Sugar cookie cake—where cake meets sugar cookies! This festive Christmas cake features sugar cookie dough balls baked into moist vanilla cake, topped with fluffy vanilla frosting and plenty of sprinkles!
If you love chewy sugar cookies, you’ll love this recipe! As a former pastry chef, I’ve baked countless batches of sugar cookies over the years, and this sugar cookie cake is another fun twist on the classic (like my sugar cookie bars!).
It combines all the delicious flavors of traditional sugar cookies in a soft, tender cake—stuffed with sugar cookie dough balls and topped with sweet frosting. Whether for Christmas, birthdays, or any celebration, this dessert is sure to impress!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Sprinkles: For the cookie dough, we used red and green jimmies for the holiday season and a festive mix for decorating. Do not use nonpareil sprinkles, or the colors will bleed into the cookie dough!
Almond extract: For a traditional sugar cookie flavor! You can leave it out if you don’t have it on hand or don’t care for almond flavor.
Sour cream: This ingredient is needed for a super rich and moist texture. If necessary, substitute plain, full-fat Greek yogurt.
Find the ingredient measurements and instructions in the recipe card below!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the sugar cookie dough. Use a scoop to drop the sugar cookie dough onto a tray, flatten the tops, and chill in the fridge until ready.
Step 2: Cream the butter, oil, and sugar for the cake batter. In a stand mixing bowl or with a hand mixer, cream the butter, oil, and sugar until super light and fluffy, 5 minutes.
Step 3: Mix in the wet ingredients. Add the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla and sour cream.
Step 4: Alternate wet and dry ingredients. The batter should be thick and smooth. Once combined, mix in the hot water.
Step 5: Bake the cake. Spread the batter into a 9×13 pan, press the sugar cookie balls into it, and spread the batter to cover the tops before baking.
Step 6: Decorate the cake! Spread the vanilla frosting on top of the cake. Decorate with sugar cookies, extra cookie dough balls, or festive sprinkles!
Sourcing Cute Festive Sprinkles
Michaels, Amazon, and local baking stores always have fun sprinkles! For this recipe, we used a festive mix from Michaels.
Customize for Other Holidays
This cake is perfect for customizing for other occasions. For Valentine’s Day, you can use pink sprinkles or red, white, and blue for Independence Day. For a birthday celebration, use rainbow sprinkles!
Storing for Freshness
Leftover cake slices can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They can also be stored at room temperature but will not stay fresh as long.
You can also freeze cake slices for up to one month!
FAQs
If you microwave the flour for 1-2 minutes before mixing it into the cookie dough, they are safe to eat as they do not contain eggs or raw flour!
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Sugar Cookie Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Dough
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2-2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, heat treated *see notes*
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 tablespoons jimmies sprinkles
Vanilla Cake Batter
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 11 sugar cookie dough balls, from recipe above
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream, or whole milk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together until light and fluffy. Mix in the milk. Then mix in the flour, salt, and sprinkles. If too dry, add 1/2 tbsp more milk until the dough feels soft. Scoop the dough into 2 tbsp-sized portions, pressing down the tops slightly, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.9 tablespoons (126 g) unsalted butter, 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 1 1/2-2 tablespoons (18 g) whole milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, 5 tablespoons jimmies sprinkles
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Line a metal 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter, sugar, and oil until light and fluffy, 5 minutes.3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 1/4 cup (50 g) vegetable oil
- Mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed until completely incorporated before adding the next. Then mix in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl as needed.3 (150 g) large eggs, 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, 1/4 cup (56 g) sour cream
- Mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then half the milk, alternating ingredients, ending on dry.2 1/4 cups (290 g) all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1/3 cup (85 g) whole milk
- With the mixer running on low speed, stream in the hot water and mix until just combined.1/4 cup (56 g) hot water
- Spread the cake batter evenly into the baking pan. Gently press 11 sugar cookie dough discs into the cake batter, then use an offset spatula to spread the batter to cover the dough completely. You can roll the rest of the cookie dough into bite-sized balls to decorate the top!11 sugar cookie dough balls
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out covered in a few moist crumbs. Let the pan cool completely on a wire rack before decorating. Try not to stick the toothpick into the spots where there are cookie dough balls.
- Cream the butter with the paddle attachment until smooth. Then mix in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, salt, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons heavy cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Once the sugar cookie cake is completely cool, spread the frosting on top, creating swoops and swirls with the back of a spoon. Decorate with the cookie dough balls, sugar cookies, sprinkles, etc. Enjoy!
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let them come to room temperature before serving! Cake slices can also be frozen for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!
Made this for a Christmas dessert! It was a hit! I colored the buttercream blue and decorated with holiday sprinkles. Cut it into bite size almost brownie pieces so everyone could grab a taste. I was a little skeptical with the two parts, making cookies and cake. But as always the recipe is so easy to follow and came out perfectly! Thanks for another great recipe for our family cookbook!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that Erin! Thank you so much for your kind review.
The flavor was great. It took my cake a bit longer to cook. I’m wondering if my cookie dough is the right texture. It’s a bit softer than I thought it would be.
Hi Jackie, did you use a metal pan? Glass or ceramic pans will take longer to bake because of the way they conduct heat.