He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!
Our sweet baby boy has finally arrived. Neal (a family name on both sides of our family – and yes – spelled the same unique way too!) was born on October 3rd weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs 11 oz and we are completely and utterly head over heels in love.
And what better way to celebrate than with a big, BLUE gluten-free sugar cookie layer cake, funfetti style? OH YES, I went there. For this occasion the only option was going big or, well, going big. This is our first born, after all!
When I was little I was pretty much the pickiest eater ever. Like ever, ever. For example, I would only eat peanut butter and jelly with raspberry jam (grape? THE HORROR), and for a solid 5 years of my life I refused to go out to eat unless there were potato skins or a baked potato on the menu at the suggested restaurant. Don’t even get me started about Babe.
…. And now I blog about food. Funny how the tables turn, isn’t it?
One of my other many food quirks was that I HATED cake. Like, absolutely loathed. Especially the icing. (Confession: I still don’t love, or really even like, buttercream). So when my birthday rolled around every year I would always request one of 3 things: an ice cream cake, a pumpkin pie (good thing I was born in the fall!) or a cookie cake. My favorite being – you guessed it – cookie cake!
Favorites aside, there was always one thing that bothered me about cookie cakes – they didn’t LOOK like a cake. I never quite understood how adding a little icing and a scribble of “Happy Birthday Leah!” somehow magically turned a big giant cookie into a “cake” all of a sudden. ← the deep thoughts of a 7-year-old.
So now that cookie cake creation/preparation is in MY hands when it comes to the birthday celebrations of my little man, you better believe I’m going to make him a cookie cake that actually looks like a cake – layers and all!
The only problem with having a newborn AND lofty cookie cake making dreams? That little thing called time. You guys weren’t joking when you said it would be in short supply!
But thankfully, Pamela’s Products makes the most epic gluten-free sugar cookie mix, allowing me to quickly and easily whip up the cookie cake of my dreams all during one single (fleeting) nap time.
AND – get this – the sugar cookie might be the best gluten-free sugar cookie I’ve ever had. Which is saying something, because I am an absolute SUCKER for sugar cookies and have tried just about every gluten-free version out there at least twice.
To make this a funfetti-style sugar cookie, all you have to do is simply add jimmies to the cookie dough batter to get the classic funfetti effect. Simple as that – really! That being said – why aren’t ALL sugar cookies funfetti style? I mean, any excuse to have a little more pizazz in life, right?
And to make the cookie layers, you’ll just take the cookie dough and press it into the bottom of a non-stick cake pan, and bake for a little longer than you would otherwise. Then, while the giant cookies are cooling you’ll whip up some frosting (but I totally won’t judge if you use store-bought… especially these days!) and then layer cookie, frosting, cookie, frosting, cookie, frosting and load up with some extra sprinkles (duh).
Do you see why I’m so baffled as to why cookie layer cakes aren’t a thing yet? They’re: (a) not rocket science (b) seriously easy to throw together and (c) just about the most adorable “cake” ever.
Oh – and there’s baby boy “calling” (crying?) my name.
Baby cuddles + sugar cookie layer cake all at once? DOES LIFE GET ANY BETTER?
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Layer Cake
- Cookie Cake:
- 3 packages of Pamela’s Products Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Mix
- 3 eggs
- 3 sticks (1½ cups) butter or dairy-free butter
- ½ cup jimmies
- Buttercream Frosting:
- ½ cup butter (I used dairy-free)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk (I used almond milk)
- Food coloring, in desired color
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 3 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In 3 separate bowls, prepare sugar cookie dough according to the package directions, adding ⅓ of the jimmies into each flour mixture. Press one dough into one of the prepared baking pans, repeating until all pans are full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set in the center and just barely golden around the very edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the cookie cakes from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing by creaming together the butter and powdered sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk, one Tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add food coloring (amount will depend on the desired depth of color) and beat until evenly dispersed.
- Once the cookies are completely cool, stack a cookie, layer of icing, cookie, layer of icing, cookie, and then extra decorative icing on top.
- Slice and enjoy!