This Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake with funfetti is a totally decadent treat! Layers of brownies and edible funfetti cookie dough are topped with a delicious chocolate ganache & more sprinkles!
Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake
So in marriage, one of the things we have to learn to do is share. Problem is, sometimes sharing isn’t easy. And sometimes sharing means someone else loses – as in loses something. As is loses the nail clippers that you both share. And sometimes that seems to happen over and over and over.
When that happens, there’s only one thing to do.
Not share any longer. 🙂
After going through countless nail clippers, we finally argued (jokingly) the other day about who keeps losing them. And of course we blame each other. And of course I’m right. I always put them back where they are supposed to go.
But he thinks the same thing of himself. He thinks it’s all my fault.
So when he came home the other day and saw two new nail clippers on the kitchen counter, he immediately started to tell me that one would be for me and one for him – as if that wasn’t why I’d gotten two to begin with.
And I one up-ed him. I was prepared with masking tape for us to label ours with our names so that there could be no confusion about whose is whose. Then time would tell who loses the clippers. Oh yes.
We then ran off to hide our clippers in different spots in the house where the other person can’t find them. That way, we can determine who is the one responsible for losing them by seeing who loses theirs first. It’s very scientific.
Of course I’m sure he’d rather grow claws than have to come and get my nail clippers and admit that he lost the battle! It may take some time, but I am sure that some day soon I will report my victory. 🙂
We gotta have a little fun, you know?
Like this cake – this cake is super fun! I mean, look at all those sprinkles! Don’t they just scream fun and happy?
I loved the peanut butter version of this cake so much, I decided to make a funfetti version. I have a bit of a funfetti addiction, so it was only natural that it would happen.
This cake is fairly simple to put together. The only baking required is for the brownies. I used a from scratch brownie, but you could definitely use a box mix if you prefer. You’d probably need two boxes to get enough batter for 3 brownies.
The brownies are filled with layers of the best cookie dough ever – cake batter! I used my beloved Funfetti Cake Mix, but you could use a white or yellow make mix too. The cookie dough is eggless, so no need to worry about baking. Just mix everything together!
They layers are held together with chocolate ganache and it makes a wonderful, rich combo!
I finished the cake off with more ganache on top, some chocolate icing and sprinkles. I even pressed sprinkles into the sides of the cookie dough layer. Is there such a thing as too many sprinkles? No? Ok, good. Because they are an early celebration of the day I win the toe nail clipper battle. 🙂
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake
- Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake
- Ultimate Layered Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake
Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake
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Ingredients
Brownies
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cookie Dough
- 1 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- boxes (15.25 oz each) dry funfetti cake mix (heat treated)
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (heat treated)
- 3-4 tbsp milk
- 4-5 tsp sprinkles
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate Ganache
- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (divided)
Chocolate Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp water (or milk)
- Sprinkles (for topping, if desired)
Instructions
- Line the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla extract.
- Add eggs and mix until well combined.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the egg mixture until well combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the 3 pans and spread evenly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
- Remove brownies from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to cool on wire rack.
- While brownies cool, make cookie dough.
To Make the Cookie Dough:
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Mix in vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on low speed, add 1 entire box of dry cake mix, plus 1 1/2 cups from another box of cake mix and mix until combined.
- Add 1 cup flour and mix until combined.
- Add milk and up to an additional 1/3 cup of flour to preferred thickness.
- Stir in sprinkles and chocolate chips. Dough will be thick. Set aside.
To Assemble Cake:
- Once the brownies are cool, it’s time to put the layers together. You can pile the cookie dough onto the brownies, stack the layers and leave messy layers, or use the method I used for having clean edges/sides of the cake.
- Place half of chocolate chips in a metal bowl.
- Microwave half of the heavy cream until it starts to boil. Remove from microwave and pour over chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap for 5-7 minutes.
- Whisk chocolate and cream until smooth.
- Using one of the same 8-inch cake pans that you baked the brownies in, put parchment paper or saran wrap in the bottom and up the sides of the pan. You will use it to lift the layers out of the pan.
- Place the first brownie into the bottom of the pan.
- Add about 3 tbsp of chocolate ganache on top of the brownie and spread into a thin layer. This will help the cookie dough stick to the brownie.
- Put half of the cookie dough into the pan and spread evenly on top of the brownie.
- Remove the first two layers from the cake pan and place on it's serving dish.
- Repeat steps 7-10 with the second brownie and remaining cookie dough. Then remove from pan.
- Put another 3 tbsp of chocolate ganache on top of the cookie dough layer from the first section of cake and spread thinly.
- Place the second section of cake onto the first.
