Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

 Are you celebrating something today? A birthday? A promotion? Or perhaps you're celebrating the 11th anniversary or your FAVORITE food blog ?!?!?  (hehehe wink wink) Then here is the perfect dessert! It's a big chocolate chip cookie baked as a cake! Fun, huh??  I made it a while back for a friend's birthday. Normally, I would've baked this someone a CAKE for his birthday, but he described himself as "not much of a cake guy" (I know I know, it makes no sense to me either) so I decided that this was a happy compromise! It's a really easy recipe that I found on a blog called Garnish & Glaze, and it's FABULOUS. My decorations were inspired by them too, only I used chocolate ganache instead of chocolate buttercream. You do you! So the next time you're in the mood to celebrate something, keep this one in mind. Delicious rich chocolate chip cookie with swirls of chocolate ganache... What's not to love???? Come to think of it, you could really make this anytime at all. Why wait for a reason to celebrate! You made it through the day so far, right?
That's reason enough for me!

10 tbs butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate Ganache Frosting


Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9" cake pan.
Cream the butter and sugars together for 2 minutes and then mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Use a wooden spoon to mix in all but 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips and then press the cookie dough into the cake pan. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips on top and press them down slightly. Bake for 22-25 minutes. Let the cookie cool completely and then run a sharp knife along the edge to loosen, then turn it out onto a serving plate. Pipe the frosting along the edges and add multicolored sprinkles, if desired.

Tips:
Be sure not to over bake it. You don't want it to be too dry!
Looking for variations? Try adding chopped pecans or walnuts. Try peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips, or a mixture of the two. Use literally any kind of chips you like! Butterscotch, white chocolate, I've even seen cinnamon or salted caramel chips. You can also do M&Ms for a colorful twist. Basically you can vary this in as many different ways as you can with regular chocolate chip cookies!