Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I decided to make my first post about the craft of baking.  What's something that's easy to bake, yet totally delicious, nostalgic, and guaranteed to be gobbled up?  Three words: Chocolate. Chip. Cookies.  

I pulled out a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that my mom has been making ever since I can remember.  But, because it was my dad's birthday, I made it into a cookie cake instead!

 I started out by creaming one cup of softened butter, and 1/2 cup each of white and brown sugar.  I didn't soften the butter enough, so I ended up mashing it with a wooden spoon first.

 

After it was all mixed well, I stirred in two eggs.  Tip from my mom: always beat the eggs in a separate bowl before adding them.  Not sure why, but she knows what she's talking about.  

 

The eggs are mixed, so next comes one teaspoon of vanilla!

My wet mixture is done!  The mixture won't completely combine (it looks sort of wrinkly, you could say), but that's all right.



 

Now it's time for the dry ingredients.  In a different bowl, I whisked together two cups of flour, one teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Usually I'd just use a spoon, but a whisk worked much better.

When I was sure the ingredients were combined, I added 2 1/2 cups of oats, then whisked it in as well.

Done with the dry mixture!  Then it was time for me to bring the wet mixture back out and begin combining them.  I thought it would be a little messy to dump the entire bowl of dry ingredients into the wet, so I added it in 1/3 at a time.

After I couldn't see anymore flour, I added in the next third.

 Once that was all mixed, I dumped in the remaining mixture.  As I mixed in the dry, it got more and more dough-like, and harder to stir.

 It's all combined into dough now!  Here's a close up of it:

 

Of course, this cookie cake isn't going to be complete without the chocolate chips!  I added about 1 1/2 cups while I tried my best not to eat the dough.

You could spoon the dough into blobs for cookies at this point.  However, I'm making a cake, so I plopped the dough onto a greased 12" by 12" baking tray.

  

Mom gave me another tip: to spread it out, just place a piece of wax paper over it and press it down with your palms.  

It worked perfectly!  Now it bakes at 375 degrees for about twelve minutes.

Here is the finished product!  Aah, it smells so amazing; I can't wait to eat it (though, we have to sing happy birthday first)!  You can decorate it any way you want - my mom usual goes with some store-bought icing and candy.  Sometime in the future, I'll probably explore different ways to decorate.  Of course, I'll show you when I do!

Recipe:

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars.  Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then mix into butter mixture.  Mix in the vanilla.  In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Once combined, stir in the oats.  One third at a time, mix the dry concoction into the wet one until you can't see any more flour.  After it is all mixed, add the chocolate chips.  Use wax paper to spread out onto a greased 12" by 12" baking tray, then bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.