Holiday Wreath Christmas Cookie Cake

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Pretty Christmas cookie cake recipe perfect for the Holiday season. A large and delicious cookie decorated with an edible buttercream wreath.

close up cookie cake decorated with red and green buttercream.

It is a wonderful time of the year again, and the holiday season is approaching. We all know that celebrations are not complete without a Christmas-themed cake and delicious foods on the table. It is more memorable because of the food you share with your loved ones while telling stories about a lot of stuff.

Why is this cake perfect for your next Christmas celebration?

Super festive look!
Easy to make: Despite the looks, it is an easy treat to make and it will also complete your festive table.
Kids will love it! You can also bake the Christmas cookie cake with together with your children, all the steps are easy, and decorating the cake it’s a lot of fun.
No cookie dough chilling, just mix and bake.
Simplest buttercream: My favorite kind! Mix equal amounts of soft unsalted butter and sifted icing cream. That’s it! It tastes great and it’s perfect for piping.
It keeps well: There is always too much food at Christmas and too many leftovers. This cookie cake keeps very well for at least 5 days, so you can enjoy it for longer.

What do you need?

all ingredients needed for cookie cake arranged on a white table.

Cookie ingredients: unsalted butter, flour, white and brown sugar, egg, baking soda, vanilla extract, salt.
- Chocolate chips: regular semi-sweet chocolate chips are perfectly fine. I had caramel chocolate chips this time and they were delicious as well. However, keep in mind that they are sweeter than regular chocolate chips.

Frosting ingredients: unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk.

Extras for decoration:
- Green and red gel food coloring: I use Wilton Icing Colors all the time; a tiny amount is sufficient, so use it carefully (Amazon affiliate link).
- Holiday sprinkles: anything you like. I had white and silver sugar pearls in three different sizes. I left out the golden stars seen in the image of the ingredients; I thought they would be overkill.

Equipment needed:
- 10-inch (24-25 cm) springform pan, electric hand mixer.

How to make the cake?

Dough:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/ 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease the bottom of the springform and line it with parchment paper.
Wet ingredients: Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes (1). Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Continue to beat with the mixer for about 1 minute (2).

collage of two pictures of stirring butter and sugar and then adding eggs to the batter.

Dry ingredients: Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to the butter mixture, then mix slowly until incorporated (3).
Fold in ¾ of the chocolate chips using a spoon (4).

collage of two pictures of stirring batter for cake in a bowl.

Transfer the soft dough to the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips (5).
Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned (6).
Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
The cookie cake dough recipe was adapted from Kitchn.

collage of two pictures of cookie cake before and after baking.

Buttercream:

Sift the icing sugar in a bowl and set it aside
Whip the softened butter in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. You can also do this in the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment.
Add the sifted sugar in three batches, mixing well after each batch. Scrape the walls of the bowl a couple of times in between and whip until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Red buttercream: Place 2 tablespoons of the buttercream in a small bowl and color with the red food coloring. Transfer to a piping bag with a small star nozzle.
Green buttercream: Color the remaining frosting with green food coloring. Transfer to a piping bag with a larger star nozzle.

Decorate:

Wreath: Pipe the green frosting all around the edge of the holiday cake to make the wreath. Pipe what’s left in the center of the cake.
Berries: Pipe the red berries on the wreath.
Sprinkle the cake with the sugar pearls or any other Christmas sprinkles you like.

Expert Tips and FAQ

Gel food coloring:

It is stronger than liquid or powdered food coloring. You might not always find it in a small shop, but you will probably find it in larger supermarkets. You can always buy it online.
Use gel food coloring very sparingly, it is strong. Remove a tiny amount from the container using a toothpick, add it to the buttercream, and beat it in entirely before deciding if you need to add more.
Use a clean toothpick each time you remove more gel from the container.
Careful with handling it, it leaves stains on your hands or textiles.

Piping:

You can use two small one-way piping bags for decorating the Christmas cookie cake with the frosting.
I thought that the star nozzles were the perfect fit for the cake, but if you don’t have them, you can use another nozzle instead. For the berries you can use a plain nozzle, this way the berries will be round.

Recipe FAQ

Can I use another kind of chocolate chips?

Yes, whatever you like. Sweet, semi-sweet, caramel, white chocolate chips.
If you don’t want a chocolate chip cookie cake, just leave them out.

How else to decorate the cake?

If you want to make a sugar cookie cake for any other occasion, you can use other colors for the buttercream and sprinkle it with confetti sprinkles. For cocoa buttercream, replace 2 tablespoons of the icing sugar with 2-3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.

Can I use another frosting?

Of course, plain whipped cream is delicious as well, but it will not keep that long. Keep refrigerated and consume within 1-2 days.
You can also decorate the cake with cream cheese frosting and consume the cake within 2-3 days.

How to store?

Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days, covered or wrapped in plastic wrap to avoid the frosting from developing a crust. But if it does develop a crust, it’s not a major issue, you will still like it.
Freezer: I am not keen on freezing the Christmas cookie cake once baked and decorated. You can freeze the dough though.

Make it ahead?

Make the dough and freeze the dough in an airtight container. Defrost in the fridge, press into the springform, and bake.
You can also make the buttercream ahead and freeze it in airtight containers. Defrost in the fridge as well and let it soften slightly at room temperature until it is pipable.

close up cookie cake with buttercream wreath for christmas.

More Christmas desserts

Non-Alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cake
Christmas Fruit Salad
Gingerbread Cookies without Molasses
Potted Cream
Polvorones Cookies

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