Texas Sheet Cake Cookies

5 from 4 votes

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Texas sheet cake cookies are soft, chewy chocolate cookies with rich cocoa frosting. Make this recipe for a tasty twist on Texas sheet cake!

texas sheet cake cookies on white plate, one bitten into


If you’ve never experienced the goodness of Texas sheet cake, let me fill you in. It is an incredibly decadent, thin chocolate cake with a creamy cooked chocolate frosting over the top. Rather than using cake pans, it’s baked on a rimmed baking sheet.

In an effort to portion control the deliciousness of the southern dessert, I present to you, my recipe for Texas sheet cake cookies!

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find anything online about why the dessert is called Texas sheet cake. For what it’s worth, I think it may be a reference to the size of Texas… the cake is huge and so is the flavor!

Technically, it doesn’t matter because we’re not baking the cake today. Why? Because it’s almost December 1st, and that means it’s time to start baking Christmas cookies!

Texas sheet cake cookies from scratch

If you were to look at other recipes for these chocolate cookies, you’d quickly realize that my recipe is different- in a good way!

Most of the other Texas sheet cake cookie recipes are made from a boxed cake mix. While that is convenient, I think cookies made from scratch have better flavor. The nice thing is, this recipe is actually very simple to make, and it really doesn’t take much longer to make the cookies from scratch than it does to make them with cake mix.

stacked of chocolate frosted cookies on white plate

Ingredient notes and substitutions

The ingredients for Texas sheet cake cookies are similar to what you’d use to make the classic dessert.

  • All-purpose flour – For a softer, cake-like cookie, you can substitute cake flour for half of the all-purpose flour. I don’t recommend swapping it all, because cake flour has less gluten, and the cookies need the extra structure that all-purpose flour provides.
  • Chocolate chips– I use semi-sweet chocolate but if you prefer dark chocolate, that works too. These cookies are meant to be rich, fudgy and packed with chocolate flavor, so use the best quality chocolate that you can afford.

PRO TIP:
You’ll be melting the chocolate anyway, so feel free to use bars, chunks, or even blocks of chocolate. If your chocolate pieces are especially large, you may want to cut them down a bit so they melt evenly.

  • Buttermilk – This ingredient is the gold standard for a southern-style recipe, whether it’s cookies, muffins, or southern buttermilk biscuits. This being said, if you need a substitute, any type of dairy milk or nut milk will work fine.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder – This ingredient is for the cocoa cookie frosting. If you use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, the color of your frosting should look similar to my photos. For a darker color, Dutch process cocoa can be used.
  • Chopped nuts – To give your Texas sheet cake cookies the appearance of the classic cake, you can add crushed pecans on top of the frosting. I didn’t have any on hand, so I left them out. If you prefer a different nut, crushed walnuts are a delicious option.

Tips for the best Texas sheet cake cookies

  1. Cream the butter and sugar together for 5 minutes.
    To prevent your cookies from having a grainy,consistency, it’s important to whip the butter at sugar on high speed, for at least 5 minutes. This ensures that all of the sugar crystals are properly incorporated.
  1. Chill the cookie dough.
    The dough for Texas sheet cake cookies is rather loose. Chilling the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much as they bake. If you want to chill the dough a bit longer, that’s fine too.

    If you’d like, you can even freeze the dough for up to 2 months. Just be sure to keep it in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
  1. Don’t over bake them.
    Remove the cookies from the oven when the tops look slightly moist. If you bake them too long, they will be dry and hard rather than moist and soft.
  1. Store at room temperature.
    If you aren’t planning to freeze the cookies, keep them in a covered container at room temperature. This way, the cocoa cookie frosting will stay nice and soft! Keep them in an airtight container and they should remain fresh for about a week.

Other crave-worthy chocolate Christmas cookies

For the chocolate cookie lover in your life, consider also baking some rocky road cookies and Mexican hot chocolate cookies!

FAQ

Can you freeze Texas sheet cake cookies?


The unbaked cookie dough and/or the unfrosted baked cookies may be kept frozen for 2 to 3 months. While it is possible to freeze frosted Texas sheet cake cookies, the cocoa frosting has a tendency to crack as it thaws. If possible, wait and frost the cookies after they thaw.

homemade chocolate christmas cookies on white plate

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This post, originally published on Kevin is Cooking Apr. 18, 2014, was last updated with new content on Nov. 27, 2021.

texas sheet cake cookies on white plate, one bitten into

Texas Sheet Cake Cookies

5 from 4 votes
Texas sheet cake cookies are soft, chewy chocolate cookies with rich cocoa frosting. Make this recipe for a tasty twist on Texas sheet cake!
Servings: 24 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 7 minutes
Total: 17 minutes

Ingredients 

Wet Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

Cocoa Frosting

Optional Garnish

  • 1/4 cup crushed pecans

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone mat, set aside. Makes 24-30 depending on size.

Wet Ingredients

  • In a microwave safe bowl heat the butter and chocolate chips on high in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds (or in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted).
  • In bowl of mixer, beat the melted butter/chocolate with the sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract, and continue mixing until incorporated.

Dry Ingredients

  • In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Assembly

  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet in mixing bowl and stir to combine. Mixture will be slightly loose. Place bowl in refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up the dough.
  • Using a scoop or measured tablespoon, drop cookie dough onto baking sheets (either keep rounded or flatten slightly if you prefer). Bake for 7-8 minutes until cookies just appear set. They will still be very soft on the inside. Don't over bake these or they will be hard. You just want a firm dense center.

Frosting

  • In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder and buttermilk over medium heat, whisk until blended. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar.
  • Once the cookies are cooled, dip each into the frosting, shake excess and place on wire rack. Sprinkle with crushed pecans if desired, then allow frosting to dry.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 61mg | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 265IU | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 0.7mg

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Have You Made This Recipe? Let Me Know on InstagramTag @keviniscooking or tag me #keviniscooking!
titled image of texas sheet cake cookies

Kevin

Whether in the kitchen or on the grill, you’ll find me cooking American favorites with a love for BBQ, Mexican and Tex Mex. I’m passionate about making tasty food because life’s too short to be bland!

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14 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These are perfect! And it doesn’t make a huge batch, so it’s fast! The cookies cool quickly and the frosting is delicious!

    1. While you certainly can Kaylee, I have never done that as they never last longer than a day or two. We eat them up here! I’ve left the plate out for a day and put in a air tight container for anything longer, but have not refrigerated them. If it’s out more than a day or two I don’t see why not, especially if making ahead of planned eating, like for a party. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

  2. 5 stars
    These are fantastic. I’m an avid baker & these are probably my favorite new cookie. Follow you on Pinterest, & love, love all of the recipes you post. Thanks!

    1. I do love to read comments like this, thanks so much Shelly. I love sinking my teeth into these bad boys. So. Darn. Good.
      Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment here. Have a great day! 🙂

  3. I can’t wait to make the Mayan cookies for my 9 yr old Mayan son who was born in Guatemala! Hope these will be a new Christmas tradition for us. Thanks for the recipe.

    1. I hope you guys have fun making these as well and eating them Ellen. The cinnamon and cayenne addition to the chocolate frosting is so good. Happy Holidays and thanks for stopping by!

  4. 5 stars
    Made these today and halved the cinnamon and cayenne and they are great. The ingredients for the icing makes plenty. I actually used the amount for three batches of cookies. Next I am going to try the strawberry lemon bars.

    1. Fantastic, so glad you enjoyed them Joanne. I made some more of the strawberry lemon bars yesterday actually!

  5. 5 stars
    Amazing!!! You’re right, everything is subjective. After reading the previous review, I took my first bite of these with a bit of trepidation, and was pleasantly surprised. Not spicy at all. So delicious! Sweet and chocolatey, and the cinnamon is a nice twist with the flavor of cayenne. After swallowing, there’s a bit of kick to the cayenne, but still not “hot” in any way.

    These were adorable, too – I had no idea they were so small, a bit bigger than a quarter. I ate 4 in quick succession before being able to break away! I will definitely be making these again. As a kid, my Southern mom used to “glaze” everything, so the thickened glaze icing brought back some wonderful memories.

    1. I’m with you Kristal, love the little after bite! Everyone’s tastes are different, but so glad people have tried them nonetheless! The glaze is killer, right? It makes the cookie doubled in size! Thanks again for your feedback and enjoy your weekend. 🙂

  6. Hello. We made these cookies for our social studies class. We are studying Mayan culture. First of all, the frosting called for way too much powdered sugar and we kept on adding milk the thin it. Second of all, the cookies were very spicy and I don’t think my class would enjoy them.

    1. Well Leila I am happy you stopped by and tried the recipe, although everything is subjective isn’t it? I found those cookies to be fantastic. You could always leave out or lessen the cayenne pepper, too.