Chocolate cake is one of my all-time favorite desserts. Every year for my birthday, I request a homemade chocolate cake. There is just something so comforting, delicious and damn-near perfect about a rich chocolate cake. But when you make it into a rich, deliciously, handheld cookie topped with a chocolate fudge buttercream frosting, I’m just as smitten.
That is the recipe I’m sharing today. Chocolate Cake Cookies with Chocolate Fudge Buttercream Frosting. Yes, this is another Crumbl copycat recipe but it’s just too good not to share with you. It’s like having a piece of chocolate cake but in a less messy, don’t-need-a-fork kind of way.
If rich chocolate cake isn’t necessarily your thing, may I suggest one of our other Crumbl copycat recipes such as Churro Cookies, S’mores Brownie Cookies, Circus Animal Cookies, Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cookies, S’mores Brownie Cookies or the Chilled Sugar Cookies.
CAN I MAKE SMALLER COOKIES?
Crumbl is known for their HUGE cookies. They are so big that they actually list them as TWO servings when you are in the Crumbl store. That doesn’t mean you have to make your Crumbl cookies as big at home. This recipe makes 16-18 cookies because I recommend making them a little smaller than Crumbl would. I would assume Crumbl using about 1/4 of a cup of cookie dough for each cookie and I suggest about 2 tablespoons in order to make them a bit more manageable.
If you prefer GIANT cookies, make only 10 cookies with this recipe and they will be GIANT!! If you prefer smaller cookies, make 16-18 with the dough. So, you do you.
WHAT ARE CRUMBL COOKIES?
Crumbl is a rather new cookie bakery that was started by two cousins in Logan, Utah in 2017. Cousins, Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan set out to create the world’s best chocolate chip cookie. After some trial and error, testing ingredients and baking methods, Sawyer, Jason and their family opened up the first Crumbl store in Utah when Sawyer was still attending Utah State University.
Crumbl’s delicious cookies wouldn’t be complete without their iconic pink packaging! Crumbl’s boxes were designed to perfectly fit each Crumbl cookie side-by-side, whether in a 4-pack, 6-pack, or 12-pack box. The “4-pack” pink box — the brand’s most popular and notable — was developed in 2018, shortly after Crumbl sold its very first cookie.
They opened with just milk chocolate chip cookies and milk but quickly expanded to the rotating weekly cookie flavors that we know today. Crumbl’s award-winning milk chocolate chip cookie has always been on the menu with their chilled pink sugar cookie becoming a semi-permanent menu item soon after.
Since opening its doors in 2017, Crumbl Cookies has expanded to over 200 bakeries in 32 states nationwide, making it the fastest-growing cookie company in the nation.
RECIPE VIDEO
CHOCOLATE CAKE COOKIES INGREDIENTS
Butter – The butter for this recipe should be cold. Right out of the fridge cold.
Brown Sugar – Unlike many other cookie recipes, you are going to use much more brown sugar than granulated sugar. It works. Trust us.
Granulated Sugar
Egg
Cold Coffee – I used this coffee that you can grab at your local grocery store. Don’t skip this because it brings out the amazing chocolate flavor.
Dark Cocoa – You can get fancy and get a more expensive cocoa but I use the Hersheys Special Dark Cocoa and it tastes great.
Vanilla – Go for the real vanilla extract and NOT the imitation.
Baking Soda
Flour – All-purpose flour is all you need.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – Definitely go for the good, quality ones here. Nestle, Ghirardelli, or Hersheys will be fine.
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CAKE COOKIES
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper or a silpat mat to line a baking sheet.
2. Cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are blended.
3. Add in eggs, vanilla and cold coffee and beat until combined.
4. Add in flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix until all combined.
5. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out dough and roll into balls. Depending on the size of cookies you want, scoop out 1/4 cup dough for BIG cookies or 2 TBSP dough for smaller cookies. Place dough balls on prepared pan (6 cookies to a pan) and flatten with your hand to about 1/2 inch thick.
7. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cool cookies cookie sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
8. While cookies are cooling, make the frosting.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING INGREDIENTS
BUTTER – Softened salted or unsalted butter
VANILLA EXTRACT – Go for the real vanilla extract and NOT the imitation.
POWDERED SUGAR
DARK COCOA – I use the Hersheys Special Dark Cocoa and it tastes great.
SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE MELTED – Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until fully melted.
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE FUDGE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
In stand mixer, cream butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa for about 2-3 minutes until smooth.
Add in melted chocolate and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. NOTE: The color of the frosting will get lighter the longer you mix. That’s okay.
Put the frosting in a piping bag with a star tip OR you can put the frosting in a gallon size Ziploc bag and cut off one corner of the bag. Use the frosting bag to pipe frosting in a spiral on top of the cooled cookies.
FAQs
Honestly, you can go wrong serving them either way. They are amazing warm (this is how Crumbl serves them) and just as delicious served chill. Try it both ways and pick your favorite.
Pop the cookie in the microwave for 10 seconds and you’ll get a delicious warm-out-of-the-oven cookie.
Absolutely. It just depends on the size of cookies you want and how much you divide the dough into. You can easily get 24 smaller cookies out of this recipe OR 12 larger cookies.
I have found that all the Crumbl copycat recipes stay fresh longer if you keep them in the refrigerator. No matter what air-tight container you keep the cookies in, they don’t stay fresh as long out on the counter as they do if you put them in the fridge. So, the moral of the story is STORE THESE COOKIES IN THE FRIDGE. Sure, you can eat them cold, let them come to room temperature or warm them up but you’ll thank me when you still have fresh cookies 3-4 days later.
Chocolate Cake Cookies Crumbl Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter cold and cubed
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cold coffee
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Fudge Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper or a silpat mat to line a baking sheet.
- Cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are blended.
- Add in eggs, vanilla and cold coffee and beat until combined.
- Add in flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix until all combined.
- Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Scoop out dough and roll into balls. Depending on the size of cookies you want, scoop out 1/4 cup dough for BIG cookies or 2 TBSP dough for smaller cookies. Place dough balls on prepared pan (6 cookies to a pan) and flatten with your hand to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cool cookies cookie sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
- While cookies are cooling, make the frosting.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- In stand mixer, cream butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa for about 2-3 minutes until smooth.
- Add in melted chocolate and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. NOTE: The color of the frosting will get lighter the longer you mix. That's okay.
- Put the frosting in a piping bag with a star tip OR you can put the frosting in a gallon size Ziploc bag and cut off one corner of the bag. Use the frosting bag to pipe frosting in a spiral on top of the cooled cookies.
Nutrition