- Put another 3 tbsp of chocolate ganache on top of the cookie dough layer on top (the fourth layer) and spread thinly.
- Top with remaining brownie. Press sprinkles into sides of cookie dough, if desired.
To Finish Off the Cake:
- Place remaining chocolate chips in a metal bowl.
- Microwave remaining heavy cream until it starts to boil. Remove from microwave and pour over chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap for 5-7 minutes.
- Whisk chocolate and cream until smooth.
- Allow to sit for a few minutes until it just starts to thicken, then pour over the top of the cake.
- Place cake in refrigerator and make the chocolate icing.
- To make the icing, beat the shortening and butter together until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar and cocoa and mix until smooth.
- Add water or milk and mix until smooth.
- Remove cake from fridge, and pipe icing onto the top edge of the cake. Top with sprinkles.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Enjoy!
Hi! How do I heat treat the cake mix?
Spread it evenly on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
I made this cake for my sons birthday it was a bummer. Everyone I shared this with agreed it was just too intensely packed with sugar. While the idea is nice maybe finding a balance of light and heavy within the layers would have helped this cake.
There’s no doubt this is a heavy, dense and intense cake. Just looking at it you can tell it’s full of sugar. I’m sorry you weren’t happy with it. Perhaps something that is a play on these flavors would be better for your tastes. My recipes that include cookies and brownies are often fairly sweet, but this cheesecake might be more along the lines of something you would enjoy. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/oreo-brookie-cheesecake/
Can this be made and then frozen ? I wanna make it today but the party isn’t until Saturday! Thanks
I don’t usually recommend freezing fully made cakes. There can be condensation during thawing that can add moisture to the cake and possibly make things soggy. It helps to that it in the fridge, but I still don’t typically recommend it. That said, you could certainly try it.
Made thus a few years ago for memorial day weekend – ridiculously delicious! Wanting to make again this weekend. Hoping to do in cupcake form. Has anyone done this?
Can I make edible cookie dough from scratch instead of using the cake mix?
Sure, it’ll just have a little bit different flavor.
Do you need to keep the cake refrigerated if making ahead of time?
I would, yes. Just bring to room temperature prior to serving.
How do you store this? Do you leave it on the counter or put it in the fridge?
You could leave it out of the fridge for up to 24 hours, but then would want to refrigerate it. Bring it back to room temperature before serving, though.
This sounded so decadent and there are just four of us here, so I cut the recipe in half and used six inch pans. It turned out great! Very rich!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing recipe! Made it for my sons seventh birthday. He loves brownies, and wanted cookie dough, so this was perfect. Tweaked it a bit and only did two layers of brownie and one of cookie dough, but used extra cookie dough to make little ball bites. Can’t wait to eat it! He wanted a dino theme, so I decorated it with his toys and a rice krispie/fondant volcano. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes, this one was fun.
So glad you enjoyed it!
please explain how to heat treat the flour and cake mix for the edible cookie dough portion of this cake.
Thank you.
Heat treating is a way to kill the nasty germs but keeps the flour usable for mixing into cookie dough. The raw flour is heated to high enough temperatures, through and through, to make sure all the bad bacteria is eradicated.Oct 16, 2019. Just use the microwave and check That temperature hit 165 degrees.
Looks amazing! Planning on making this this week. Can you make it with a boxed brownie batter? Just seeing if there are any time cutting hacks! Thanks!
Yes, a box mix would be totally fine.
I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday party and she absolutely loved it! The brownie layer is a great touch.
I’m so glad she enjoyed it!
I found this recipe in August of 2018 to make for sons birthday. He wanted brownies instead of a cake so I searched the internet for a special brownie cake and found this. The cake was a huge hit. Then, this weekend the kids asked me to make this cake again (just cause) but they wanted Heath. The recipe was a breeze to modify for their request. I used vanilla bean cake mix and added 1.5 c of chopped Heath to the mix instead of the white and chocolate chips. On the top, I added more chopped Heath but otherwise, followed the original recipe. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Wonderful! So glad it was a hit!
Pure deliciousness! I know what I’m baking for my daughter’s birthday. She’s going to LOVE It.
Thanks for sharing Lindsay!
How would you go about cutting this recipe in half?
I haven’t ever tried it. But you’d want to cut all ingredient amounts in half and probably try a 5 or 6 inch pan.
Hello, just seen this cake recipe and I’m thinking of making for my son’s birthday this weekend. Only thing is, where I live I can’t get hold of funfetti cake mix. Do you think I could just use a packet of birthcake mix and add sprinkles?
That should be fine. I hope you enjoy!