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Make Copycat Lofthouse Cookies at home! Skip the store bought cookies and make soft sugar cookies that are cakey with creamy frosting – they’re better than the original Lofthouse cookie recipe and your’e going to love them.
Every single time we go to the grocery store Jordan begs for those soft frosted sugar cookies you see in the baking department. You know the ones with the bright frosting and sprinkles: Lofthouse Sugar Cookies. They’re actually really good: they are a soft cake-like cookie topped with a sugary sweet frosting.
However, the store bought ones are almost too sweet with lots of artificial flavors and not great ingredients, so I created the perfect copycat Lofthouse Cookies that taste even better with that same mouth feel and flavor. At first I thought that these cookies were just classic sugar cookies, but they’re actually baked specifically to be nice and cakey with a fluffy texture. By themselves the unfrosted cookies are kind of bland, but with the frosting they are so good.
Secret Ingredients
- You’ll notice the ingredient list has a few other things besides typical sugar cookie ingredients (egg, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour and powdered sugar).
- These cookies use a combination of baking soda and baking powder to create that soft cakey texture. Some recipes call for cornstarch but mine doesn’t need it thanks to the combination of leavening agents used.
- They also use sour cream to activate the baking soda and make them rise for that super soft texture. Make sure it’s room temperature to avoid lumps.
- You’ll also need regular or gel food coloring and rainbow sprinkles to get that classic lofthouse cookie look.
How to make Lofthouse Cookies
- Cream your butter, sour cream, and sugar with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Unlike other homemade versions, this one doesn’t need a cookie cutter or rolling pin – they’re drop cookies!
- Once the cookie dough is made you’ll scoop 2-tablespoon size cookies. Roll each dough ball between your palms to make them nice and round, then you’ll need to flatten a bit with the bottom of a glass or spatula.
- The dough is sticky, so you’ll want to wet your hands or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
- You can use regular, skim milk, or nonfat milk for the frosting, or even heavy cream or nondairy milk.
- Carefully frost each cookie with a butter knife and add sprinkles.
- Change up the frosting color and sprinkles to make Valentine’s Day cookies or Christmas Lofthouse Cookies. They’re better than the real thing!
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Expert Tips
- You have to be sure and flatten them. They don’t spread much at all so flatten them with the bottom of a glass.
- To get soft cookies, be sure to not over-bake them. That is key to getting the soft cake-like Lofthouse Cookie taste and texture. I took them out when they were JUST no longer glossy and barely light golden. If you wait until you see the bottoms be golden, you’ve over-baked them and they’ll be dry.
- I love using pure vanilla extract in the cookies and frosting. You can also add a bit of almond extract for extra flavor.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies Recipe
Lofthouse Cookies are a copycat sugar cookie that’s soft with a thick layer of sweet frosting. These cookies are also called sour cream sugar cookies and they’re perfectly soft!
Recipe Video
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (184g) sour cream room temperature
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (310g) all purpose flour
For the frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- Food coloring if desired
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper with SmartGrid.
- Mix butter, sugar, and sour cream in a hand or a stand mixer until smooth. Mix in egg, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix in flour until cookie dough forms, being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl.
- Scoop two tablespoons of dough per cookie, placing on the guides on the parchment paper so they are at least 2 inches apart. Use the bottom of a glass to press the cookies flat. (If the cookie dough sticks to the glass, spray it first with nonstick cooking spray for easy removal.)
- Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes or until they JUST loose the glossy sheen and are barely light golden around the edges. Do not over bake these! Err on the side of underdone.
- Make the frosting: mix the butter and powdered sugar with a hand or stand mixer slowly until crumbly. Add vanilla, salt, and 1 tablespoon of milk and mix until frosting is smooth, adding more milk as needed for spreadable consistency. Tint with food coloring, if desired.
- Top each cookie with about 1 tablespoon of frosting. Smooth and sprinkle with sprinkles, if desired.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- You have to be sure and flatten them. They don’t spread much at all, so if you want an ice flat cookie for the buttercream frosting, flatten them with the bottom of a glass.
- When you’re baking these soft sugar cookies, be sure to not over-bake them. That is key to getting the soft cake-like Lofthouse Cookie taste and texture.
- Depending on your oven, I highly recommend rotating the pans horizontally and vertically during baking.
- I love using pure vanilla extract in the cookies and frosting. You can also add a bit of almond extract for extra flavor.
- Use food coloring to tint your frosting.
- Make them into lofthouse cookie bars: press them in a 9×13-inch pan that’s been lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake 18-24 minutes or just until the top loses it’s glossy sheen. Frost after cooling.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 115mg | Potassium: 37mg | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 320IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Has anyone baked the cookies, froze them and thawed them when ready to frost?
They defrost just fine – I’ve frozen the whole cookie (frosted) and they even defrost great. You can freeze them plain and even make and freeze the frosting too if you want.
I love these cookies and want to make to send in gift boxes. Will the frosting on the cookies “crust” up a bit so they can be stacked?
No the frosting doesn’t harden like that, so it’s best to not stack them.
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