Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

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This is not a cake for beginners. I don't mean beginning bakers; it's a pretty straightforward recipe and should give you no trouble. I mean inexperienced cake-eaters. 

See, I consider myself something of a cake-eating champ. (On one infamous occasion Audrey and I once each consumed sizable pieces of three different cakes in one sitting...but that's a story for another time.) If there were a cake-eaters athletic league I would be starting line varsity. I'm the cake-eating quarterback. MVP and team captain. But in this cake, I have met my match. It knocked me down, laid me out, put me on the bench. If I am a cake-eating heavyweight, this cake is a sumo.

Have you had enough of the weird sports-themed analogies? Yeah, me too. Let's change the subject to something more interesting. Namely: peanut butter, chocolate, and cookie dough. All happening at once in this 18-gold-medal-winning cake (sorry, I did just imply that this is the Michael Phelps of cakes; this was the last one for real I promise). It's no wonder this was almost too much for me to handle.

This cake conquered me, but I loved every single minute minute of my defeat. Even the verge-of-comatose sugar OD it caused. (Expect it. Embrace it. Worth it.)

I've had this cake sitting in my Foodgawker favorites for months now, but didn't have a fitting occasion to use it until recently. Due to study abroad, my closest college friends and I were all apart for the better part of the last year - missing all of our 21st birthdays - so we decided to have a joint birthday celebration now that we're all back together again. Because these are my homegirls - and therefore cake-eating champs like myself, since having an indomitable sweet tooth is an unofficial prerequisite for being my friend - I knew they were up to the challenge.

This cake also has a second celebratory function - to commemorate our 50th post on The Batter Thickens! We started this blog a year ago on October 15, 2012. It's so awesome to think that that we've baked and shared 50 different delicious recipes with you in that time.

Actually, maybe that's kind of terrifying to think about. 50 different recipes is a LOT of butter and sugar and chocolate and frosting...that we summarily devoured.

...yikes. Moving on.

The recipe was for chocolate chip cookie dough cake with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting. But that wasn't enough for me, apparently. Because I decided to factor peanut butter into the equation.

Are we surprised? No, we are not. It honestly takes restraint for me not to incorporate peanut butter into every recipe I make. Whenever I ask myself, "Hmm, I wonder what I should bake next?" my first response - without fail - is always, "Peanut butter and chocolate?" If I didn't keep my inner peanut butter fiend in check, this blog could probably earn itself a Reese's sponsorship. Actually, come to think of it...how on earth would that be a bad thing??

Lemme break this cake down for you. I know it's a lot to take in, with its towering height and its many layers and those perky little mini chips on top and the gooey studs of peanut butter and chocolate chips scattered throughout... Oh, gosh. I think I need a moment to compose myself. Hold on.

Ok, better. So. From the bottom, we have: chocolate chip cookie dough cake with peanut butter and chocolate chips; whipped peanut butter frosting; another cake layer; more whipped peanut butter goodness; MORE CAKE; and finally, chocolate chip cookie dough frosting topped with a smattering of mini chocolate chips for that picture-perfect finish.

Phew!

This cake is everything your watering tastebuds are telling you it is, and more. This is honestly one of the best cakes I've ever made. The cake's consistency is kind of a cross between cookie and cake, which sounds confusing but trust me, it works. It's moist, dense, and bursting with peanut buttery chocolate cookie dough flavor. And the frosting tastes exactly. like. cookie dough. But it's frosting. I'm just gonna leave that to sink in for a moment.

Are you overwhelmed yet? Because I am. This cake just tends to have that effect on people. By the time you're finished with your first slice, you'll probably want to sink into the grips of a sugar overdosed coma, but you'll also kind of want to have seconds. It's a tough call. But that's life. #cakeprobs #sorrynotsorry

- Molly

p.s. We're on Facebook now! Let's be friends. We can have sleepovers where we eat too many brownies straight out of the pan and then stay up way past our bedtime on a sugar high. Or, you know, we can share pictures of said brownies and you can tell us how delicious they look. Isn't that what social media is all about? ;)

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Cake adapted from Chocolate Moosey
Filling from First Look Then Cook

Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

Peanut Butter Marshmallow filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 large eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
salt

Cookie Dough Frosting
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mixture then add the chocolate chips.

Divide the dough between the two cake pans. Bake 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pans.

To make the filling: Combine sugar and egg whites in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat; using  an electric mixer, beat on high speed until cool and thick, 5–6 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then peanut butter. With mixer running,  add butter a few pieces at a time, beating to blend between additions. Season with salt.

To make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Beat in the heavy cream and beat another 1-2 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy.