Name: Gingerbread Cookie Butter Crunch Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting (Milk Bar Inspired)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups butter, softened to room temperature; 1 cup molasses (Do not use blackstrap.); 3/4 cup sugar; 3/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed; 3 large eggs, room temperature; 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 1 tbsp ground ginger; 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/2 tsp allspice; 1 cup +2 tbsp buttermilk; 1 jar crunchy cookie butter ((14.1 oz)); 2 1/2 cups cookie crumbs (see note); 16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature; 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature; 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted; 1/2 cup eggnog

This gingerbread cookie butter crunch cake with eggnog cream cheese frosting is the showstopper you’re looking for this holiday season. Four layers of gingerbread cake are each topped with a thick layer of crunchy cookie butter and creamy eggnog cream cheese frosting.

Gingerbread Cookie Butter Crunch Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting (Milk Bar Inspired)

Buckle your seatbelt because this is a CAKE! This is inspired by those decadent milk bar cakes (so many fancy layers and components!) but slightly simplified, and with a festive twist. Though this looks complex, the components are all quite simple. My friends and family all agreed that the tiny crunchy cookie butter pieces completely made this cake.

Layer 1: Gingerbread Cake

Tender, spiced, and absolutely not dry. This is delicious on its own, but gets even better with the other additions! The hardest part of this layer cake is flipping the cakes out of the pans, and then flipping them back over to stack for the cake. After removing each layer from the pan, I froze them for about 45 minutes so a crumbly chaos would not ensue when during the second flip.

Layer 2: Crunchy Cookie Butter Crumbles

Melted cookie butter and cookie crumbles form the most decadent cake filling. I prefer the iced mini gingerbread people from Trader Joes (so I can decorate with them as well) for the crumbs, but any crunchy spiced cookie (hello Speculoos) will work fine.

Layer 3: Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

Because it is the holidays, and not many things are more festive than eggnog. Don’t like eggnog? Me neither. But, drinking eggnog is very different than using it to flavor desserts. Don’t leave it out!

And Finally: Decorations

Let’s be honest, you can probably do a better job here than I can (if my leaning tower of gingerbread cake doesn’t already make that obvious). I used some freshly grated nutmeg, fresh rosemary, and a few mini gingerbread cookies. If you have them, I think fresh cranberries would add a nice pop of color.

I brought this cake to a friendsgiving (last year… when you could actually gather with big groups of friends) and it was an absolute hit. I mean gingerbread, spiced cookie butter, eggnog… how much more festive can it get?!?

5 from 1 vote

Gingerbread Cookie Butter Crunch Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting (Milk Bar Inspired)

Four layers of gingerbread cake are each topped with a thick layer of crunchy cookie butter and creamy eggnog cream cheese frosting.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 16 people

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/4 cups butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup molasses (Do not use blackstrap.)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup +2 tbsp buttermilk

Cookie Butter Crumbles

1 jar crunchy cookie butter (14.1 oz)
2 1/2 cups cookie crumbs see note

Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup eggnog

Instructions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 4 9-inch round cake pans by lightly greasing and flouring. Set aside.
In mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamed.
Add molasses and sugars, beating until light and fluffy (pausing to scrape down sides of bowl as needed).
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition.
Add in vanilla extract.
In a separate bow, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice) until combined.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. (Add about 1/5 of the flour, as soon as it is mostly combined add about 1/5 of the buttermilk, continuing in this pattern until all of the flour mixture and all of the buttermilk has been added.) Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure ingredients are well-combined.
Evenly divide batter between prepared cake pans.
Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. (To check for doneness, a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan should come out clean or with crumbs, not batter.) Be sure to check each cake separately, since the oven may not cook evenly.
Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the inside rim of the cake pan to loosen from the sides. Allow cakes to cool about 10 more minutes, then invert to continue cooling on a rack. Do not attempt to stack and frost the cake until all layers are completely cool. My cakes were slightly crumbly so I had to wrap them in parchment and freeze them about 45 minutes before flipping them back over to stack and frost.

Cookie Butter Crumbles

Add the entire jar of cookie butter to a microwave safe bowl. Cook on half power for about 2 minutes, then stir. Repeat heating in 30 second increments until completely melted. Then mix in 2 cups of cookie crumbs until completely combined.

Eggnog Frosting

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip butter and cream cheese until creamed, scraping down sides occasionally. Add in eggnog and powdered sugar, then mix for 2-3 additional minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembly

Start with one layer of cake. Add 1/5th of eggnog frosting in a thick layer. Then top with 1/3 of the cookie butter mixture as an even layer on top of the eggnog frosting. Repeat this process three more times, then frost the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting. Decorate and enjoy! <3

Recipe Notes

I buy my crunchy cookie butter from Trader Joe’s. You can also use Biscoff Cookie Butter.

Note on cookie crumbs: use a food processor to make 2 1/2 cups of cookie crumbs. 1/2 cup of these will be saved to decorate the cake. Speculoos or any gingerbread cookie will work. I prefer the mini gingerbread people from Trader Joe’s because they’re nice to decorate the cake with as well.

This frosting is sweet enough without being too sweet. I tend to reduce the amount of powdered sugar that frosting calls for, so feel free to add extra powdered sugar if you want it sweeter. I found this version to be the perfect balance to the sweeter cake and cookie butter.

Cake recipe adapted from: https://sugarspunrun.com/gingerbread-layer-cake/. The filling and frosting portions were both completely invented by myself.