Throughout our healthy lives, there are (and should be!) times that call for a special treat.

Which to me, is a birthday. It's a time to celebrate one's life and the impact they've made on the people around them - which is worth celebrating!

I made this little layered cookie cake for my older sister Laura's birthday get-together.

This is not your average cake, well, because Laura is not your average individual. If there is one woman I look up to for always doing her own thing because it's what she wants to do - it's Laura. Her ability to light up a room with such ease comes so natural to her, so much so that if she read this line she would laugh and just shrug - because it's just who she is.

We live in a world where people aspire to be someone else - buying a purse because a celebrity has it or decorating their home so it looks just like their friend. It's not being true to themselves and as a result, they never feel comfortable or happy in their own skin. Laura is the complete opposite of this - true to herself which then radiates out to others.

This cake has a natural aspect to it - because it's simply large chocolate chunk cookies layered between a vanilla buttercream frosting. No frills, no fancy embellishments, no pretentiousness.

I believe simple is the most beautiful. Which makes this perfect for my beautiful sister.

I encourage you to make this for a special someone on their birthday. I have no doubt it will be a hit with your family & friends!

Mini Layered Cookie Cake

(makes one cake)

2 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups of good-quality bittersweet chocolate (60%), chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a mixer, beat the cooled butter with the sugars until creamed together. Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet. These dough balls will be large! (A size that is slightly smaller than a tennis ball.) Since these are large cookies that will spread out, only place about 3-4 cookies per baking sheet, depending how large the baking sheet is.
Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. If the edges are not yet starting to turn golden by the end of the 10 minutes, bake the cookies for 2-3 minutes longer until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet. Right when you take them out, you can use a spatula to re-form the cookies in a circle shape in case some are misshapened.
Once cookie layers are cooled, place cookies on a wire rack and freeze until you are ready to frost.
- NOTE: This recipe will make 7 cookies, using an ice-cream scoop. The cake is 5 layers, so you will have two large cookies left over.
Assemble the cake: Place one cookie on a plate or small cake stand. Place a dollop of the vanilla buttercream (recipe below) on the bottom of the cookie so the cookie stays put on the stand as you frost. Spread a thick layer of buttercream over the top surface of the cookie. Place a second cookie on top of the buttercream layer and repeat the process until you've layered 5 cookies. Frost the very top of the cookie cake, if desired. Run your knife around the sides of the cake, to smooth over any frosting coming out of the sides. I sprinkled shaved chocolate over the top of the cookie cake.

Vanilla Buttercream

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8-9 cups of confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Add 4 cups of sugar and the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time until the frosting appears thick enough to spread.
Frost the cookie cake, as described in #7 above. You will have about 1 cup of buttercream left over, which you can freeze up to 2 months.

The cookie in this cake is actually my go-to chocolate chunk cookie recipe! So, you can also use a regular cookie scoop to make smaller cookies. Then, just sandwich with the buttercream frosting and you have pretty awesome cookie sandwiches.