Happy Halloween, my friends!
What are your plans?! Trick-or-treating? Passing out candy? Ridiculous parties? Or, if you’re like me, you'll be devouring all of the candy you had to buy, knowing that no one will come up to your apartment door ringing the bell…
Yes. That’s me. I can’t resist the candy aisle for any holiday, and when you can get an assorted bag of all of the best mini-size chocolates, you go for it! As a chocolate-obsessed gal, I just can’t help myself and I’m not ashamed. Funny story—I recently did a small “about me” for my job’s website and had to write about my favorite foods…all I could think of was, well, chocolate…
Yes, Katie’s favorite food is chocolate…who am I?!
ANYWAYS! Back to this glorious cookie cake. As I mentioned in my post here, cookie cakes are just like a dream of mine—and I always am tempted to buy one when walking past Mrs. Fields. So, of course, challenge accepted, and I had to make this, especially since I’m trying to use the pounds of Halloween candy that I bought so I don’t binge eat it every night.
I also feel like, if I was to get actual Trick-or-Treaters and if handing out baked goods was acceptable, this would be the most incredible treat ever!! Like, oh yeah, if you go to Katie’s house, you can get slices of a cookie cake that is stuffed with candy…basically a 2 for 1! Ahh in my wildest dreams…
AND what I love so much about this is that you can put anything you want in it—yum! I mean, Kitkats, Twix and Snickers are the best chocolates to choose, but I won’t judge if you chose something a little less exciting and wonderful. So, if you’re like me and you bought way too much candy, this is a perfect way to use it! Bake up a few of these cakes, invite over some friends, watch Hocus Pocus, or even Saw, drink so wine—really there’s nothing you can do wrong with this candy-filled cake. While I do sometimes miss the weeks of costume making and end up wearing basically a black dress with cat ears, this new tradition I have of putting on big sweats and stuffing my face with candy and wine (maybe “Crazy Dog Lady” is this costume?) is something that I can get on board with!
cookie ingredients
Butter—4 oz, or ½ C
Brown Sugar—3 oz, or 1/3 C
Sugar—1 oz, or 2 TBL
Eggs—1
Vanilla—½ tsp
Flour—6 oz, or 1 C
Salt—½ tsp
Baking Soda—½ tsp
Halloween Candy, chopped—3 oz, or ¾+ C
process
In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg and vanilla.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add this into your creamed mixture.
Scrape down the sides of your bowl.
Add in your chopped candy (reserve a small handful)—whatever you like best!
In terms of Halloween candy, I chose chocolate because, to me, that goes yummiest with this cookie cake! From there, pick your favorites. Mine happen to be Twix, Snickers and Kit Kats, but the candy aisle is your oyster!
Spray a spring form pan or a tart pan with nonstick spray.
Press the cookie dough in the pan, leaving about ½ an inch around the edge so that the cookie can spread slightly.
Sprinkle the remaining chopped candy on top of the cookie dough.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so that it will firm up.
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚ F.
Bake your cookie cake for about 20 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden.
The center may look underbaked, but it will finish baking from the heat of the pan outside of the oven.
Allow to cool completely before decorating!
buttercream ingredients
Butter—2 oz, or ¼ C
Shortening—0.5 oz, or 1 TBL
Confectioner’s Sugar, sifted—5 oz, or 1 C
Cocoa Powder, sifted—0.5 oz, or 2 TBL
Milk—0.5 oz, or 1 TBL
process
In the bowl of the your mixer, cream the butter and shortening until smooth and fluffy.
Sift together the confectioner’s sugar and the cocoa powder.
Slowly add this into the mixer, scraping down the sides when necessary.
Add the milk in about a teaspoon at a time—you may need more if you want it a little creamier.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then turn the mixer up to medium-high to give the buttercream a nice, final whip.
When your cake is completely cooled, you can begin to decorate with the buttercream!
Put it into a piping bag with whichever tip you’d like to use—a star tip will make nice rosettes or a rope, but it’s whatever look you’re going for.
Pipe around the outside boarder, decorate with some sprinkles or some more candies of your choice, and devour!
Bon Appétit!