Do you ever see a dessert and instantly get reminded of something or someone? For me, whenever I see a cookie cake, I always think of my mom. Every time we go to the grocery store together or see a cookie cake in one of those mall booths, she always says, “doesn’t that look so good!” or “oh that’s so pretty!” Now to be quite honest, those store-bought cookie cakes don’t look all that appetizing to me. I’ve tried them before, and they just didn’t taste right to me. Plus, they’re always covered in icing… and it’s not good icing – it’s that artificial-tasting, store-bought, icky and sugary icing that tastes like absolutely nothing to me. But my mom loves those cakes, and I’m not going to criticize her, because hey… we all have different taste buds, don’t we?
Just because I don’t like store-bought cookie cakes doesn’t mean I don’t like cookie cakes in general. In fact, I really do enjoy them, but only if they’re homemade, super dense and chewy, and not coated in sugar (aka frosting). So that inspired me to make my own go-to cookie cake recipe: one that I actually enjoy and don’t mind eating.
Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I’m a nut butter addict (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, you name it!), so it’s no surprise that I added some peanut butter to this recipe to spice it up and give it a little extra flavor. However, that’s not the only thing I did to jazz up this cookie; I also added a layer of Soom chocolate tahini to the middle of the cookie for some added ooey-gooey chocolate-y goodness!
All I did was whip up the peanut butter cookie batter (which took no time at all), and then pressed half of it into my greased pie plate.
Then I spread a very generous amount of chocolate tahini spread on top. What is chocolate tahini you may ask? Well in simplest terms, it’s like Nutella but 20 times better. It’s just ground sesame seeds (tahini) mixed with a little cocoa powder and sweetener, and that’s it! It still has a little bit of a nutty flavor to it, but I really enjoy the flavor and think it’s a much better alternative than Nutella.
I actually scooped mine out into a bowl and popped it into the microwave for about 20 seconds to make it easier to pour evenly across the cake, but you can just as easily take a spoon straight from the jar and spread it on top of the cookie batter.
Next up I just topped it with the remaining peanut butter cookie batter, spread it out evenly, and then stuck it in the oven to bake.
22 minutes later, it was nice and golden brown, and my whole kitchen smelled absolutely heavenly. But are you surprised? I mean just look at how good this cookie looks!
I was just so impatient and ready to try it that I couldn’t wait any longer – I had to dig in. If I had waited any longer, I think I might’ve gone crazy!
The cookie was so gooey and peanut buttery, and it was just like eating a slice of heaven. Seriously… just look at how thick that is 🙂
The Soom Chocolate Tahini layer melted together into the cookie batter, creating a gooey, chocolatey layer and making it even more chewy and downright delicious. It definitely lived up to my high expectations, and it truly was just like eating a slice of heaven!
After trying the initial slice, I decided that the only thing that would make it better is by adding more tahini to the top… so that’s just what I did. And just as I expected, it was the icing on top of the (cookie) cake that made it totally complete.
Since I loved my slice with chocolate tahini drizzle so much, I went ahead and added a drizzle on top of the entire cake. Because why the heck not? Life is too short not to enjoy all the chocolate!
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, very soft
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅔ cup peanut butter
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp. coffee extract (optional)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 TBSP flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" or 10" round pie plate with non-stick spray.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until soft and fluffy.
- Add the peanut butter, egg, and extracts. Continue to mix until completely smooth.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients, mix until just incorporated, and then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread HALF of the cookie batter evenly into the greased dish and press down.
- Optional: Spread a layer of chocolate tahini spread, peanut butter, or melted chocolate on top of the cookie dough.
- Top with additional peanut butter cookie dough and make sure it is evenly spread.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until top is browned. Do not over-bake!
- Remove from the oven and let cool, or dig in right away 🙂
- Top with additional peanut butter or melted chocolate chips, if desired.
