How to Turn a Cake Recipe Into Cookies (2 Methods) – Happy Muncher (2024)

The holidays are right around the corner, which means it’s time to put on a cozy sweater, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and bake some cookies.

If you’ve ever tried to turn a cake recipe into cookies, you probably already know that it can be tricky.

But don’t worry!

The tips below will help you get the thickness and texture just right.

If you have a cake recipe you’d like to try in cookie form, grab it and let’s get started!

How to Turn a Cake Recipe Into Cookies (Method 1)

There’s no reason you can’t turn your favorite cake recipe into cookies.

Here’s how to do it:

• Get your recipe ready.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Cream your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, vanilla (and other flavorings) and mix until well-combined.
• Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, and mix until well-blended.
• Scoop out cookies and place about 1 inch apart on parchment-covered baking sheets.
• Bake for 8 – 11 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden but the centers are soft when lightly touched.
• Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 1 – 2 minutes before removing them to cooling racks to cool completely.

With these steps you can turn any cake recipe into cookies that are perfect every time!

How to Turn a Cake Recipe Into Cookies (Method 2)

The best way to make cookies from cake batter is to start by making a cake recipe and then adjusting the temperature of your oven.

You can also adjust the baking time or add ingredients like flour or eggs to create a more cookie-like texture.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to turn your favorite cake into cookies, try this second method!

Here’s what you need:

• Cake mix (or homemade)
• 2 tbsp of water
• 1/2 cup of oil (or butter)
• 2 eggs

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F if using dark or nonstick pan).
• Grease bottom only with shortening or cooking spray.
• In large bowl, stir together cake mix, water, oil and eggs until well blended.
• Pour into pan.
• Bake as directed below or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack.
• Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Tips For Turning a Cake Recipe Into Cookies

If you’re craving cookies but only have the ingredients for cake on hand, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a delicious dessert.

With a few tweaks, your cake recipe can be converted into cookies.

However, before you get started, it’s important to remember that cookies and cakes are two different baked goods.

A cake is a spongy, moist dessert with a lighter crumb structure and a longer bake time.

Cookies are denser with crisp edges and a chewy center.

Here are some tips for converting cake recipes into cookies:

Reduce the Baking Time

The biggest difference between making a cake and making cookies is the baking time.

Cakes take much longer to bake (for example, 45-50 minutes for a 9×13-inch pan of cake) than cookies (which are usually done after 10-12 minutes).

This means that you have to adjust the temperature and time for cookie recipes.

The rule of thumb for converting cakes into cookies is to reduce both the temperature and time by half.

For example, if the cake recipe calls for an oven temperature of 350°F, then the cookies should bake at 175°F (halfway between 150-200°F, which is the standard range given on most cookie recipes).

If the cake takes 45 minutes to bake, then cut that down to 22 1/2 minutes for the cookies.

Use a Smaller Pan

Cookies can be made in the same size pans as cakes, but they need to bake for a much shorter period of time.

If you don’t want to cut down on your baking time, or if you’re baking a recipe for a large pan that doesn’t have directions for a smaller pan, use two pans instead.

This will allow you to bake two batches at the same time, so you don’t have to wait around for the first batch to finish before you start the second one.

Reduce the baking powder

Cake recipes tend to have way more leavening than cookie recipes do, which means that cake recipes will spread more than cookie recipes.

If you don’t reduce the leavening, your cookies will spread too much and turn into flat puddles.

Decrease the Leavening Agent and Add More Flour

Because cakes are “fluffier” than cookies, add more flour to give your cookies more body and shape.

The exact ratio will vary based on the recipe and type of cookie you’re making, but in general you should add more flour by one-third or half of what’s called for in the original recipe.

For example, if your cake recipe calls for one cup of flour, you’ll want to add one-third or one-half cup of flour to make up the difference.

Adjust the Temperature of Your Oven

The first tip is to adjust your oven temperature to accommodate for the fact that you are baking smaller batches of cookies as opposed to one big cake.

I usually start by baking them at 175 degrees C.

This ensures that they are not burnt while also giving me enough time to finish baking all the batches.

Reduce the Amount of Liquid

Cookies need less liquid than cakes because they are composed primarily of flour, sugar, eggs and butter.

The amount of liquid in cakes helps make them moist.

Cookies don’t need as much moisture because they tend to be smaller than cakes and don’t take as long to bake.

Skip the Icing

Icing, unsurprisingly, doesn’t work well with most cookies.

It might work for sugar cookies but will likely not work for chocolate chip or molasses cookies.

If you really want to try icing your cookies, find a recipe specifically for icing sugar cookies and follow those instructions instead.

Make Sure to Use the Right Mixing Method

Most cake recipes call for using the creaming method, which means beating butter and sugar together until they’re light and fluffy before adding eggs and other ingredients.

While this method works well for cake batter, it won’t work well for cookies.

For cookies, you’ll want to use the creaming method only if your recipe specifically tells you to do so.

Otherwise, it’s better to mix the butter and sugar on low speed until they’re just combined — don’t try to beat air into them.

What’s the Difference Between Cake Batter and Cookie Dough?

Cake batter and cookie dough are very different. Cookie dough is made with a much higher ratio of butter to flour than cake batter, which makes it softer and more pliable.

Cake batter, on the other hand, is made with a higher ratio of flour to butter, which gives it the structure it needs to rise.

The higher proportion of fat in cookie dough (usually in the form of butter) helps to make it soft and pliable. It also provides the fat necessary for a tender crumb.

Cake batter, on the other hand, has a higher proportion of sugar and flour than cookie dough. The sugar helps to make the cake light and fluffy by causing pores to form during baking.

The high proportion of flour provides structure so that the cake rises properly during baking.

How Do You Thicken Cake Batter for Cookies?

There are a number of ways to thicken cake batter for cookies. The easiest is to add more flour. You can also use almond flour, or any other gluten-free flours such as buckwheat.

You can also thicken the batter by adding boiling water, but this will make the cookies less fluffy and soft.

How Do Proportions of Cookie Ingredients Differ from Proportions of Cake Ingredients?

The difference is that cookies will be made with a higher proportion of butter and sugar, and a lower proportion of liquid than cakes.

Additionally, cookies are usually shaped differently than cakes are; by rolling or patting dough into balls, it makes the center thicker (relative to the edges) and therefore bakes more evenly (without burning the edges before the center is done).

Also, some cookies contain no liquid at all. For example, rolled sugar cookies are made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, salt and baking powder. The dough is simply mixed together in a bowl and then chilled before being rolled out on a floured surface and cut into shapes.

Also note that many cookie recipes call for chilling (or sometimes even freezing) the dough prior to baking it. Again this helps with even cooking.