From Scratch to Scrumptious

Finally! A Cookie Dough you’re supposed to eat! This Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting uses the best part of the chocolate chip cookie (the dough!) and makes it into the perfect cake frosting!

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This frosting is a hit with kids and adults alike. Heck, I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love cookie dough frosting!

My favorite cake to pair with this frosting is chocolate! But I’ve also used it on top of a Butterscotch Cake (a recipe I got from LifeLoveAndSugar.com), by request of my second oldest daughter, and it was a match made in heaven!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting Ingredients

This frosting has almost all of the ingredients you would expect to see in a classic chocolate chip cookie, except, of course, no eggs!!

Butter and brown sugar with a hint of vanilla provide the classic flavors. Flour is added for structure. Milk is added to get to the consistency of frosting. It’s a win!

Milk: Use any fat content milk you have. Of course a whole milk will make a richer frosting, but my guess is no one will be able to tell either way.

Chocolate Chips: Just like a chocolate chip cookie, this recipe uses Semi-Sweet. This recipe calls for mini chocolate chips. Since I always have a giant bag of regular-sized chocolate chips, I just run them through my Progressive Nut Chopper (amazon link).

I’ve used both mini chocolate chips and chopped up regular sized chocolate chips. I’ll be honest, I prefer using chopped up chips.

Maybe it’s because they’re smaller pieces, or maybe it’s because they have a flatter shape (no point on the top), but I find that using chopped chips gives you a smoother finish on the cake. See below for a comparison.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting

The 2 most important steps of making this frosting is beating the butter and brown sugar together at the beginning and beating the frosting after it’s made.

Creaming the butter and brown sugar in step 1 helps you get a lighter, fluffy final product. Below you can see the difference between “just mixed” butter and brown sugar and “fully creamed”.

Check out the difference!! The first mixture is grainy and dense. Add another 2-3 minutes in the mixer and you’ve got yourself a fluffy, smooth mixture!

After you’ve added the flour, vanilla and salt, you’ll add milk a bit at a time until you have a fluffy frosting. I start by drizzling in a 1/2 cup of milk and add more bit by bit until I get the right consistency. I usually end up adding really close to 3/4 cup. Don’t be scared to add more if you want it.

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Comparing Mini Chocolate Chips vs. Chopped Chocolate Chips

While this recipe *technically* calls for mini chocolate chips, you can use regular-sized semi-sweet chocolate chips if you chop them up (either with a knife, nut-chopper or food processor). Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using each.

Mini Chocolate Chips:

Pro: The frosting will look cleaner. There won’t be any tiny specks of chocolate chips; it will all be whole, nicely-shaped chocolate chips (see picture below).

Pro: No extra work! These chocolate chips are the right size straight from the bag!

Con: It’s harder to frost a cake smoothly when there are tiny, spiky caltrops sprinkled into the frosting. You’ll end up with a cake with some craggy spots. It will look more “rustic”.

Con: You can’t save money by buying these in bulk. I searched about and there are no large bags of mini chocolate chips in the store, and the large bags online cost even more than if you bought them in the store!

If you usually buy your chocolate chips in small (10-12 oz) bags anyway, this won’t be a concern for you. It’s the same price.

Chopped Chocolate Chips:

Pro: You can make “mini” chocolate chips at a moment’s notice, if you’re the type of person who always has chocolate chips in your pantry. I always have a giant bag, thanks to Costco!

Pro: Frosting a cake with chopped chips goes on much smoother. I rarely have difficulty or empty spots when I use crushed chips. It’s a nice, clean finish.

Pro: If you buy chocolate chips in bulk, it’s more cost-effective to use chopped chocolate chips than go out and buy a small bag of mini chips.

Con: Because the chocolate chips are chopped and crushed, you’ll end up with some sprinkles of chocolate dust throughout the frosting. Some people may not think this provides as clean of a finish as using mini chocolate chips (see picture below)

Con: You’ll have to invest in a nut chopped. I registered for a Progressive Nut Chopper (amazon link) when I got married, and I use it all the time. I’ll be honest, I pretty much only use it for chocolate chips.

Picture Comparison of Mini vs Chopped Chocolate Chips

Here’s a round cake frosted with mini chocolate chips in the Cookie Dough Frosting. The frosting is a bit “cleaner” looking with no “chocolate dust” in it. It was kind of a pain to get it as smooth as it is.

Next is a heart-shaped cake frosted with chopped chocolate chips in the Cookie Dough Frosting. There aren’t any clear chocolate chips, more of chocolate pieces scattered throughout the frosting. (Although I did somehow miss one big chip on the left side. Whoops!) Easier for me to frost, but definitely a different look.

What’s the verdict? Would you make this frosting with mini chocolate chips or chopped regular-sized chocolate chips? Comment below!

Happy Baking!