Insta-Cookie Cake

May is always crazy, finish-school-take-exams-go-to-parties-do-a-million-things, celebration time of year. Graduations and showers and birthdays and festivals and general springtime merriment. So there's lots of excuses for cookie cake.

Plus, cookie cake is easy peasy. As in, you don't have to drop dough by spoonfuls, bake in multiple batches, and lift each cookie off to cool. Simply spread (trickiest part- I usually use my hands), bake, slice, bang, done.

You cheaters out there can buy cookie dough, but I always whip up the best cookie dough ever, the Tollhouse recipe on the chocolate chip bag. At this point in the game, I can beat-butter-sugars-add-eggs-vanilla-then-flour-mixture-then-chips in my sleep. Tollhouse cookies are just so good that you have to shut down the devilish temptation of break-and-bake-are-easy and get out some ingredients and dirty a few dishes for the real deal.

My cake was for a college graduation celebration for my brother (Way to go, Patrick!). I squeezed some store-bought sugar cookie icing in a bag with a writing tip into a very basic design. It didn't last long. You can also skip the decoration part and slice 'em into bars.

So, ready, set, go find an excuse to bake one yourself.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars/Cookie Cake
Nestle

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts.

Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen (small) bars.