The Cookie and the Dog |

Today we celebrate Mabel’s fifth birthday. I don’t know whether the miracle is that we’ve survived or that she has.

Over the last month our furry youngster has consumed – among other things – two sticks of butter, three innocent frogs, a Silence-of-the-Lambs-size moth-bug-thing (creepy little dude, he was), a bag of deer jerky and an eighth of a 12” cookie cake (which thankfully didn’t have enough chocolate in it to do her harm). The final two items earned her a public shaming on Facebook and Instagram. She didn’t even have the decency to look remorseful.

Mabel gives us plenty of reasons to smile, though. Every morning she insists on pushing the top of her head into me as I give her kisses on each ear. If she doesn’t feel she has received enough affection, she firmly nudges my elbow until I acquiesce and pet her for another ten minutes. It is especially annoying when she nudges the elbow connected to the hand holding a full cup of coffee. And speaking of coffee, she still likes to sneak drinks from my cup. In her quieter moments, Mabel suns herself in the backyard or snoozes on the puppy bed we have in the living room. Her “comfy” positions crack us up.

In honor of the Teeny-Weeny Mabellini, (although after eating cookie cake, she’s not so teeny-weeny anymore) here is the recipe for the homemade cookie cake I found in August (and which I have subsequently made five times. Kinda takes away my right to scoff at Mabel’s weight, doesn’t it?)

Triple-Awesome Cookie Cake

I found the original recipe online, but for the life of me cannot get back to it. You would think I could have bookmarked it, but alas… If I come across it again I’ll be sure to link back. At any rate, the original recipe is sufficient for a one-inch thick 12” round cake. I needed more cookie for Aaron’s birthday party, so I increased the batter by half. It’s just as easily reduced by half, so I’m listing all the appropriate measurements and sizes for your convenience. It’s important to note at the beginning that I have changed the amount of chocolate chips in the cake because I thought the original recipe called for too much. (Too much chocolate? I must be ill.) I have made it with full-on chocolate chips some times and half the allotment at others. If you want more chocolate, feel free to double the portion of chips listed.

	8-9” pan	12” pan	11×15″ pan
Butter, room temp	1 stick	2 sticks	3 sticks
Sugar	¼ c	½ c	¾ c.
Brown Sugar	1/3 c.	2/3 c.	1 c.
Eggs	1	2	3
Vanilla	½ t.	1 t.	1 ½ t.
Flour, all purpose	1c + 2T	2c + 4T	3c + 6T
Kosher Salt	½ t	1 t	1 ½ t
Cream of Tartar	½ t	1 t	1 ½ t
Baking Soda	½ t	1 t	1 ½ t
Chocolate Chips, semi sweet (I use Ghirardelli baking chips)	½ c	1 c	1 ½ c

Cream the butter with both sugars in a mixing bowl (medium speed) until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda.
Gently blend the flour mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Once combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread the batter into a lightly greased pan. (I used to swear by Baker’s Joy, until I nixed the preservatives BHA and BHT from my life. Now I use Spectrum Naturals brand Canola Spray with Flour for a quick and easy dusting.) The batter is very thick, so I have to push it to the sides of the pan and smooth it out the best I can.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25, 30 or 35 minutes (depending on the size), or until the top is golden and you’re drooling at the lighted oven window.

So, yeah, this picture is totally of Aaron’s sheet-cookie-cake in August, and certainly not intended for Mabel on any day. I used my regular buttercream icing recipe for the white icing, and whipped powdered sugar into homemade chocolate syrup for the accent icing. To. Die. For!