Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Layered Chocolate Cake

A few years ago I started offering to make special desserts or cakes for the birthdays that happen at this house. None of us are huge cake eaters so this has resulted in things like cheese cakes, pies, and cakes that are covered in so many things you forget that there's actually cake involved.

I'm always keeping my eye out for ideas to suggest. It was just days before my sister's birthday and we still had NO idea what her dessert would be. At the last minute I remembered a "chocolate peanut butter something or other" that I saw on Picky-Palate. I suggested it to my sister and got the green light.

This cake is kind of crazy. It is huge and pretty rich and comes topped with a bunch of reese's peanut butter cups. We learned that a very skinny piece is best!

 I made the cake layers on Thursday morning as soon as the breakfast mess was cleaned up.  It was really simple.You can get the a printable recipe by clicking HERE.

The batter tasted very much like brownies which made me slightly nervous because that would be A LOT of brownie.

As it turned out it was nothing like brownie which was a good thing in this case.

 

I made the cookie dough layer a few hours before the party after I got the dinner casserole ready to go.

The cookie dough was actually pretty even when all was said and done. I pressed it out on the bottom of a 9in cake pan, set the cake pan on the cake and then gently pried it off. 

The cookie dough stays raw and does not include any eggs. It's what caught my eye when I originally saw this recipe!

This frosting is THE BEST frosting I have EVER made or tasted. Like, THE BEST. It's butter and powdered sugar and  coccoa powder and melted chocolate chips.

 I melted my chocolate chips in the microwave and I added a touch of milk (maybe a teaspoon) to the frosting to thin it down just a bit.

This Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Chocolate Layer Cake is fancy enough to serve at something as special as a 16th Birthday Party and yet simple enough not to add any extra stress to the day!

When I had my first piece I thought I might make it again with very thin layers of cake, but a few days later I cut my second piece EXTRA skinny and it was perfect!