at room temperature or in the fridge.

bitten slice of cookie dough cake

This cookie dough cake in particular was designed to be a vegan option in the array of cookie dough cakes out there! There are plenty of non-vegan cookie dough cakes on the web. So why not try a vegan version?

There are plenty of amazing dairy-free substitutes out there that taste just like the real deal, so if you’re dairy free, then this is the cake for you. I recommend using Miyoko’s or Plant Crock for the best tasting vegan butter in baking.

In terms of eggless baking, dairy free yogurt is fairly common these days, and easy to find in the U.S. You can also use unsweetened applesauce.

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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slice of cookie dough cake

MOIST Vegan Cookie Dough Cake with ‘Cream Cheese’ Cookie Dough Frosting

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 16 1x
  • Category: Cakes
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This soft & tender unbelievably vegan cookie dough cake consists of a one bowl MOIST vanilla cake batter that’s loaded with dairy free chocolate chips and eggless cookie dough in every bite, and layered with a deliciously rich “cream cheese” cookie dough frosting and chocolate ganache. Decadence in every bite!


Ingredients

Scale

Inspired by Butternut Bakery’s Cookie Dough Cake.

Vanilla Cake: 

  • 2 batches vegan cookie dough
  • 1 1/4 cup (300 mL) vegan buttermilk
  • 3 2/3 cup (450 g) all-purpose flour (or 512 g gluten free 1:1 baking flour + 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt 
  • 1 3/4 cup (350 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (220 g) salted vegan butter (I recommend Miyoko’s or Flora Plant butter), room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 g) unsweetened dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract (yes, 2 tablespoons!!)
  • Optional (but recommended): 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
  • 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I recommend mini)

Vegan Cream Cheese Cookie Dough Frosting:

  • 1 cup (220 g) vegan butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup  (220 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (62 g) heat-treated all purpose flour*
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
  • 2 1/23 cups organic powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 24 tbsp unsweetened dairy free milk
  • 1 cup vegan mini chocolate chips
  • Vegan chocolate ganache, for decoration

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease three 8″ cake pans with cooking oil, and line them with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Prep ingredients: Prepare the vegan buttermilk. Combine the dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar, and set aside to sit for 5-6 minutes. You can weigh and measure the remaining ingredients during this time. 
  3. Make the cookie dough: Make sure the flour is heat-treated for both the cookie dough and cookie dough frosting. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to whisk together the vegan butter, sugar, light brown sugar, dairy free yogurt, salt, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the flour into the cookie dough.  Fold in the chocolate chips. Then scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon sized cookie dough balls. You should yield about 15 cookie dough balls. You can make more for the decoration of the cake- make sure that you’re using heat-treated flour.
  4. Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Then add in the flour and pour in the vegan buttermilk, whisking simultaneously JUST until the flour is combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Bake the cakes: Divide the batter between the three cake pans evenly. Drop 4-5 cookie dough balls into each cake layer. Bake for 30-33 minutes in  the 8″ cake pans, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Cool: Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled completely (there is absolutely no warmth to the touch!), then you can prepare your buttercream.
  7. Vegan Cookie Dough Frosting: Cream the vegan butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer for about 3 minutes. Sift in the powdered sugar, flour, light brown sugar sugar, and vanilla extract and continue mixing until it becomes a fluffy buttercream.  Use the dairy-free milk if needed to help incorporate the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  8. Assemble the cake: place the first cake layer onto a cake plate or stand. Spread 1/2 of the vegan cookie dough frosting onto the cake layer, then top with the second layer and repeat. Place the cake into the fridge to chill while you make the vegan chocolate buttercream.
  9. Finish decorating the cake: Frost cake the outside of the cake with the chocolate buttercream. Top with extra cookie dough balls and serve!

Notes

Vegan chocolate chips: I recommend Enjoy Life chocolate. They’re 100% vegan, Fair Trade, and have many options, including 100% dark chocolate and vegan milk chocolate.

Heat Treating the flour: you’ll only need to heat treat the flour of the cookie dough frosting, as that will be the only cookie dough part we consume raw (unless you top with additional cookie dough balls on top!). To heat treat flour, check out this article. 

Gluten free: you can use gluten free 1:1 baking flour, such as King Arthur measure for measure flour  for the entirety of this cake recipe if needed. Please still heat treat the flour where necessary.