HOMEMADE COOKIE CAKE

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup [1 stick] of unsalted butter, softened

• 1/4 cup [1/2 stick] of regular salted butter softened

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (or bitter/semi-sweet)

TOOLS NEEDED:

• a 9-inch non-stick springform pan (yup! the cheesecake kind!) or 9-inch non-stick cake pan. 10-inch will work as well, the larger the pan you use the thinner the cookie cake will get so if you like a soft center, aim to use a pan around 9-10 inches in diameter.

• Parchment paper comes in handy too; it's a baking staple in my kitchen and prevents the cake from sticking.

Instructions

1. Before we begin, I'm begging you to save about a hour of your time to refrigerate your dough. You can even just make the dough and leave it in the fridge overnight to bake the following day, just pretend the cookie dough is also sensitive to the hotter-than-hades temps outside and give it some time to chill. It's one of those age old cookie debates and I'm team stick-it-in-the-fridge.
2. In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer. Start at the lowest speed and increase as needed.
3. Add in the egg and vanilla and continue to beat with the mixer to incorporate.
4. In a seperate bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add flour mixture to the larger bowl slowly while you continue to beat on low.
6. Once your dough is mixed, fold in chocolate chips, cover, and pop it in the fridge for an hour, or overnight. Whatever works for you!
7. Now here's where you get sneaky. Hide the dough in the fridge. Everyone has that one person in their famiy that, upon seeing a giant bowl-o-cookie dough in the fridge, loses all self-control and manners. You could loose a spoonful or the whole bowlful to hungry scavengers if you don't go ahead and just cover and hide the bowl behind a pile of leftovers and condiments. If you're only chilling it for an hour you have a much better chance of retrieving the full bowl of cookie dough. That is... unless you are a cookie dough monster. In that case, good luck! 
8. READY TO BAKE?  Grab your dough from the fridge and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F, allowing the dough to soften a bit for easy handling.
9. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom portion of an un-greased springform pan and lock in the sides.
10. Press in your dough and bake on the center rack for 18-22 minutes. Mine is usually always done in 20.
11. Once your cookie cake has finished baking, flip your oven to broil on HIGH and watch it like a hawk. After about a minute the top will brown to golden perfection, still leaving that soft slightly cookie dough-esque center intact.
12. Now it's yummy AND gorgeous. You're welcome. Oh... and let the cookie cake cool before you try to stuff it in your face, since you clearly already ignored me when I told you not to make this at all =)
13. Once your cake has cooled, use a piping bag or a trusty ziploc with the corner cut off to fancify your cake with a little bit of frosting/icing. I included a recipe above if you need one! <3 Garnish with anything your heart desires - shaved chocolate, mini chips, sprinkles, or just stick your face in the entire thing and have at it!